It's essentially the equivalent of AAA in baseball. There was a lot of talent out there, but an awful lot of dropped balls, poorly run routes, and failure to click inside the 20. Maybe they'll get better as they play more together, but there were just too many field goals for the general public.
Will it survive? Probably for a couple seasons, especially if some of the AAF end up in the NFL next fall. If not, it will fall into the category of USeless as the USFL, as Wobbly as the WFL and as Xcruciatingly bad as the XFL, and be a trivia question by 2021.
I seriously doubt these guys are getting much in the way of coaching. They went for big names in many cases, guys who I think are probably mailing it in for a check(Steve Spurrier, Mike Martz) or in over their head and just trying to build a resume for some future NFL gig (Mike Vick). Spurrier is walking around like he needs a new hip (that's not a joke, he's pretty hobbled by something) and I doubt he's out on the practice field working with these guys through the day. And there's no film to study so it's easy money.
But who cares, the players are trying hard and sometimes something cool happens. I haven't watched a full game because I don't care that much, I've just watched a couple of halfs and was entertained by some big plays and some big hits.