Former Saints coaches Jim Haslett, Wade Phillips now leading XFL teams
This is cool: the XFL announced their eight head coaches for the 2023 season on Wednesday, including two coaches with New Orleans Saints ties. Jim Haslett worked as Saints head coach from 2000 to 2005, and he’s joined on the XFL’s roster by Wade Phillips, New Orleans’ defensive coordinator from 1981 to 1985 and whose Saints run ended as interim head coach. We don’t yet know whether the XFL is returning to the same cities as last time, or which teams each coach will be running.
The other six XFL head coaches include Bob Stoops, Terrell Buckley, Hines Ward, Rod Woodson, Reggie Barlow, and Anthony Becht. Of that group, only Stoops returns from the XFL’s first relaunch back in 2020. The start-up spring league did well with national broadcasts on FOX and some crossover appeal through sideline reporting from Saints star Cameron Jordan, but the COVID-19 pandemic put an early stop to it. The XFL has since changed ownership and is now being managed by an investment group headlined by Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia.
As for Haslett: he guided the Saints to the franchise’s first playoff victory in his first year on the job, going 45-51 as head coach before his dismissal after the 2005 season – which the Saints played entirely on the road in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Over the years Haslett has worked as a defensive coordinator and position coach in the NFL, most recently joining the Tennessee Titans as inside linebackers coach in 2020.
Phillips first arrived in New Orleans as defensive coordinator for his father, former Saints head coach Bud Phillips. He went on to work as a defensive coordinator for seven different NFL teams with stops as a head coach for the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills, and Dallas Cowboys, with interim looks on the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans. He’s accomplished an 82-64 record in the regular season but just 1-5 in the playoffs. We’ll see where Phillips and Haslett end up coaching and how often they’ll be running up against each other once the XFL shares more details.
