June Jones returns to Texas for his latest head coaching job.
The state of Texas loves its football. And come next week, Houston will get its second active pro football franchise — the seventh team in the city's history. The XFL made a mistake in its ill-fated first season in 2001 by not including a Texas-based team, but that's been corrected with the establishment of the Houston Roughnecks (along with the Dallas Renegades).
To make sure this team hits the ground running, the XFL installed a head coach with a major connection to both Houston and Texas. June Jones is one of the most respected coaches in the game. He has well over 30 years of experience as both head coach and offensive assistant in the NFL, CFL, and NCAA.
Jones first made himself known to Houston when he coached the wide receivers for the USFL's Gamblers in 1984 and later worked with quarterbacks for the Houston Oilers from 1987-88. Jones made a few other stops before heading to the college ranks at Hawaii (1999-2007), where he introduced the Warriors to the spread offense and guided them to seven winning seasons and two WAC championships. He then returned to Texas in 2008 to coach SMU, where he led the Mustangs to back-to-back Conference USA Championship Game appearances (2009-10) and posted a 3-1 record in bowl games before resigning in 2014.
Now Jones will put his stamp on the Roughnecks and the XFL. And once his team kicks off he'll have a boatload of talent to work with, starting at quarterback. The Roughnecks were assigned former Temple star P.J. Walker but also selected former Michigan State standout Connor Cook during the 2020 XFL Draft in October. These two athletes are among a much wider group of talented players that Jones will get to coach in 2020.
Note: Roster subject to change.
|
No. |
Name |
|
Pos. |
Ht. |
Wt. |
College |
|
1 |
Kahlil |
Lewis |
WR |
5'10" |
190 |
Cincinnati |
|
3 |
Sam |
Mobley |
WR |
5'10" |
175 |
Catawba |
|
5 |
Austin |
Rehkow |
P |
6'3" |
214 |
Idaho |
|
7 |
Sergio |
Castillo |
K |
5'10" |
175 |
West Texas A&M |
|
8 |
Saunders |
Jalen |
WR |
5’9" |
165 |
Oklahoma |
|
10 |
Sammie |
Coates |
WR |
6'1" |
210 |
Auburn |
|
11 |
P.J. |
Walker |
QB |
5'11" |
214 |
Temple |
|
12 |
Trinnaman |
Jonah |
WR |
6’0” |
195 |
BYU |
|
13 |
Ray |
Bolden |
WR |
5'9" |
165 |
Stony Brook |
|
14 |
Cam |
Phillips |
WR |
6'1" |
201 |
Virginia Tech |
|
15 |
Ryheem |
Malone |
WR |
5'9" |
187 |
Louisiana |
|
17 |
Blake |
Jackson |
WR |
5'11" |
200 |
Mary Hardin-Baylor |
|
18 |
Connor |
Cook |
QB |
6'4" |
217 |
Michigan State |
|
20 |
Marqueston |
Huff |
S |
5'11" |
196 |
Wyoming |
|
21 |
Charles |
James II |
CB |
5'9" |
185 |
Charleston Southern |
|
22 |
Corrian |
Ballard |
S |
6'3" |
195 |
Utah |
|
23 |
Trae |
Elston |
S |
5'11" |
193 |
Ole Miss |
|
25 |
Cody |
Brown |
S |
6'1" |
208 |
Arkansas State |
|
26 |
Saivion |
Smith |
CB |
6'1" |
190 |
Alabama |
|
27 |
Ajene |
Harris |
CB |
5'10" |
190 |
USC |
|
28 |
James |
Butler |
RB |
5'10" |
205 |
Nevada/Iowa |
|
29 |
De'Angelo |
Henderson |
RB |
5'8" |
207 |
Coastal Carolina |
|
30 |
Deji |
Olatoye |
CB |
6'1" |
205 |
North Carolina A&T |
|
32 |
Deatrick |
Nichols |
CB |
5'9" |
185 |
South Florida |
|
33 |
Nick |
Holley |
RB |
5'10" |
194 |
Kent State |
|
36 |
Williams |
Marquez |
RB |
5’10” |
259 |
Miami (Fla.) |
|
40 |
Ty |
Schwab |
LB |
6'1" |
225 |
Boston College |
|
41 |
Jeremiah |
Johnson |
CB |
6'1" |
185 |
Concord |
|
42 |
Beniquez |
Brown |
LB |
6'0" |
229 |
Mississippi State |
|
43 |
Carl |
Bradford |
LB |
6'1" |
250 |
Arizona State |
|
44 |
Andre |
Williams |
RB |
6'0" |
220 |
Boston College |
|
47 |
DeMarquis |
Gates |
LB |
6'2" |
221 |
Ole Miss |
|
50 |
Kaelin |
Burnett |
LB |
6'4" |
234 |
Nevada |
|
51 |
Edmond |
Robinson |
LB |
6'3" |
245 |
Newberry |
|
53 |
Drew |
Lewis |
LB |
6'2" |
229 |
Colorado |
|
54 |
LaTroy |
Lewis |
LB |
6'3" |
240 |
Tennessee |
|
56 |
Tejan |
Koroma |
OL |
6'1" |
300 |
BYU |
|
58 |
Colton |
Taylor |
LS |
5'11" |
241 |
Virginia Tech |
|
59 |
Vantrell |
McMillian |
DL |
6'3" |
255 |
Chattanooga |
|
65 |
Demetrius |
Rhaney |
OL |
6'2" |
305 |
Tennessee State |
|
66 |
Marquez |
Tucker |
OL |
6'3" |
300 |
Southern Utah |
|
69 |
Isame |
Faciane |
OL |
6'3" |
300 |
FIU |
|
73 |
Sebastian |
Tretola |
OL |
6'3" |
325 |
Arkansas |
|
74 |
Avery |
Gennesy |
OL |
6'5" |
315 |
Texas A&M |
|
76 |
Juwann |
Bushell-Beatty |
OL |
6'5" |
333 |
Michigan |
|
77 |
Kelvin |
Palmer |
OL |
6'4" |
290 |
Baylor |
|
79 |
Terry |
Poole II |
OL |
6'5" |
307 |
San Diego State |
|
90 |
Johnny |
Maxey |
DE |
6'4" |
293 |
Mars Hill |
|
91 |
Caushaud |
Lyons |
DL |
6'5" |
284 |
Tusculum |
|
93 |
Corey |
Crawford |
DE |
6'5" |
283 |
Clemson |
|
94 |
Kony |
Ealy |
DE |
6'4" |
273 |
Missouri |
|
96 |
Walter |
Palmore |
DL |
6'4" |
320 |
Missouri |
|
97 |
Gabe |
Wright |
DL |
6'3" |
285 |
Auburn |
|
98 |
Nick |
James |
DL |
6'4" |
314 |
Mississippi State |
