How JaVonta Payton rocketed to XFL title game with Josh Heupel, Mike Leach connection

JaVonta Payton knew his XFL career could take a turn for the better when his new coach immediately mentioned Josh Heupel and Mike Leach, his two college coaches.

Payton didn’t know that journey would end in the XFL Championship, where he will lead the Arlington Renegades against the D.C. Defenders on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, ABC) at The Alamodome in San Antonio.

In March, Payton had just left the Orlando Guardians and arrived in Arlington. The Renegades acquired him in a midseason three-team trade because coach Bob Stoops wanted to add a deep threat to his passing game.

Payton, who caught passes for Heupel at Tennessee and Leach at Mississippi State, had the tools to fill the need.

“It’s hard to hide speed,” Payton said.

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Stoops and his offensive coaches met Payton and told him they had watched him for years. He had no idea why.

It all went back to connections at Oklahoma more than two decades ago, around the time Payton, a Nashville native, was born.

Stoops was Heupel’s coach when he guided Oklahoma to the 2000 national championship as a Heisman Trophy runner-up quarterback. Then Heupel coached the Sooners' offense until Stoops fired him in 2014, which cooled their relationship.

In 1999, Leach was Oklahoma’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He worked under Stoops and tutored Heupel.

The Renegades coaching staff is an extension of those Oklahoma teams. Stoops’ XFL co-offensive coordinators, Jonathan Hayes and Chuck Long, were also his assistants on those Sooners staffs alongside Leach and Heupel.

Their styles of offense have diverged over time. But they still kept an eye on branches of the Stoops coaching tree and the players that they coached, including Payton.

“I didn’t know how close all these coaches were until I got here,” Payton said. “But I learned about it in that first conversation on the first day. It helped that they were aware of what I could do because they saw me in college.”

But that's just part of Payton's path to the XFL Championship, where he'll face two other former Tennessee players.

Three former Vols are vying for XFL title

Payton, a former Hillsboro standout, transferred from Mississippi State to Tennessee for Heupel’s 2021 debut season. He led the SEC with a 22.9 yards-per-catch average and recorded 413 yards receiving and six touchdowns.

In the XFL, it took Payton time to adjust to the Renegades after the trade. He caught 11 passes for 164 yards in nine games during the regular season.

But he caught fire in the XFL Division Championship last week, when he made five catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns in Arlington’s 26-11 win over Houston.

Tight ends Ethan Wolf and Alex Ellis, both former Tennessee players, are on the D.C. Defenders.

Wolf was a four-year starter for Butch Jones from 2014-17. He was an undrafted free agent for the Tennessee Titans, bounced around seven NFL teams, played two games for the New Orleans Saints and got cut a year ago.

Ellis played for Derek Dooley and Jones from 2011-15. He played three NFL seasons for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles and finished on the Arizona Cardinals practice squad in 2021.

Ellis was part of that three-team trade that sent Payton to Arlington.

The former Tennessee tight ends helped the D.C. Defenders reach the XFL title game. Wolf caught a 26-yard TD pass in the Division Championship, and Ellis had a 10-yard catch.

How Payton went from Vols to NFL to XFL

The XFL has an official relationship with the NFL, and virtually all of its players are trying to get from the minor league to the big time.

Payton got a small taste. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Arizona Cardinals but was released in September.

Payton returned to Nashville, trained for his next chance at pro football and worked for Lumenate, a lighting company based in Brentwood and Nashville.

“I’ve had to move a lot,” Payton said. “But that’s part of the job and something you’ve got to do if you want to play football like this.”

XFL players are paid $59,000 in base salary for a 10-game season and a five-week training camp. They also get room and board as well as health, dental and vision insurance.

Payton thinks it’s a good stop in his pro football path, but he hopes it leads back to the NFL. He landed multiple NFL tryouts last season, the latest coming in January with the Cincinnati Bengals.

“Guys here speak about the NFL all the time. We all want to get to that next level,” Payton said. “I’ve got one week left (in this XFL season), and guys are getting called by (NFL) teams. So we’ll see what happens.”

Adam Sparks is the Tennessee football beat reporter. Email adam.sparks@knoxnews.com. Twitter @AdamSparks. Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.  

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: XFL: JaVonta Payton in title game with Josh Heupel, Mike Leach link