Some big names have joined the new XFL as head coaches
The XFL has announced eight new coaches for the league’s return for the 2023 season.
Co-owners Dany Garcia and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, have announced finalized coaching staffs for the 2023 XFL season.
The XFL has announced that its eight coaches — Wade Phillips, Bob Stoops, Terrell Buckley, Hines Ward, Rod Woodson, Reggie Barlow, Anthony Becht, and Jim Haslett.
Still a year away from kickoff, the eight teams of the XFL finally have head coaches. Of the eight coaches, there is a wide range of experience, with former NFL head coaches, former NFL players, and the former head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners.
Former Sooners head coach Stoops was previously a head coach in the XFL, but the 2020 season was terminated due to the pandemic. Stoops was a highly successful college coach, who could have returned to another college but decided on the leisure-paced spring league.
There will be a lot of NFL experience on XFL coaching staffs
Apart from Stoops, the other seven coaches are an interesting mix. Phillips, former coach of the Los Angeles Rams, has struggled in the recent years obtaining another NFL coaching job. With his experience with professional coaching, Phillips should be a good fit for the spring league.
The remaining coaches Buckley, Ward, Woodson, Barlow, and Becht are former NFL players and could translate their former playing experience into structured coaching skills.
Individual players have not been signed for the 2023 season, and the league has yet to announce whether it will play in local markets or if it will operate from a central location.
Along with the reveal of the coaching staff, the XFL has also announced the hiring of Dean Blandino as the vice president of officiating and playing rules innovation. In addition, the XFL and the NFL Alumni Academy have come to an agreement to help develop players for the 2023 season.
Johnson and Garica have been building out the XFL since it was acquired in 2020 from a bankruptcy court for $15 million. The league has since hired Buffalo Bill’s executive Russ Brandon as league president in November 2021 and football operations are run by former New York Giants executive Marc Ross.