From June Jones as the head coach to Johnny Manziel's potential future
What you need to know about the XFL in Houston
May 20, 2019, 2:13 pm
SportsMap/Cody Stoots
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
“We’re gonna see the forward pass” he joked. Said the XFL “gets it” that offense is the way to build excitement. pic.twitter.com/76EPgQb2sx
— Cody Stoots (@Cody_Stoots) May 20, 2019
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?
Johnny Manziel made his CFL preseason debut tonight for the Hamilton @Ticats
— Sporting News (@sportingnews) June 2, 2018
He went 9/11 for 80 yards with two rushes for 10 yards. pic.twitter.com/8nD5EU1ODg
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
The commish of @XFLHouston @OliverLuckXFL about to introduce the head coach of the Houston team. Of course Luck no stranger to Houston. Ready to “plan, test, and do things right” in the XFL. pic.twitter.com/mNPd8aZFaF
— Cody Stoots (@Cody_Stoots) May 20, 2019
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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Now that spring training is officially underway, we're able to make some observations about how the Astros 2025 roster is taking shape.
Houston's starting rotation is basically set, but we got to see Hayden Wesneski make his first start in an Astro uniform. Wesneski pitched two innings against the Mets on Tuesday, allowing one run with three strikeouts.
He's working on a curveball that's a new pitch for his repertoire, and he saw some success with it. Hopefully, adding this pitch will help keep batters off balance (especially left-handed hitters) and help elevate his game. Which is nothing new for the Astros, who have a history of helping pitchers get to the next level.
Forrest Whitley also looked good, pitching a clean inning and finishing off his final hitter with a 97 mph fastball. Whitley finally realizing his potential in the big leagues could be a huge deal for the Astros, as they're looking to lighten the workload for Bryan Abreu and Josh Hader this season.
Hader in particular could benefit from this adjustment, as he was much worse when pitching in non-save situations last season. An easy fix with Hader could be trying to limit his workload to mostly save situations. That way, you get the most out of him and achieve the goal of him pitching less innings this year.
The Houston Chronicle's Matt Kawahara wrote about Hader's struggles pitching when games were tied or Houston was trailing.
“Hader converted 34 of 38 save chances but faced more batters in non-save situations (142) than in save situations (136), a sharp pivot from his previous few seasons. Opponents slugged .271 against him in save situations and .411 in non-save situations, while his ERA was more than two runs higher (4.98) in the latter.”
And while it's easy to say “suck it up, you're getting paid a fortune to pitch,” if he's not having success in those situations, and you're looking to back off his workload, this seems like an obvious way to pivot. He's under contract for another four seasons, so the Astros are right to want to be careful with him.
Astros plate discipline
Manager Joe Espada has made it very clear that he would like his offense to see more pitches this season. And we're seeing a stark difference in the approaches from the newly acquired players (Isaac Paredes, Christian Walker) and Houston's returning hitters.
Keep in mind, Paredes was first in pitches per plate appearance last season, and Walker was 10th.
So it shouldn't come as a surprise that Paredes and Walker both worked a full count in their first at-bats on Tuesday, while Mauricio Dubon, Yainer Diaz, and Chas McCormick swung at every pitch in their first at-bats.
Hopefully the new blood in the clubhouse will rub off on the rest of the Astros lineup, which is full of free swingers, especially with Alex Bregman now playing for Boston.
Which is why we're so excited about Cam Smith's early results. While we're super pumped about his two home runs on Tuesday, we're equally impressed that he walked in his first two at-bats this spring. If anyone would naturally be jumping out of their shoes to make a strong first impression, you would think it's the guy that was traded for Kyle Tucker. But Smith was patient, and he was rewarded for it.
What is Dana Brown saying privately?
Just last offseason, Brown was talking about extending Tucker and Bregman while also signing Hader to a shocking 5-year, $95 million deal. Plus, the team signed Jose Altuve to a whopping $150 million extension. Fast-forward one year and Tucker has been traded, Bregman left in free agency, and Ryan Pressly was dealt in a salary dump. Safe to say, his vision for the ball club has changed drastically in one season. Welcome to baseball economics under Jim Crane!
We're just scratching the surface on everything covered in the video above. Be sure to hit play to watch the full conversation!
The countdown to Opening Day is on. Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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