“I was surprised the number was that high.” XFL Board’s Greg Parks Talks USFL Coach Defectors to XFL and XFL 2023 Coaching Staff Announcements

by Reid Johnson

On the September 16th episode of The Markcast, Greg Parks contributor to XFL Board joined me to run down the week’s big news with the XFL officially announcing all 8 XFL team coaching staffs ahead of its 2023 kickoff.

Although many XFL and alt-football fans were anxiously awaiting the long-anticipated reveal of the 2023 XFL team nicknames and uniforms, Greg Parks feels like XFL diehards won’t have to wait much longer.

“We're getting closer. We're getting closer, we'll have the team names and logos and jerseys and all of that will be revealed. We got the draft being built, we’ve got the NFL Alumni Academy building their team basically that they're gonna be training which is gonna be of interest to XFL fans and the league itself. Then, you know, the draft in November, which is just two months away, and so the days of having those long waits, I think are coming to an end here very soon.”

Greg wrote a column that details the puzzle pieces that each of the 8 XFL head coaches had to put together when assembling either of their unique 2023 XFL coaching staffs.

“The light bulb sort of goes on. I saw some names that were familiar certainly for the coaching staffs and then you see some names that aren't familiar, but the more you dig into who these people are and the connections they have, it is really interesting. That's really what my column was about, looking at each staff and seeing what those connections were to each other, to the head coach, to the city that they're coaching in because there are a lot of those as well. It was really fascinating, kind of pull it all of those threads. Then you have some coaches that just don't seem to fit at all hat, you know, you have one or two coaches per team where it's like, “How did they come up with this guy?”

Greg believes by analyzing each of the XFL’s 2023 team coaching staffs, fans of alt-football can gather a good sense of how the team is going to look and function when they hit the field in February of next year.

“You look at Reggie Barlow staff in DC, heavily influenced by HBCU schools. Then you have, you know, the, the Jim Haslett staff, the offensive staff is almost all June Jones lieutenants. So you can kind of tell Haslett is sort of giving the offensive reigns to June Jones and, and rightly so.”

A couple of still missing key XFL hires (namely XFL Las Vegas’ offensive coordinator for one) should be filled in the coming months.

“There's still some blanks to be filled think on some of these staffs. We still have Rod Woodson whose offensive coordinator was not announced, although, you know, Mike Mitchell has had the scoop on that for a while now. We'll probably just wait until after the college season, for that to be announced. You've got teams that don't have special teams, coaches, which could simply mean that the special teams coaches may be hired later on. Or, this happens at the college level where there's a limit on the number of assistants they can have, certain aspects of special teams are split up amongst the rest of the coaches on staff.”

One of the biggest takeaways from the XFL’s coaching hires announcement this week, was the fact that 10 current USFL 2022 coaches/coordinators decided to jump ship, taking equal or lesser roles within the XFL.

“10 was you know, honestly, shocking to me, I was surprised the number was that high. I don't know what to chalk that up to. I don't know if the XFL is truly offering significantly more, I don't know, maybe I know a couple of 'em went to XFL Arlington, is the prestige of being on a Bob Stoop staff, maybe too hard to pass up? Maybe it's the time of year, it fits these coaches a lot better at this time in their lives, the XFL schedule in terms of when it's being played? So there are a lot of potential factors as to why, but it did take me by surprise that so many coaches are leaving.”

“Say what you will about the USFL, but they got through year one and they're headed toward year two and there's something to be said for that stability, especially if you're a coach where stability is not the norm. If you look at some of these coaching histories for some of these guys, it is extensive and it is broad and it is across the United States. So stability you would think would count for something and they're taking a shot on a league that although it's very different this time has failed twice and has not gotten through a first season, so that does make you wonder.”

The XFL and the USFL are competing to acquire the best talent both on and off the field, Greg feels given the coaching talent that was available, the XFL did an admirable job.

“Obviously the USFL has taken some of the coaches who otherwise would've been in the XFL, you mentioned the 10 that moved over to the XFL, but there are still some in the USFL that may have, if not for the USFL been on XFL coaching staffs. I think given what was out there and what was available to them, these were pretty well-built staffs.”

Be sure to check out Greg’s full article on xflboard.com and you can listen to our full chat on the YouTube channel.