After months of anticipation the XFL ended their coaching announcement tour in the same state that it kicked off. Today’s press conference took place at TDECU Stadium, the future home of the Houston franchise to announce the last Head Coach/General Manager. We were lucky enough to receive an invite, here is a recap of the event.

Janis Burke, CEO of the Houston Sports Authority kicked everything off by questioning whether she should say Aloha or Howdy. She welcomed everyone to and mentioned that Houston is the countries most diverse city, which in turn makes it a hotbed for sports fans. She ended by welcoming new President of XFL Houston, Brian Michael Cooper to the stage.

Cooper stated that his goals are to build an organization that indispensable to the community. He plans on contributing to Houston’s economy by creating more jobs and hiring the best people within the city. He looks forward to building a fun, accessible and affordable product that is family friendly. He then announced CEO and Commissioner Oliver Luck.

Luck took the stage and gave his usual business updates, noting a few new items that haven’t been discussed yet.

Spoke on the partnership with Elevate Ticket Sales

Discussed the XFL’s broadcast partners and schedule (ABC/ESPN and FOX/FS1)

The Summer Showcase is the XFL’s their twist on NFL combine An event will take place in all eight markets Coaches and scouts will be on site Former NFL players, top free agents are invited College players will not lose college eligibility for attending



Luck then turned his attention to the man of the hour, the new Head Coach/GM of XFL Houston.

Coaching career spans over three decades

Played QB for five years on the Atlanta Falcons (NFL) and the Toronto Argonaughts (CFL)

Joined Falcons as an un-drafted free agent out of Portland State University

Led the nation in passing and total offence for PSU

Coaching career includes two stops in Houston as assistant WR Coach for the Houston Gamblers (USFL) QB Coach for the Houston Oilers (NFL)

Head Coach for Southern Methodist, University of Hawaii, San Diego Chargers, Atlanta Falcons and most recently the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats

He then officially named June Jones as Head Coach/General Manager and brought him out to the stage.

Jones came out donning a Lei and a Hawaii’n shirt. They XFL was handing out lei’s prior to the event and I believe there was only one other person beside myself that accepted it upon entrance. He is very happy to be back in the city of Houston and complimented the facility on the upgrades they’ve made since he was last in town.

He then took the time to thank two of his friends which were Navy Seals, stating the Memorial Day is around the corner so he wanted to publicly show his appreciation.

Jones said that this new XFL reminds him of the USFL, and as he started speaking with Oliver Luck he’s really excited to find the new players and build the team as he did in the past.

He also spoke about talking to both Gilbride and Trestman prior to signing with the league. Also saying that he is really close both of them and became really good friends with Trestman during his time in the XFL.

When asked why he would jump from the XFL to the XFL, he said that it was a hard decision for him to make. He loved his time in Canada due to the play style, and he thinks they’ll have similar game play in the new XFL.

He said he’s coached a lot of different places, but it’s special to be back where he started in Houston. Jones said that when he watched ESPN’s 30 for 30 on the original XFL, he knew when he saw Vince McMahon speak at the end that the league would be coming back and that Vince would make it work this time around.

He was asked if he would take the same run and shoot approach to offense in his new role. He responded by saying that he had the awesome chance to spend time with Bill Walsh in Hawaii and he helped him tweak his style. He also spoke about his tempo and how he likes to keep everything upbeat.

He ended the event by thanking McMahon, the XFL and everyone in attendance. You can view pictures from the event and watch the full press conference below.