International League Signs Fears, Willsey as Coaches

LONDON —  Tom Fears, who played for the Rams and coached the New Orleans Saints in their first three NFL seasons, today was named head coach of Milan of the new International League of American Football.

Ray Willsey, a former defensive coach with the Raiders and the St. Louis Cardinals, was named to coach Birmingham, England.

Five of the eight teams in the league have been assigned head coaches, and the other three are expected to be named by this weekend, league spokesman Ross Biddiscombe said.

The league is hiring the coaches and assigning them to the eight teams based throughout Western Europe. The inaugural 12-week season will begin in mid-April.

Other head coaches named: Walt Michaels, former head coach of the New York Jets, who will lead the team in Helsinki; former New England Patriot General Manager Jim Valek, who will coach in Barcelona, and former college coach Jack Elway, father of Denver Bronco quarterback John Elway, in London.

Each international league team will have 12 U.S. players and 24 local players on its roster. Games will be played with American collegiate rules.