XFL TEAMS and First Weekend Matchups

LET’S FIRST LIST THE TEAMS:

1. DALLAS RENEGADES
2. DC DEFENDERS
3. HOUSTON ROUGHNECKS
4. LOS ANGELES WILDCATS
5. NEW YORK GUARDIANS
6. ST. LOUIS BATTLEHAWKS
7. SEATTLE DRAGONS
8. TAMPA BAY VIPERS

First in order, the Dallas Renegades. Let’s start with the head coach and GM Bob Stoops. He’s got a strong college coaching record specifically since the 1996 season with Florida. His main focus was defense so look for lower scoring against the teams that the Renegades face. He has a 190-48 record with 18 college bowl appearances. However he is 9-9 in those college bowls. They face the St. Louis BattleHawks on Sunday, February 9th.

The BattleHawks are led by head coach and GM, Jonathan Hayes. He actually has NFL playing and coaching experience. He played 12 seasons between 1985 and 1996, with the Kansas City Chiefs(the new NFL champs) and the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was a tight ends coach under Marvin Lewis with Cincinnati Bengals.

Prediction: I am taking the Dallas Renegades over the St. Louis BattleHawks 17-6. I trust Stoops experience more for now. His resume says he can control his locker room better.

Next The DC Defenders. They are hosting the Seattle Dragons on Saturday. The Defenders are being coached by Pep Hamilton. Hamilton has a very assistant coaching experience both in college and the pros. With his experience on the offensive side of the field( He was an offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and wide receivers coach) I am looking for an explosive offense putting up 30-40 points a game. The Dragons are headed by Jim Zorn, who has the fullest career of any of the coaches mentioned, both as a player and a coach. Zorn is also an offensive minded call player. I was going to pick the Defenders to win because they are at home, but given Jim Zorn’s experience, it’s hard to go against . That and the fact that DC is facing a team known as the Dragons.

Prediction: A high scoring game with Seattle edging the Defenders 45-42 in overtime.

The third match-up is my team, the L.A. Wildcats visiting the Houston Roughnecks. The Wildcats are headed by Winston Moss, a former NFL player, linebackers’ coach and the first coach mentioned that has Super Bowl winning experience( as a linebackers coach for the Green Bay Packers). He is a defensive specialist so we’ll see how well his players will pressure the Roughnecks’ QB PJ Walker, who was anounced as Houston’s starting Quarterback on Wednesday. June Jones, the Houston Roughnecks head coach and GM has experience as an NFL quarterback and an NFL head coach but not much success at that level specifically with stubborn, prideful quarterbacks like Jeff George. He has had success at the college level winning 7 bowl appearances out of 9 and was named the WAC coach of the year twice in his tenure with Hawaii.

Prediction: This game should be a true grudge match of offense versus defense but I am giving the edge to the LA wildcats 21-14. This is not an objective prediction.

For the last match, we have the Tampa Bay Vipers visiting the New York Guardians. The Vipers’ Head coach and GM is Marc Trestman, who needs a haircut from what we see in previous pictures but also has college, NFL and CFL coaching experience. He has won 3 Grey cups under his leadership and concentrated on offense as his strength. The Guardians’ head coach is Kevin Gilbride, the former offensive coordinator for many tams including the former super bowl champion New York Giants who upset the New England Patriots in both super bowl appearances(XLII, XLVI). gilbride has shown that his offense can perform best under the greatest pressures.

Prediction: New York Guardians will defeat the Vipers 28-20 simply because they’re at home.