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XFL formally announces league cities for return in 2023

Wade Phillips will serve as Head Coach of Houston team that debuts in February

Houston Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips makes his way across the field to talk with the media after an NFL football practice Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2011, in Houston. Phillips will take a medical leave due to a scheduled surgical procedure later this week. He is expected to return later this season. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip) (David J. Phillip, Associated Press)

ARLINGTON – The XFL is coming back again! The question is will it survive? News leaked back in the spring that the league would return in 2023 and that Houston would again field a team led by Head Coach Wade Phillips. Sunday night in Arlington the XFL formally announced the details of their third version.

The announcement was made by Dany Garcia, Chairwoman and Owner, and Dwayne Johnson, Owner, at an XFL Townhall event hosted at Texas Live! in Arlington, Texas.

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The University of Houston’s TDECU Stadium will serve as one of eight host sites for the XFL as the league announced the cities and venues that its teams will call home starting with the upcoming season which will kick off on Feb. 18, 2023.

Wade Phillips, a three-year starting linebacker at Houston (1966-68) who owned the Cougars’ tackle assists record until 2011, will serve as head coach. Over his 40-year career, Phillips has coached at the college and pro-level with Oklahoma State, Kansas, the Houston Oilers, New Orleans Saints, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans and Los Angeles Rams – including as Head Coach for the Saints, Broncos, Bills, Falcons, Cowboys and Texans.

“It is a real honor to be the Head Coach here in Houston, a city that I’ve called home for many, many years,” Phillips said. “I know Houston fans better than anyone, and I know that we’re going to have a good turnout and a great time at our games. We’re going to have a team that is going to play as hard, and we’ll come out with victories.”


About the Author
Randy McIlvoy headshot

KPRC 2 Sports Director since 2004. Covers the Astros, Texans, Rockets, Dynamo, Dash and a few hundred local high schools across the Greater Houston Area

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