The St. Louis Battlehawks are back, and will begin the 2023 season in February. (Photo: Thomas Grove)
DeMarcus Dixon
Staff Writer
The long-waited and anticipated announcement of what the St. Louis XFL team will be called came early Monday morning. And it was just the announcement fans of the team were hoping to hear.
The St. Louis XFL team will be called the Battlehawks. The same name the team had when it played in 2020. The only new difference is the H in the middle of the name will now be lowercase.
The eight-team league, which will kick off its next season on February 18, also will have the Orlando Guardians, the Las Vegas Vipers, the Seattle Sea Dragons, the Washington (D.C.) Defenders, the San Antonio Brahmas, the Houston Roughnecks, and the Arlington Renegades.
The league has been idle since shutting down in March 2020 for the coronavirus pandemic.
The Battlehawks again will play its home games at The Dome at America’s Center, with tickets starting at $25. Deposits for season tickets are being accepted at XFL.com.
“We couldn’t be more excited about getting our team name and a new updated logo; we see this as another step in getting our fans pumped up about the XFL,” Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht said. “We cannot wait to get out there and get after it. The Battlehawks are ready to bring football greatness back to St. Louis.”
This XFL ownership group is led by Dany Garcia, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Gerry Cardinale of RedBird Capital Partners.
“We cannot wait to see our XFL fans representing their favorite XFL teams this season,” said Garcia, who serves as league chairwoman and owner. “Now is the time for our fans to get behind a team — THEIR team — and wear these logos and represent their cities with pride,” Johnson said. “From the start, Dany, Gerry, and I have wanted to deliver our fans nothing but the best. Now we get to fill our rosters with hungry and deserving players.”
The XFL draft will be held in mid-November. The league has announced a five-year broadcast agreement with ESPN and the Walt Disney Co. All of the league’s games are scheduled to be shown on ABC, ESPN or FX.
Arlington, Texas, will serve as the league’s football operations hub. There, teams will have a centralized facility and multiple practice venues for in-week training. Late in each week, teams will fly to their game locations.
“During the week, our focus will be on practice in Texas and preparing for that weekend’s game,” Becht said. “But we’ll be in St. Louis for our home games and also to work with the St. Louis media and to have as much community involvement with the fans as possible. I’ve heard stories about how supportive the St. Louis fans were with the Battlehawks back in 2020 and we intend to do everything we can to build on that support this time around as well.”
Becht, 45, was a first-round draft pick of the New York Jets in 2000 and played 11 seasons as an NFL tight end with the Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams, Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs before wrapping up his playing career in 2011. Since then, he’s worked as a football analyst on TV and on radio. In 2019, he served as an assistant coach under former Rams head coach Mike Martz with the San Diego Fleet in the Alliance of American Football.
“I didn’t spend a ton of time in St. Louis, but I was there long enough to realize just how special a sports town it is,” Becht said. “I can’t wait to get to St. Louis and be a part of that community.”
Becht’s Battlehawks’ staff will feature director of player personnel Dave Boller, offensive coordinator Bruce Gradkowski and defensive coordinator Donnie Abraham. The Battlehawks’ staff also includes a pair of former St. Louis Rams: Ricky Proehl will serve as wide receivers coach while La’Roi Glover is the defensive line coach.
Other staff members include linebackers coach Dave Steckel, who served as a head coach at Missouri State and who spent 14 seasons as an assistant coach under Gary Pinkel at Mizzou; running backs coach Art Valero; offensive line coach Pat Pereles; and assistant offensive line coach Mark Lee.
“At this point, we’re filtering through player lists, trying to make sure no stone is unturned,” Becht said. “Offensively, I want to run a system that’s as diverse as possible. But at the same time, it’s important to remember that we’ll only have a month or so to get everything up and running. It’s a challenge, no question, but it’s one I think everyone on my staff is looking forward to.
“The plan is to get together as a staff in Arlington, Texas, the second week of November to figure out what we need to do to prepare for the season, focusing on the draft, our playbook and really trying to make sure that everyone’s on the same page.”
The most recent version of the XFL shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic midway through what was supposed to be a 10-game schedule. The Battlehawks finished 3-2 and were tied with two other teams atop the XFL’s East Division when play was halted.
The local squad went 2-0 at The Dome and finished with two of the three best attendance marks in the league — opening the home schedule with a crowd of 29,994 against the New York Guardians and following with a crowd of 27,527 for its game against the Seattle Dragons.