The Super Bowl may have been last Sunday, but that doesn’t mean football is done.
The XFL is back on the gridiron after a COVID-shortened attempt in 2020 and an original failed attempt in 2001.
Set to begin on Saturday (Feb. 18), a new ownership group headlined by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and his business partner Dany Garcia are looking to reverse the league’s fortunes and make the XFL the first sustainable spring football league.
Not much has changed since the first reinstatement, but some new teams and a slew of new rule changes makes this league an exciting watch for every football fan. Below, Celeb Secrets has compiled everything you need to know about the upcoming XFL season.
A league divided.
Who owns the North?
Who runs the South?Kickoff February 18th. #XFL2023 pic.twitter.com/IQeSHAwrsO
— UFL (@XFL2023) January 5, 2023
Teams
Five of the eight teams from the 2020 season are back, and the other three – Los Angeles, New York and Tampa Bay – have relocated to other cities. Here are all the teams, their head coaches and their home stadiums:
North Division
D.C. Defenders:
Head coach: Reggie Barlow
Home stadium: Audi Field
Seattle Sea Dragons:
Head coach: Jim Haslett
Home stadium: Lumen Field
St. Louis Battlehawks:
Head coach: Anthony Becht
Home stadium: The Dome at America’s Center
Vegas Vipers:
Head coach: Rod Woodson
Home stadium: Cashman Field
South Division
Arlington Renegades:
Head coach: Bob Stoops
Home stadium: Choctaw Stadium
Houston Roughnecks:
Head coach: Wade Phillips
Home stadium: TDECU Stadium
Orlando Guardians:
Head coach: Terrell Buckley
Home stadium: Camping World Stadium
San Antonio Brahmas:
Head coach: Hines Ward
Home stadium: Alamodome
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Players
The makeup of players is mostly NFL backups and journeymen, but there are a few recognizable names amongst the crowd. Guys like Josh Gordon, Martavis Bryant, Ben DiNucci, Vic Beasley, Will Hill, A.J. McCarron, Paxton Lynch and Marquette King are some of the notable faces you’ll see on the field this spring. Doug Whaley, the XFL’s senior vice president of player personnel, describes the player base as Nos. 53-75 on an NFL training camp roster.
“It’s players that need to determine, and we as a league need to determine, whether they’re really just good college players that aren’t good enough to be NFL players or if they are NFL players that, for whatever circumstances, haven’t had the light shined on them to show that they can make it,” Whaley said. “There’s a tranche of players in there that can play really good football, and as we’ve been saying and I’ve been saying, we are either going to be a launching pad for NFL careers or a soft landing where people can still live out their dream of playing professional football and then transition to another phase of their life.”
🗣 THIS. IS. THE. XFL.
Familiar names to keep an eye on with the #XFL set to return this weekend! pic.twitter.com/46WgHi7drl
— The 33rd Team (@The33rdTeamFB) February 17, 2023
Rules
Just like 2020, kickoffs will consist of both teams being five yards apart from each other. Only the kicker and the returner are allowed to move until the ball is caught or is on the ground for three seconds. This is done in order to decrease injuries and encourage more returns, which proved effective as the league returned 92% of kicks in 2020. The NFL rate this past season was 40%.
Speaking of kickoffs, there is an alternative to an onside kick in the fourth quarter. A team can now elect to try a fourth-and-15 from their own 25-yard line, and if converted they can keep the ball. This can only be done in the fourth quarter, and any other onside attempts during any other quarter must be done the traditional way.
There is also an exciting twist on the extra point. Instead of the traditional one-point kick or two-point conversion, teams can instead opt to run a 1-point-attempt play from the opponent’s 2-yard line, a 2-point play from the 5 and a 3-point play from the 10. This means a nine-point possession is a very realistic possibility.
We are going ALL in. #XFL2023 pic.twitter.com/eD0Hr7KJV2
— Vegas Vipers (@XFLVipers) December 7, 2022
Overtime rules can be slightly compared to college rules. Each team will get a minimum of three chances to score from their opponents’ five-yard line, with a successful try yielding two points. After the three tries, if there is still a tie the teams will repeat the process until there is a winner.
The new replay rules might be music to NFL fans’ ears, as the XFL is revolutionizing the way review is done. All reviews will be initiated by a centralized replay booth, and this replay may correct obvious errors on non-reviewable plays, player safety at any point during the game and any issue that significantly impacts the outcome of the game in the last five minutes of regulation plus overtime. Additionally, each head coach is allowed one “golden challenge” per game which they can use to argue any officiating decision, including penalties. No other level of football gives you the opportunity to challenge penalties.
Other small changes include a 35-second play clock, stoppages on first downs inside two minutes of both halves and the esteemed double forward pass, where you can still throw the ball downfield if the recipient of the first forward pass stays behind the line of scrimmage.
You don't have to be perfect. You just have to be persistent.. Tomorrow we go to work 🏈 #GodIsGood pic.twitter.com/Q4fCCwCxEV
— Jordan Smallwood (@Jsmalls_17) February 17, 2023
Where to Watch
The league signed a deal with ESPN/Disney to air every game on the sport conglomerate’s family of networks. In total, seven games will be broadcast on ABC, 22 will be on a combination of ESPN and ESPN2 and 15 will air on FX. ESPN+ will also be streaming every game. The first game is the Vegas Vipers at Arlington Renegades at 3 p.m. ET on Feb. 18.
If you’re itching for more XFL content when games aren’t live, the league has developed a nine-part docuseries titled “Player 54: Chasing the XFL Dream” that airs on ESPN channels. It follows the creation of the league under new ownership and highlights the development of its players and coaches throughout the entire season.
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What do you think about the upcoming XFL season? Let us know by leaving a reaction at the bottom of this post or by tweeting us @celebsecrets.
