Coach Terrell Buckley revamps Orlando Guardians ahead of XFL 2024 season
Terrell Buckley is revamping the Orlando Guardians in his second year as head coach, dubbing it the “Guardian Way.”
“We have been changing the roster and getting better players; bigger, faster, and stronger players,” he said. “We switched some things up with the offensive staff and the defensive staff. It could be a 65%-70% change with the players and coaches.”
The Guardians come off a 1-9 record in their inaugural XFL season. Buckley blames his inexperience for the Guardians’ last-place finish.
“I was very excited last year, but not aware of what it took in the league [to win],” he said. “We had a lot of players that hadn’t played in a long time. It didn’t work the way we wanted it to last year, but we feel that with the changes that have been made, from a talent-perspective and how we scout, one year to the second year will be so different.”
Buckley’s focus is finding young players with recent experience. He scouted the showcases of undrafted players in Atlanta (June 18), St. Louis (July 7), Washington D.C. (July 9), Houston (July 14) and Arizona (July 16) and the top performers competed at the XFL combine in Arlington, Texas, last week. He will continue to evaluate and narrow his prospects.
“We now understand what the league is about, what is expected, what it is going to take [to win],” said Buckley. “Anytime you get young men out there that are in shape, ready, have some football IQ, compete, and are just as excited as you, you can’t go wrong with that. All of the showcases [stood out to me] because of the commitment, desire, and effort these young men gave.”
The Guardians’ coaching staff is meticulous in their recruiting.
“We write up every player,” said Buckley. “It is a daunting task. We give ourselves two or three weeks to get it done. We evaluate the guys [we like] as a group and further narrow down what we need. This year, what I wanted us to do is look at our stats from last year — the good, the bad, the ugly — to make sure we take care of the ugly first. What position is that? What do we need? If you do your due diligence, you can really pinpoint those areas to improve.”
The Guardians ranked second in the league in passing yards (2,311), fourth in passing touchdowns (18) and fifth in rushing yards (896). However, they ranked last in points-allowed (310) and were outscored by 20 or more in three games.
Buckley already made improvements to his defensive side, acquiring linemen Terry Hampton (Arkansas), KD Hill (Ole Miss), Brock Martin (Oklahoma State); linebackers Kosi Eldridge (Texas Tech) and Jacquez Jones (Kentucky); and defensive backs Darius Joiner (Duke) and Keyron Kinsler Jr. (Alcorn State) in the rookie draft on June 16.
“We’re always learning,” said Buckley. “I personally took five-six weeks to evaluate everything. I took on some extra knowledge and read some different books to figure out what we can do better to reshape this team.”
The new season is distant, giving Buckley time to finish the revamp. The Guardians’ first game is on Feb. 18 against the Houston Roughnecks.
“We are very excited about what is happening in the offseason with the growth of everybody, the organization, the league,” he said. “We’re excited about the future and what it holds. We will bring in some different talents and change our structure and mindset to prove our work.”
