Two former college and two former NFL coaches, some former star players and a few Hall of Famers are in the mix.
The second iteration of the WWE-helmed XFL launched in 2020 but was quickly shuttered due to the onset of COVID-19 in the middle of its inaugural season. Months later, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson led a consortium to buy the brand, with the aim to relaunch the league in time for a spring ’23 season.
In 2020, former Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops was probably the biggest name leading a team in the upstart league. Fast forward three years and Stoops is ready to take another shot at it.
The former Dallas Renegades coach will again lead a team, the XFL announced on Wednesday morning. He is the only coach returning from the 2020 iteration of the league.
There is some star power in the coaching roster. Joining Stoops are longtime NFL defensive whiz Wade Phillips, former Saints and Rams coach Jim Haslett and former college coach Reggie Barlow. They’re joined by a slew of notable former NFL players: Terrell Buckley, Hines Ward, Rod Woodson and Anthony Becht.
Stoops is the most successful head coach of the bunch, by a decent margin. The former national champion led Oklahoma from 1999 to 2016, going 191–48, and winning the Big 12 10 times. He won five different Coach of the Year awards during his tenure, including the Walter Camp Coach of the Year awards in ’00 and ’03.
Phillips served as full-time coach of the Broncos, Bills and Cowboys during his NFL career, along with interim stints with the Saints, Falcons and Texans. He went 82–64 leading NFL teams but was just 1–5 in the postseason, never making it farther than the divisional round. He is considered one of the great defensive coordinators in league history, winning AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year in 2015 and helming a Super Bowl champion Broncos defense to a 24–10 win over the Panthers in Super Bowl 50.
Haslett led the Saints from 2000 to ’05, making one playoff appearance in his first year, for which he won AP NFL Coach of the Year. Along with a 2–10 interim stint with the Rams in ’08, he has an all-time NFL record of 47–61. As a player, he won Rookie of the Year as a Bills linebacker in 1979. He most recently served as Titans linebackers coach from 2020 to ’21.
Barlow, a former wide receiver for the Jaguars, Raiders and Buccaneers, served as coach of Alabama State from 2007 to ’14 and Virginia State from ’16 to ’21, a pair of HBCU programs. He has an 83–58 record in college.
Woodson is a college and NFL Hall of Famer as a safety, playing from 1987 to 2003. He had coaching stints with the Bengals, and Broncos and held multiple positions with the Raiders, most recently serving as cornerbacks coach in ’17.
Ward, a Steelers receiver from 1998 to 2011 and two-time Super Bowl champion, began his coaching career as an offensive assistant with the Jets in ’19. In ’21, he joined the FAU staff as wide receivers coach.
Buckley is a College Football Hall of Famer and the No. 5 overall pick in the 1992 NFL draft. He played for the Packers, Dolphins, Broncos, Patriots, Jets and Giants from ’92 to 2005, and went on to serve as an assistant at Florida State, his alma mater, as well as Akron, Louisville, Mississippi State and Ole Miss, most recently serving as cornerbacks coach with the Rebels.
Becht was a first-round pick by the Jets out of West Virginia in the 2000 NFL draft. He had stints with the Buccaneers, Rams, Cardinals and Chiefs, ending his career in ’11, and was tight ends coach with the AAF’s San Diego Fleet in ’19.
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