Sumlin to lead USFL’s Gamblers
A familiar face will be coaching Houston’s entry in the rebooted United States Football League.
Former Texas A&M and University of Houston coach Kevin Sumlin was announced Thursday as the first coach of the Houston Gamblers, who are slated to debut with the rest of the eight-team league in April. The teams will play in one host city for at least the league’s first season, with a 10-game regular season and four playoff participants.
Sumlin, who was fired after a 0-5 start in 2020 during his third season at Arizona, got his headcoaching start at UH from 2008-11, with a 35-17 record and an appearance in the 2011 Conference USA championship game. A week after that loss to Southern Miss, he joined Texas A&M as the Aggies moved to the SEC. In six seasons at A&M’s helm, Sumlin went 51-26 before being fired in November 2017.
He then landed at Arizona, where he helmed 5-7 and 4-8 campaigns with the Wildcats before his dismissal.
The other USFL coaches announced Thursday were Bart Andrus (Philadelphia), Todd Haley (Tampa
Bay) and Mike Riley (New
Jersey).
The Fox Sports-backed reboot of the USFL, which originally existed from 1983-86, will have two divisions. The North will be comprised of the Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars and Pittsburgh Maulers. The South will have the Gamblers, Birmingham Stallions, New Orleans Breakers and Tampa Bay Bandits. All the team nicknames were used in the original USFL.
Up next for the league is a player selection meeting Feb. 22-23, with training camps set to open March 21. Team rosters will be 38 players plus a seven-man practice squad.
The USFL will air games on NBC and Fox, with plans to nationally televise every game on NBC, USA, Peacock, Fox or FS1.