Two days ago we witnessed XFL New York unveil Kevin Gilbride as Head Coach/GM and Janet Duch as President of the franchise.

Today we head to the mid-west to The Dome in St. Louis, where Oliver Luck and company are in town to announce Jonathon Hayes as the Head Coach/GM of the upcoming team in St. Louis.

President of Explore St. Louis, Kitty Ratcliffe opened the event to speak about how excited she is that the XFL is coming to St. Louis. She also spoke about The Dome specifically mentioning that they still hold over 35 events a year, which occupies the Dome for at minimum 200 days. She ended by saying that she is happy that football is back in The Dome and welcome Oliver Luck to the stage.

Luck came out and welcomed everyone to the event and spoke about how much he loved the mid-west and how much it pleasures him to be back. He then spoke about his memories of the St. Louis Cardinal rivalry with the Houston Oilers. He sympathizes with the St. Louis fans due to them losing not only one, but two football teams. His goal is to bring a team to St. Louis that fans will embrace and be passionate about.

Luck said that they were looking for coached that would understand and embrace the type of game the XFL is trying to create. They are looking for coaches that will be passionate about trying new innovations in the game. They’ve vetting led them to previous head coaches as well as members of all coaching levels.

Played in 3 AFC title games

Played in a Super Bowl

Coached with Bob Stoops at OU

13 years as Tight End coach for the Cincinnati Bengals

Luck then officially announced and welcomed Jonathon Hayes to the city of St. Louis. Hayes joined Luck and thanked everyone in the room and spoke about how excited he is to be joining the XFL. Hayes went on to talk about how St. Louis is a great sports city and that he is ecstatic to bring football back to the city. The one thing that he hopes for is that the city supports the team, and wants the Dome to be so loud that visiting teams do not want to play there.

He’s excited about the rule changes, and looks forward to helping create a faster paced game. He fully plans to experiment with the new styles of play, which may differentiate him from the other coaches. He ended it by saying that the team is here to stay, and that there is no worry that the XFL will be in St. Louis for years to come. He plans on being a team for the city, and help by giving back to the community. Hayes ended it by saying he is already working on building a staff and he’s close to where he wants to be.

There you have it folks, the rumors were true. Jonathon Hayes is officially the Head Coach/GM of the XFL St. Louis franchise. No dates are set yet, but it sounds like Los Angeles is next, with Houston being the last announcement on the trail. We’ll keep you posted as we learn more.