The XFL announced all eight head coaches for its 2023 return to the field. Owners Dany Garcia and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson released the coach names Wednesday on ESPN. Among the head coaches named was former Dallas Cowboys Head Coach Wade Phillips.
Another big name alongside Wade Phillips is longtime Oklahoma Sooners coach Bob Stoops. Stoops also coached the Dallas Renegades during the XFL’s pre-pandemic season. Other named coaches are Reggie Barlow, Anthony Becht, Terrell Buckley, Jim Haslett, Hines Ward, and Rod Woodson.
Individual team assignments for the coaches will be made at a later date. The league has not yet announced if the same teams from the 2020 pre-pandemic season will return and whether it will play its games in local markets or if all games will take place at a central location.
“Our head coaches are a diverse group of leaders, champions, and Hall of Famers with experience competing and coaching at the highest level in football,” said Garcia. “Not only will they be mentors to our players, but they are also ambassadors of the XFL as we work together to build tomorrow’s league,”
Stoops is best known as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners from 1999 to 2016, winning a national championship (2000) and ten Big 12 conference championships with the Sooners. He had a 191-48 record over his 33-year college career and is the winningest coach in Oklahoma history.
Stoops stepped in as the interim coach for the Sooners in December’s Alamo Bowl win over Oregon. Stoops was stepping in for Lincoln Riley, who left Oklahoma to become the head coach of the USC Trojans after the regular season.
Wade Phillips’ coaching career spans over 40 years at the college and professional levels, mainly as a defensive coordinator. He became the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys in 2007 and won two NFC East division titles. However, he was fired midway through the 2010 season after a 1-7 start.
The coaching hires announcement is the second major announcement for the XFL this week. It has also announced an exclusive agreement with the NFL to help develop players.
