SYNOPSIS

Hayden Fox had both football and women on his mind in this broad comedy. As head coach of Minnesota State University's Screaming Eagles, he had to build up his bumbling team with dubious assistance from cheerful, but vacuous, Luther and perennial student Dauber, a big, dumb hulk of a player. The women in his life were considerably smarter: Christine was Hayden's steady girlfriend, a TV newswoman who wanted a little more attention; and Kelly was "daddy's little girl," his 18-year-old daughter by a previous marriage, who now attended Minnesota State. Everyone's love life went through comic twists and turns. To her doting dad's dismay, Kelly dated and eventually wed theater mime Stuart, but they then broke up. Hayden and Christine broke up, and then became engaged. Dauber fell for Hayden's college rival, girls' basketball coach Judy.

By 1990, the Screaming Eagles were on a winning streak, and eventually they bumbled their way to the Pioneer Bowl. Christine was flirted with the big time, as she was offered network anchor jobs, and her impending departure finally moved Hayden to propose on the air in the fall of 1992. Three times during the 1992-1993 season, they tried to get married (once during each TV ratings period!) - first in her home state of Kentucky, then in Las Vegas, and finally in a peaceful setting in the woods. The first two were comic disasters, but the third was the lucky charm.

Kelly left for an ad agency job in New York in 1993 but returned to visit from time to time. Luther played the field with a succession of unlikely love interests (rich Mrs. Rizzendough, Lorraine, raucous Ruthanne), while Dauber's long-running relationship with Coach Judy continued. Howard was the tall, bald college administrator with authority over Hayden's budget and Shirley was his nutty wife.

The 1995 season brought major changes when Hayden got his big break, leaving Minnesota to coach a Pro expansion team, the Orlando Breakers. The Breakers were owned by eccentric millionairess Doris Sherman, whose ideas for promotion and publicity sometimes collided with Hayden's love of the game. most of the old gang moved to Florida with him, and new faces were seen representing the Breakers coaching staff. Dauber did leave Coach Judy behind, and dated the field, including a girl who played Snow White at the local GrimmWorld theme park. The Breakers got off to a slow start, and Hayden was thrown into a funk when he was asked to write a book called Learning to Live with Losing. Instead, Luther picked up the idea, wrote something called Just Short of the Goal, and scored a major success.

In 1996, having exhausted every natural and scientific means of conceiving a child, Hayden and Christine adopted an adorable baby named Timothy. The final original episode, in May 1997, brought closure and a look into the future for the principal characters. Hayden was offered contracts by several Pro teams, including $17 million to stay with the Breakers for ten more years. After much agonizing, he turned them all down and returned to Minnesota in order to help Christine build her career. Luther quit and opened his own version of Graceland; Howard was fired, and with Shirley, opened a dinner theater in Florida; and Dauber stayed with the Breakers, winning two Super Bowls and eventually becoming a star commentator. And baby Timothy? He, we were told, grew up to be just like Hayden.