[1st April 2000 – 20:25 PM, Amsterdam, Netherlands]
Maria's hand froze halfway to her bag. Her green eyes blinked once, twice — taking a second to process the sentence she wasn't expecting. "A job?" she repeated cautiously, straightening in her seat.
"Yes," Xavier said, pulling a small black folder from the briefcase by his leg and placing it on the table. The golden Tigers logo gleamed faintly under the café's warm lighting. "I want you to head the Strength & Conditioning Department for the New York Tigers."
Her brow arched. "The American football team?"
"The very same," Xavier replied with an easy smile. "You might have heard they have recently changed ownership, and they want to go in a new direction when it comes to player and talent development. "
Maria hesitated, her posture still guarded. "And how exactly did you find me?"
"Honestly, it was by chance," Xavier said. "I read your paper last year on "Neuromuscular adaptation and injury prevention in mixed-sport athletes" in the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports." He stated as he pulled that very journal, with the edges slightly creased, out of his bag. "You managed to combine biomechanics, nutrition, and psychology into one system; that's rare. To Ajax, it may be common science in their player development factory, but I see it as a system that can help any franchise increase its output and extend its life expectancy."
Her expression softened slightly, curiosity taking the edge off her suspicion. "You actually read my paper?"
"One of my dorm mates is a med student, so I got lucky and stumbled upon it," Xavier said, with a light smile, remembering the figure of his friend who, despite complaining about med school being hard, seemed to find time to read extra journals. "In that effect, Maria, please come back to America with me and build the Tigers' sports science division in your image."
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[Sports Science Aptitude: X ] Main Talents: Bio engineer · Decerning Eye · Ruthless Perfectionist · Limit breaker · Safe Development...
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Xavier had never met anyone so outstanding, with real-life achievements under her belt, and in terms of talent categorised by his ability. He hadn't come here with the intention of meeting her, but simply wanted to poach someone from Ajax. They were the best in the business in sports science outside the States.
He wanted someone who wouldn't be tied down by American football tradition and would be loyal to him. That's why he spent a week scouting trainers' staff, anyone who had anything to do with developing the players. That was until he stumbled upon her, running errands for one of the senior doctors.
He had to take a double-take upon seeing her talent, and upon gathering more information on her, he immediately made up his mind. Having his roommate send over the journal on her paper hadn't been hard, only requiring him to sponsor some dinners. Now he just had to figure out how to lure her into his grasp and never let go.
Maria stared at him for a long moment — long enough for the sounds of the café to swell between them: the hiss of the espresso machine, the clink of spoons, the rain pattering faintly against the glass. Her fingers tightened slightly around the handle of her cup as she tried to decide whether he was serious or simply insane.
"You flew to Amsterdam to offer me a job?" she asked finally. "You don't even know if I'd consider leaving Ajax."
Xavier's lips curved faintly. "If you weren't the kind of person willing to challenge herself, you'd still be in Utrecht teaching undergraduates instead of running half of Ajax's injury-prevention programmes at twenty-eight."
Her eyes narrowed. "So you did your homework."
"Thoroughly," he said, leaning forward, his tone lowering just enough to make it clear this wasn't some pitch he'd rehearsed. "You've built a model that lets athletes recover faster and stronger, allowing them to push harder in training and games as a result. The NFL is stuck ten years behind in this field. I want my players to be stronger, faster, and smarter than the competition."
Maria hesitated. "I'm not a football person, Mr James. My expertise is in physiological response and kinetic chain correction. I've never worked with gridiron athletes."
"You will learn and it's not all that different, just a change in parameter, plus you will have a summer to familiarise yourself", Xavier replied. "I'm offering a Five-year $500K annual salary, a Relocation + housing package of $50k and a $2 million a year staff of your choosing budget."
She opened the folder slowly. Inside was a preliminary contract and a single photograph of the initial planned Tiger Dome facility, and HQ, where the tigers' training facility would be moved. "I am willing to initially invest two million into the strength and conditioning department to outfit it with this list of equipment under your parogrative." He fished out a sheet of paper listing various pieces of equipment used to aid recovery or improve body coordination.
From Cryo-chambers, altitude rooms, hydro pods, and motion-capture rigs & Biomechanics Rigs. Xavier himself did not know what half the stuff was used for, which is why he planned to let a professional make the selection. Beneath it was the projected figure of their cost, and her brows rose slightly.
"That's a… generous investment," she murmured.
"Well, don't always expect this scale of investment. I am truly broke. In fact, I'm two billion dollars in debt," Xavier said lightly. "So, Dr, please help me not make a fool of myself. In exchange, I promise to support any project you have in the future."
Maria blinked at him, unsure whether to laugh or be deeply concerned. "You're joking, right? You just said two billion with a 'B.'"
Xavier's smile didn't falter. "That's correct."
She stared at him, lips parting slightly before pressing them together again. "You don't look nearly stressed enough for a man that far underwater."
"Oh, it's only one of my holding companies, Empire Sports Holdings, that's in debt." Xavier shrugged the haggard look he had put on moments ago and replaced it with a wide smile. "My main fund, Apex, is in the green matter. As a matter of fact, I should be earning quite a lot of money now that the Dot-com bubble has exploded."
Maria sat back, folding her arms, half amused, half incredulous. To believe she had actually felt sorry for this man moments ago, she should have known that her first assessment of him was spot on. Sighing, she ignored the smug look on his face, which seemed to say, "Just name a number and I can manage," and seriously considered the offer.
Her dream had been to work for Ajax, which has the most advanced sports science division in Europe. This was evidenced by the number of players graduating from their academies going on to play for the best clubs. However, ever since the Bosman ruling, the club had been slipping, failing to hold onto its talents as young players were being poached from every direction for pennies on the dollar.
That naturally led to backroom staff receiving fewer opportunities, as the club had to prioritise retaining its players. So even though she was highly recruited last year, she was also in a difficult position, as some of her classmates were laid off, and she found herself doing the work of interns. "Give me three days, no, give me 24 hours, I'll have a response for you."
"Take a week, and some news should leak to show you I'm serious about my investment," Xavier said, handing her the folder containing her contract. "Please make your decision quickly; the faster you get acclimated to the NFL, the better."
~~~
[4th April 2000, 13:35, Tigers HQ, Hofstra University, Hempstead, N.Y]
Three days later, Xavier was back in the state, dealing with the final staff finalisation at the Tigers HQ. Belichick retained Charlie Weis as offensive coordinator and, per their agreement, poached O-Line Coach Dante Scarnecchia from New England's coaching pool. WR Coach Mike Heimerdinger and RB Coach Maurice Carthon were retained from the original staff, with QC staff Brian Daboll being promoted to Tight End coach.
While his grandfather made some college hires to replace some vacancies, bringing in Josh McDaniels as QB coach from Michigan State. On the Defensive end, his Grandfather brought in Rex Ryan on a $300K-per-year, 4-year deal as defensive coordinator. Assistant DC/LB Coach Bob Sutton and Defensive Line CoachRomeo Crennel were both retained.
The latter mainly stayed out of loyalty to Belichick, while Bob was simply too old and, more importantly, wasn't getting any other offers. Eric Mangini from the analytics department was promoted to the Secondary coach position. The special teams department was filled by retaining Mike Westhoff as Special Teams Coordinator, and Belichick brought in Joe Judge from Mississippi State, GA, as Assistant ST / Return Coordinator.
Smiling as he thought about how he somehow managed to fill the staff vacancy, Xavier laid out the files he had prepared for the core staff meeting. "You should really get an assistant," his grandfather said as he read a dossier on players the scouting department had deemed targets in the upcoming Draft.
"Maybe after I graduate in May," He responded with a sigh, retaking his seat. "For now, let's push through to the start line, have you sorted out salary structure on the staff?"
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To Be Continued...