| Houston Roughnecks | |
|---|---|
| Established 2018 | |
.png){kind=logo} | |
| League/conference affiliations | |
XFL (2020–2023)
| |
Current uniform | |
| Team colors | Navy, red[1] |
| Personnel | |
| Owner(s) | Alpha Acquico, LLC[2]
|
| Head coach | June Jones (2020) Wade Phillips (2023) |
| Team history | |
| |
| Championships | |
| League championships (0) | |
| Conference championships (0) | |
Division championships (1)
| |
| Playoff appearances (1) | |
| |
| Home stadium(s) | |
| |
TheHouston Roughnecks were a professionalAmerican football team based inHouston, Texas. The Roughnecks competed in theXFL football league. The team was founded byVince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and were an owned-and-operated byDwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. The Roughnecks played their home games atTDECU Stadium. The Roughnecks had a franchise regular season record of 12-3 (.800), the highest win percentage among all XFL teams (tied withDC Defenders).
Following the merger of theUSFL and XFL in 2024 as theUnited Football League, the Roughnecks branding was transferred to the formerHouston Gamblers, which had competed in the USFL in 2022 and 2023 as atraveling team.
On December 5, 2018, Houston was announced as one of eight cities that would join the newly reformed XFL, as well asSeattle,St. Louis,Los Angeles,New York,DC,Tampa Bay, andDallas.[3] On May 13, 2019,June Jones left his position with theHamilton Tiger-Cats to become Houston's head coach.[4] The XFL confirmed the hire May 20.
On October 15, 2019, the Roughnecks announced their first player in team history, being assigned formerTemple Owls QBP. J. Walker.[5]
On February 8, 2020, the Roughnecks defeated theLos Angeles Wildcats in the second game in league history by a score of 37–17.[6] The XFL announced that the remainder of the2020 XFL season had been canceled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic. The team finished with an undefeated regular season 5–0 record. On April 10, 2020, the XFL suspended operations, with all employees, players, and staff being terminated.[7]
On August 3, 2020, it was reported that a consortium led byDwayne "The Rock" Johnson,Dany Garcia, and Gerry Cardinale (through Cardinale's fund RedBird Capital Partners) purchased the XFL for $15 million just hours before an auction could take place; the purchase received court approval on August 7, 2020.[8][9] The XFL hiredWade Phillips as a head coach on April 13, 2022, with the expectation that he would be coaching the Houston team.[10] On July 24, 2022, the return of a Houston XFL franchise was confirmed, as well as the hiring of Wade Phillips.[11] On October 31, 2022, the XFL officially announced that the Roughnecks name would be returning, with a new logo.
.png){kind=logo}
On January 8, 2021, it was revealed that theNFL filed an opposition against the XFL's trademark application for the Houston Roughnecks logo on December 28, 2020, claiming that the logo was too similar to theHouston Oilers logo.[12] It was then later revealed that the NFL filed another trademark opposition to the Roughneck's secondary logo on behalf of theNew England Patriots, claiming that the secondary logo was too similar to the Patriots' current logo.[13] On April 7, 2021, it was revealed that the two logos were abandoned "with prejudice" which means that new applications for the logos could not be made.[14]
The Roughnecks revealed their new logo on October 31, 2022, which is similar in shape to the previousderrick logo but with greater emphasis on the H (stylized to appear as if constructed from steel girders) and the star portion lowered so that the logo no longer explicitly resembles a derrick.
The Roughnecks released a large portion of its roster ahead of the 2024 season[15] and reassigned Phillips and his staff to theSan Antonio Brahmas.[16] At the same time, theUnited States Football League, ahead of its planned merger with the XFL for 2024, indicated that its putative Houston team, theGamblers (which never played in Houston during its two years in that league), would be one of the four surviving teams in said merger in a notice to its players union.[17] With the announcement of the merger on December 31,The Washington Post reported that the merged league's Houston team would take on the Roughnecks identity.[18] The UFL confirmed this on January 1, 2024.[19] The former Gamblers would play the next two seasons under the Roughnecks brand before incoming ownerMike Repole chose to discontinue it in favor of returning to the more "iconic" Gamblers identity prior to the2026 season.[20]
| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | ||||
| Houston Roughnecks | ||||||||||
| 1 | June Jones | 2020 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | - | - | - | *2020 XFL Head Coach of the Year |
| 2 | Wade Phillips | 2023 | 10 | 7 | 3 | .700 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | ||||
| Houston Roughnecks | ||||||||||
| 1 | Chris Miller | 2020 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | - | - | - | |
| 2 | A. J. Smith | 2023 | 10 | 7 | 3 | .700 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | ||||
| Houston Roughnecks | ||||||||||
| 1 | Ted Cottrell | 2020 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 1.000 | - | - | - | |
| 2 | Brian Stewart | 2023 | 10 | 7 | 3 | .700 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| XFL Season | Pos | Name | NFL Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | WR | Michael Bandy | Denver Broncos |
| 2023 | DT | Jack Heflin | Los Angeles Rams |
| 2023 | DE | C. J. Brewer | Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| XFL Season | Pos | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | QB | Connor Cook | FormerOakland Raiders Quarterback, 2016 4th Round Pick |
| 2020 | DE | Kony Ealy | FormerCarolina Panthers Defensive Tackle, 2014 2nd Round Pick |
| 2023 | SS | Sean Davis | FormerPittsburgh Steelers Defensive Back, 2016 2nd Round Pick |
| Team | Record | Win % |
|---|---|---|
| Arlington Renegades | 3-0 | 1.000 |
| San Antonio Brahmas | 2-0 | 1.000 |
| Vegas Vipers | 2-0 | 1.000 |
| Orlando Guardians | 2-0 | 1.000 |
| Los Angeles Wildcats | 1-0 | 1.000 |
| Seattle Sea Dragons | 1-1 | .500 |
| St. Louis Battlehawks | 1-1 | .500 |
| DC Defenders | 0-1 | .000 |
| XFL champions§ | Division champions^ | Wild Card berth# |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | Awards | Head coaches | Pct. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | W | L | |||||||||
| 2020 | 2020 | XFL | West | 1st | 5 | 0 | Season Suspended after 5 games due toCOVID-19 | June Jones (COY) | June Jones | 1.000 | |
| 2021 | No Season | ||||||||||
| 2022 | |||||||||||
| 2023 | 2023 | XFL | South | 1st^ | 7 | 3 | Lost Division Finals (Renegades) 11–26 | Wade Phillips | .700 | ||
| Total | 12 | 3 | All-time regular season record (2020–2023) | .800 | |||||||
| 0 | 1 | All-time postseason record (2020–2023) | .000 | ||||||||
| 12 | 4 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2020–2023) | .750 | ||||||||
| All-time Roughnecks leaders | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leader | Player | Record | Years with Roughnecks | |
| Passing Yards | Brandon Silvers | 1,551 passing yards | 2023 | |
| Passing Touchdowns | P. J. Walker | 15 passing touchdowns | 2020 | |
| Rushing Yards | Max Borghi | 310 rushing yards | 2023 | |
| Rushing Touchdowns | Max Borghi | 6 rushing touchdowns | 2023 | |
| Receiving Yards | Cam Phillips | 455 receiving yards | 2020 | |
| Receiving Touchdowns | Cam Phillips | 9 receiving touchdowns | 2020 | |
| Receptions | Cedric Byrd | 37 receptions | 2023 | |
| Tackles | Tavante Beckett | 63 tackles | 2023 | |
| Sacks | Trent Harris | 9.5 sacks | 2023 | |
| Interceptions | Ajene Harris | 5 interceptions | 2020–2023 | |
| Coaching wins | Wade Phillips | 7 wins | 2023 | |
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