Photo Credit: XFL
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS — The Arlington Renegades are the 2023 XFL Champions. This is the first Championship being brought to Dallas since 1995 after the defeated the D.C. Defenders 35-26 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX. But not only are the Renegades champions but also head coach Bob Stoops is a champion again.
The longtime Oklahoma Sooners football coach guided the Arlington Renegades to the XFL title this Saturday, his first title since Stoops won the 2000 national championship at Oklahoma.
It was a season like no other for Arlington. Many would argue that the Renegades didn’t deserve to be in the playoffs after they went just 4-6 in the regular season, but that was enough to secure the second playoff spot in the South Division. They took all the negative commentary and proved everyone wrong game by game, starting with taking down the 7-3 Houston Roughnecks in the south divisional playoff game. They then knocked down the Defenders, who went 9-1 in the regular season, in the title game.
Renegades Quarterback Luis Perez was the major game changer that came to the team mid season to help give them that extra spark and guide them to the championship as a team. After the win Perez was named MVP of the game after completing 26 of 36 passes for 288 yards and three touchdowns.
Arlington head coach Bob Stoops stated after the press conference that, “they really got their stride in the second half of the season. They stuck together as a team and beat all adversity and that gave them a chance to even play in the championship game, and it turned out alright for us.”
As the first completed season for the XFL comes to an end, many wonder with the substantial television views and great talks about the XFL if the game will change or maybe expand to a longer season in the future. In the meantime there are no updates on changes to the XFL but this league has been proven to be the “league of opportunity” and there is a strong future ahead for this new league.
