The XFL has completed hiring all eight head coaches for their return to the field in 2023, owners Dany Garcia and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson revealed Wednesday on ESPN’s Get Up!
The list includes former NFL head coaches Wade Phillips and Jim Haslett, as well as longtime Oklahoma Sooners coach Bob Stoops, who played a similar role during the XFL’s pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The remaining coaches are all former NFL players: Terrell Buckley, Hines Ward, Rod Woodson, Reggie Barlow and Anthony Becht.
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Individual team assignments will be made at a later date. The league has not yet announced whether it will play in local markets, like in 2001 and 2020, or operate from a central location.
The XFL coaching news is among a series of announcements made this week, including the hiring of Dean Blandino as vice president of office and rules of the game innovation. It also has an exclusive agreement with the NFL Alumni Academy to support player development.
The spate of news has come as rivals USFL are set to make their debut on Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama, where they will host most of the 2022 season.
Garcia, Johnson and investors at RedBird Capital have been growing the XFL since acquiring it in August 2020 in bankruptcy court for $15 million. The league hired former Buffalo Bills chief executive Russ Brandon as league president in November 2021, and the football operations staff is now headed by former New York Giants executive Marc Ross and former Bills general manager Doug whaley