Paul J. Failla is a former American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 and baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 player

Player (game)

A player of a game is a participant therein. The term 'player' is used with this same meaning both in game theory and in ordinary recreational games....

 and coach

Coach (sport)

In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...

.

College

Failla was recruited out of North Allegheny Senior High School

North Allegheny Senior High School

North Allegheny Senior High School is a suburban high school in the North Allegheny School District and is located in Wexford, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The current building was built in 1974, the school has won numerous awards and was ranked in the top 1300 US high...

 in Wexford, Pennsylvania

Wexford, Pennsylvania

Wexford is an unincorporated community in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The area known as Wexford is split among multiple municipalities, including Franklin Park, McCandless, Pine Township, and Marshall Township...

 by the University of Notre Dame

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame du Lac is a Catholic research university located in Notre Dame, an unincorporated community north of the city of South Bend, in St. Joseph County, Indiana, United States...

, where he was a two-sport athlete, playing shortstop

Shortstop

Shortstop, abbreviated SS, is the baseball fielding position between second and third base. Shortstop is often regarded as the most dynamic defensive position in baseball, because there are more right-handed hitters in baseball than left-handed hitters, and most hitters have a tendency to pull the...

 for the baseball

Baseball

Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...

 team, and backing up starting

Starting lineup

A starting lineup in sports is an official list of the set of players who will actively participate in the event when the game begins. The players in the starting lineup are commonly referred to as starters, whereas the others are substitutes or bench players.The starters are commonly the best...

 quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

s Rick Mirer

Rick Mirer

Richard Franklin Mirer is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League. After a successful collegiate career at the University of Notre Dame, Mirer was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks with the second pick in the 1993 NFL Draft. Mirer was traded to the Chicago Bears during...

 and Kevin McDougal

Kevin McDougal

Kevin T. McDougal is best known as the starting quarterback for the University of Notre Dame football team who narrowly missed winning the national championship in 1993...

 on the football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 team for three years, from 1991-1993. When it became clear that he would not win the starting quarterback job in 1994, he entered the Major League Baseball Draft, and was selected by the California Angels in the third round.

Following stints with the Boise Hawks

Boise Hawks

The Boise Hawks are a minor league baseball team, located in Boise, Idaho. The team is currently a farm team for the Chicago Cubs and play in the Short-Season Class A Northwest League.-History:...

, the Cedar Rapids Kernels

Cedar Rapids Kernels

The Cedar Rapids Kernels are a Class A minor league baseball team based in Iowa. It is affiliated with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and plays in the Midwest League.-Franchise history:...

 and the Lake Elsinore Storm

Lake Elsinore Storm

The Lake Elsinore Storm is a minor league baseball team in Lake Elsinore, California, USA. It is a Class A - Advanced team in the California League, and is a farm team of the San Diego Padres. The Storm plays its home games at Lake Elsinore Diamond...

 in the minor-league system

Minor league baseball

Minor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...

, he decided to return to school in 1998, and used his final year of NCAA eligibility playing quarterback at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Indiana University of Pennsylvania is a public university in Indiana County, Pennsylvania, USA. The university is northeast of Pittsburgh. It is the largest university in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education and is the commonwealth's fifth largest university...

, where he led the team to a 10-2 record and a playoff berth.

Professional

After his graduation from IUP, Failla signed with the Arena Football League's New Jersey Red Dogs in 1999, and with the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

's Carolina Panthers

Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...

 in 2000, but failed to record a stat with either team. In 2001, he was drafted by the Chicago Enforcers

Chicago Enforcers

The Chicago Enforcers were a short-lived American football team based in Chicago, Illinois at Soldier Field. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States...

 of the fledgling XFL

XFL

The XFL was a professional American football league that played for one season in 2001. The league was founded by Vince McMahon, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of WWE...

 with the ninth overall selection, but lost the starting quarterback job to fellow Notre Dame alum Kevin McDougal

Kevin McDougal

Kevin T. McDougal is best known as the starting quarterback for the University of Notre Dame football team who narrowly missed winning the national championship in 1993...

.

After the XFL folded at the conclusion of its first and only season, Failla accepted the position of offensive coordinator

Offensive coordinator

An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of a gridiron football team who is in charge of the offense. Generally, along with his defensive counterpart, he represents the second level of command structure after the head coach...

 at Saint Francis University

Saint Francis University

Saint Francis University is a four-year, coeducational Catholic liberal arts university in Loretto, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1847 and conducted under the tradition of the Franciscan Friars of the Third Order Regular...

, where in the 2005 season his offense set school records for passing yards (3223), total offense (4479) and touchdowns (37). Failla groomed multiple all-conference players including quarterback Anthony Doria (NEC

Northeast Conference

The Northeast Conference is a college athletic conference whose schools are members of the NCAA. The NCAA designates the Northeast Conference to the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision for Division I Men's Football and to Division I Sports for all other sports.Founded in 1981 as the ECAC-Metro...

 offensive player of the year), wide receiver Luke Palko, running back Todd Harris, and Division I-AA All-American wide receiver Micheal Caputo. Under Failla, Palko and Caputo tied the NCAA Division I record for most passes caught by two teammates in a career. He then returned to his alma mater at IUP in February 2006 as the offensive coordinator under head coach

Head coach

A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches...

 Lou Tepper

Lou Tepper

Lou Tepper is an American football coach and former player. He was the head football coach at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a position he has held since the 2006 season. Previously, tepper served as the head coach at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Edinboro University of...

, but resigned three months later to pursue business interests. He is currently featured as a regular guest on Pittsburgh's KDKA Sports Showdown

KDKA Sports Showdown

KDKA Sports Showdown is a weekly Pittsburgh-based sports talk show airing at 11:35 Sunday nights on KDKA-TV Pittsburgh.The show is hosted by Bob Pompeani or Jory Rand, both from KDKA-TV...

.