Bob Stoops, June Jones, Kevin Gilbride, Marc Trestman, Jim Zorn

There are some interesting coaches in the XFL.

There are some rule changes with punt returns. There will not be coffin corner kicks. Out of bounds kicks & end zone kicks have the offense start at the 35-yard line or the point the ball went out of bounds whichever benefits the return team more. The XFL will not allow gunners; all players on a punting team must remain on or behind the line of scrimmage until the ball is kicked. These changes were made to incentivize going for it on 4th down and big returns.

[www.usatoday.com]
Ranking all eight XFL coaches ahead of 2020 season: Where do Bob Stoops, Marc Trestman fall?
Chris Bumbaca
USA TODAY

When the Alliance of American Football launched in 2019, the league hoped coaches with established name recognition could help gain traction and lead to growth.

Steve Spurrier, Mike Riley, Mike Martz and Mike Singletary — all former NFL head coaches — headed up teams. But following some initial buzz, the venture folded unceremoniously.

The revamped XFL, which opens its 2020 slate this weekend, certainly hopes for a more sustained success. The two start-up circuits will look different thanks in part to the XFL's progressive set of rules, but the new league took a page out of the AAF's playbook in bringing on some big names at the top.

The eight coaches may not all be household names, but they are all well-traveled with decades of coaching experience. Here's how the preseason coaching power rankings shake out.

1. Bob Stoops (Dallas Renegades)
Stoops is the most recognizable name on the list, and he also has the best track record, despite this being the first time he will be coaching professionals instead of college players.

At Oklahoma, he was a two-time national coach of the year with a national title and 10 Big 12 championships to his name. He surprisingly retired after 18 years at the helm in 2016, but jumped back in a year ago by agreeing to lead Dallas' XFL squad.

With the Renegades, expect Stoops to run a pass-heavy offense; Hal Mumme, father of the Air Raid, is his offensive coordinator. Stoops, 59, will also be reunited with quarterback Landry Jones, a four-year starter under the coach at Oklahoma (2009-2012).

Bob Stoops was named head coach and general manager of the Dallas Renegades on
XFL 2020:10 players to watch, from former NFL starters to hidden gems

2. June Jones (Houston Roughnecks)
This won't be Jones' first rodeo in a new football league. One of his first jobs came as a wide receivers coach for the Houston Gamblers of the short-lived USFL more than 35 years ago.

Jones served as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons for three seasons (1994-96) before leading two remarkable program turnarounds at the college level over the next 15 years. He took over Hawaii in 1999 and led the Rainbow Warriors to a Sugar Bowl in his final season. He left for SMU, and Jones led the Mustangs to their first bowl win in 25 years during his second season on the job (2009). He resigned following an 0-2 start in 2014. From 2018-19, he went 14-14 as head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League.

3. Pep Hamilton (DC Defenders)
The former Howard quarterback and assistant is back in the nation's capital in his first job as a head coach. Hamilton was an NFL position coach until he was hired as Stanford's offensive coordinator in 2011 under Jim Harbaugh. He then spent three seasons as the Indianapolis Colts' OC, and he reunited with Harbaugh as the assistant head coach and passing game coordinator at the University of Michigan in 2017 and 2018.

The offense never took off, and Hamilton left a few weeks before being named the Defenders coach.

4. Kevin Gilbride (New York Guardians)
Gilbride may best be remembered as the man Buddy Ryan's fist connected with — when the two were both coordinators — on the sideline of a Houston Oilers' game during the 1993 season.

But Gilbride went on to serve as the San Diego Chargers' head coach for two seasons (1997-98) and won two Super Bowls as the offensive coordinator of the New York Giants (2007, 2011). His play-calling became stale by the end of his tenure, however, and he retired in 2013. This is his first job in football since then.

5. Marc Trestman (Tampa Bay Vipers)
Chicago Bears fans remember Trestman as a failed experiment who came from the Canadian Football League. And while it didn't work out for Trestman during his two seasons in the Windy City earlier this decade (13-19), he has won three Grey Cups and also has been an offensive coordinator for five different NFL teams.

6. Winston Moss (Los Angeles Wildcats)
Moss enjoyed a 10-year NFL career as a linebacker and coached the position for the New Orleans Saints (2001-05) and Green Bay Packers (2006-2018). For his final 12 seasons in Green Bay, Moss served as the assistant head coach under Mike McCarthy.

In the XFL, Moss made a key hire on the defensive side of the ball by hiring Pepper Johnson as defensive coordinator. Johnson won two Super Bowls under Bill Belichick and Bill Parcells for the New York Giants as a player, and coached under Belichick in New England from 2000-2013.

7. Jim Zorn (Seattle Dragons)
Another former NFL coach who lasted only two years on the job, Zorn is also well-traveled. He's worked plenty with quarterbacks throughout his career, and he led the Seattle Seahawks from under center during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In his first season as a head coach, the Washington Redskins went 8-8 in 2008. He lost his job following a 4-12 campaign the following year and later coached quarterbacks in Baltimore (2010) and Kansas City (2011-12).

8. Jonathan Hayes (St. Louis Battlehawks)
Compared to a few of his counterparts in this league, Hayes has moved around little. From 2003-2018, he served as the tight ends coach for the Cincinnati Bengals under Marvin Lewis.

When Lewis lost his job following the 2018 season, so did Hayes, whose coaching career began as a special teams/tight ends coach at Oklahoma from 1999-2002. His boss there? Bob Stoops.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2020 09:01AM by Rams Junkie.