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Former Washington defensive coordinator Jim Haslett is not fondly remembered by the team’s fans. Haslett’s defenses struggled during his five-year tenure with the Commanders under Mike Shanahan (four seasons) and Jay Gruden (one season).
After being out of the spotlight working as an NFL position coach for the most part since Washington fired him after the 2014 season, Haslett is back in the news.
XFL co-owners Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Dany Garcia appeared on “Get Up” on ESPN Wednesday and announced the eight head coaches for the league’s relaunch in 2023. The 66-year-old Haslett will lead one of those eight XFL franchises.
After departing Washington, Haslett spent one season at Penn State as a consultant, three seasons with the Bengals as a linebackers coach and the past two seasons with the Titans as an inside linebackers coach.
Haslett is a former NFL head coach and was named NFL coach of the year back in 2000 with the New Orleans Saints.
Here are the other XFL head coaches:
- Wade Phillips
- Hines Ward
- Bob Stoops
- Rod Woodson
- Anthony Becht
- Reggie Barlow
- Terrell Buckley
Phillips is one of the best defensive coordinators of all time and has been an NFL head coach for multiple teams. Stoops is a national championship coach from Oklahoma, who was with the XFL in its previous relaunch in 2020.
Ward, Buckley, Barlow, Becht, Woodson and Haslett are all former NFL players.
Individual team assignments will be named at a later date.
Garcia and Johnson acquired the XFL in August 2020 for $15 million.