From June Jones as the head coach to Johnny Manziel's potential future

What you need to know about the XFL in Houston

What you need to know about the XFL in Houston
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New XFL Houston Head Coach June Jones

The XFL announced their final head coach in Houston at TDECU stadium which will serve as their home in 2020. Here is what you need to know about the XFL coming to Houston.

June Jones and his offense first mentality

The well traveled June Jones will coach the XFL Houston team. He returns back to professional football in Houston for the third time in his coaching career. Previously he was the wide receivers coach for the USFL's Houston Gamblers and the quarterbacks coach for the Oilers.

He has been a head coach a number of places including for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL, SMU and Hawaii in college, and recently with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League.

Jones praised the XFL's forward-thinking attitude about offense and its draw to fans. He mentioned multiple times his plans to have an offensive attack that resembles the ones he has previously implemented.

What about Johnny Football?

June Jones coached Johnny Manziel in the CFL when Manziel was on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Jones praised Manziel and said he enjoyed working with him in the time he coached him in the CFL.

Jones ultimately left it up to the league for Manziel's future. XFL owner Vince McMahon said at the league's introduction press conference "If you have any sort of criminal record or commit a crime, you aren't playing in this league."

It remains to be seen if that will be a situation that is enforced on Manziel.

The XFL Showcase

CEO and XFL Commissioner Oliver Luck gave some more details on the future of the XFL.

The biggest news was the upcoming eight XFL showcases the league has planned. The XFL will be inviting players eligible to play in the league for a tryout/combine event. Luck also mentioned current college players could attend these workouts and doing so wouldn't compromise their eligibility with their schools.

Every XFL city will have one of these tryouts. Luck also mentioned their coaches would be attending NFL training camps around the nation in hopes of scouting players that could end up in the XFL.

The league is scheduled to tentatively hold its draft in October.

The Houston ______ of the XFL

None of the eight XFL teams have names or color schemes yet. Oliver Luck said they are in the process of determining what those may be.

Luck said they are working with outside agencies as well as the creative department of Vince McMahon's WWE to come up with names and schemes for the teams to use.

When pressed about honoring some of the football history in this city, such as using the Oilers Columbia Blue colors, Luck smiled and politely declined to get into specifics. He did though mention when he was the president of the Houston Dynamo the soccer club had a Columbia Blue alternate jersey.

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Rockets defeat the Warriors, 91-90. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Jalen Green made two free throws with 3.5 seconds left and the Houston Rockets beat the Golden State Warriors 91-90 on Wednesday night to advance to the NBA Cup semifinals in Las Vegas.

Houston snapped a 15-game skid against the Warriors, winning for the first time in the series since Feb. 20, 2020. The Rockets will face Oklahoma City, which beat Dallas in the other West quarterfinal game on Tuesday night, in the semifinals on Saturday.

Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 26 points and 11 rebounds and Jabari Smith Jr. added 15 points.

Houston led by 14 before falling behind late to set up the thrilling finish.

Houston trailed by six with about 1 1/2 minutes left before Fred VanVleet made a 3-pointer and Sengun added a layup with 27 seconds to go to cut the lead to one.

Stephen Curry missed a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left and Gary Payton II grabbed the rebound, but Green intercepted his pass and was fouled by Jonathan Kuminga to set up the winning free throws.

The Warriors had a chance to win it at the buzzer but Smith blocked Brandin Podziemski’s 3-point attempt.

Takeaways

Warriors: Golden State beat the Rockets twice this season without Curry before losing Wednesday in a game where he had 19 points.

Rockets: This young team showed poise in finishing this one after squandering a double-digit lead.

Key moment

Green’s hustle on getting the ball late to draw the foul to set up the winning free throws.

Key stat

Houston won despite making just 6 of 27 3-pointers.

Up next

While Houston heads to Las Vegas this weekend, the Warriors will return to regular-season play Sunday at Dallas.

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