Houston Roughnecks (2024) Explained
| Houston Roughnecks |
| Current: | 2025 Houston Roughnecks season |
| Uniform: | Houston Roughnecks UFL Uniform (2024).svg |
| First Season: | 2022 |
| City: | Rice Stadium (Houston, Texas) |
| Location: | Houston, Texas |
| Stadium Years: |
|
| Owner: | Fox Corporation (50%), Dany Garcia, Dwayne Johnson, RedBird Capital Partners (50%) |
| Coach: | Curtis Johnson |
| League: | United States Football League (2022–2023)- South Division (2022–2023)
United Football League (2024–present)
- USFL Conference (2024–present)
|
| Team History: | - Houston Gamblers (2022–2023)
- Houston Roughnecks (2024–present)
|
| No League Champs: | 0 |
| No Conf Champs: | 0 |
| No Div Champs: | 0 |
| No Playoff Appearances: | 0 |
| Colors: | Navy, red[1]
|
The Houston Roughnecks are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The Roughnecks compete in the United Football League (UFL). The team is owned-and-operated by Dwayne Johnson's Alpha Acquico and Fox Corporation. The team was a founding member of the USFL, as the Houston Gamblers in 2022, named after the 1980s USFL team of the same name. Though named after the city of Houston, the 2020s Gamblers never played there under that brand, instead playing its home games as the guest of other USFL teams in Birmingham, Alabama in 2022 and Memphis, Tennessee in 2023. When the USFL and XFL merged to form the UFL in 2024, the Gamblers took over the branding of the original Houston Roughnecks that had played the 2020 and 2023 seasons in the XFL and will play in Houston at Rice Stadium.
History
Houston Gamblers (2022–2023)
The Houston Gamblers were one of eight teams that were officially announced as a USFL franchise on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on November 22, 2021.[2] On January 6, 2022, it was announced on The Herd with Colin Cowherd that former NCAA Football Head coach Kevin Sumlin was named the Head coach and General manager of the Gamblers.[3] Houston was the only city in the USFL nominally based west of the Mississippi River and the only team that had a representative team in both professional spring football leagues, the USFL (the Gamblers) and the XFL (the Roughnecks), though the Gamblers never set foot in Houston, instead playing as a traveling team under the USFL's hub model.
On January 6, 2022, former college head coach, Kevin Sumlin was named the head coach and general manager for the Houston Gamblers.[4] The Gamblers' first season game was on April 17, 2022, against the Michigan Panthers at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama. Kicker Nick Vogel made a 37-yard field goal in the first quarter (the first points for the franchise). The Gamblers defeated the Panthers 17–12, winning their first game in franchise history. The Gamblers lost their next seven games before winning for their final two games of the season, and failing to qualify for the USFL playoffs.[5]
In September, 2022, the Gamblers announced that Robert Morris was named their new general manager.[6] In November 2022, the USFL announced that the Gamblers will play at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee for the 2023 season.[7] In February, 2023, Sumlin announced his plans to join the coaching staff of the Maryland Terrapins, this led to the Gamblers hiring former New Orleans Saints assistant coach, Curtis Johnson as their new head coach.[8]
Houston Roughnecks (2024–present)
On January 1, as part of the merger with the XFL, the Gamblers merged with their XFL counterpart, the Roughnecks. The merged team took on the Roughnecks name and identity (including history and social media presence), while maintaining the Gamblers' coaching staff, player rights and position in the USFL Conference.[9] The team will play in Houston as the Roughnecks did, but renovations to TDECU Stadium, the Roughnecks' home in 2020 and 2023, required the use of a different venue; Rice University Stadium was approached about the possibility prior to the merger.[10] On February 1, 2024, the Roughnecks announced an agreement to play the 2024 season at Rice Stadium.[11]
Current roster
Players
Player history
Current NFL players
Notable players
USFL Offensive Player of the Year award winners
| Gamblers USFL OPOY winners |
| Year | Player | Position | Selector |
|---|
| 2023 | Mark Thompson | RB | USFL | |
USFL Defensive Player of the Year award winners
Coach history
Head Coach history
Offensive Coordinator history
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards |
|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L |
|---|
| Houston Gamblers |
|---|
| 1 | David Beaty | 2022 | 10 | 3 | 7 | .300 | - | - | - |
|
| 2 | J. D. Runnels | 2022 | 10 | 3 | 7 | .300 | - | - | - |
|
| 3 | Eric Price | 2023 | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | - | - | - |
| Houston Roughnecks |
|---|
| — | Eric Price | 2024–present | 10 | 1 | 9 | .100 | - | - | - | | |
Defensive Coordinator history
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards |
|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L |
|---|
| Houston Gamblers |
|---|
| 1 | Tim Lewis | 2022 | 10 | 3 | 7 | .300 | - | - | - | |
| 2 | Chris Wilson | 2023 | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | - | - | - | |
| Houston Roughnecks |
|---|
| — | Chris Wilson | 2024–present | 10 | 1 | 9 | .100 | - | - | - | | |
Records
| All-time Gamblers/Roughnecks leaders |
|---|
| Leader | Player | Record | Years with Gamblers/Roughnecks |
|---|
| Passing Yards | | 2,250 passing yards | 2022–2024 |
| Passing Touchdowns | Clayton ThorsonKenji Bahar | 10 passing touchdowns | 20222022–2024 |
| Rushing Yards | Mark Thompson | 1,341 rushing yards | 2022–present |
| Rushing Touchdowns | Mark Thompson | 21 rushing touchdowns | 2022–present |
| Receiving Yards | Justin Hall | 1,119 receiving yards | 2023–present |
| Receiving Touchdowns | Justin Hall | 7 receiving touchdowns | 2023–present |
| Receptions | Justin Hall | 103 receptions | 2023–present |
| Tackles | Donald Payne | 117 tackles | 2022 |
| Sacks | | 17.5 sacks | 2022, 2024–present |
| Interceptions | | 4 interceptions | 2022 |
| Coaching wins | Curtis Johnson | 6 wins | 2023–present | |
Statistics and records
Season-by-season record
| UFL champions† (2024–present) | USFL champions§ (2022–2023) | Conference champions* | Division champions^ | Wild Card berth# | |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | Awards | Head coaches | Pct. |
|---|
| Finish | | |
|---|
| 2022 | 2022 | USFL | | South | bgcolor= | 4th | bgcolor= | 3 | bgcolor= | 7 | bgcolor= | | Chris Odom (DROY) | Kevin Sumlin | |
|---|
| 2023 | 2023 | USFL | | South | bgcolor= | 3rd | bgcolor= | 5 | bgcolor= | 5 | bgcolor= | | | Curtis Johnson | |
|---|
| 2024 | 2024 | UFL | USFL | | 4th | 1 | 9 | | | |
|---|
| Total | 9 | 21 | All-time regular season record (2022–2024) | |
|---|
| 0 | 0 | All-time postseason record (2022–2024) | |
| 9 | 21 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2022–2024) | | |
|---|
Notes and References
- Houston Roughnecks' uniforms, helmet. XFL.com. December 3, 2019. December 12, 2019.
- Web site: USFL unveils team cities, nicknames and logos for 2022 debut. 2021-12-18. FOX Sports. en-US.
- Web site: USFL Officially Reveals the First Four Head Coaches on The Herd. Pro Football Newsroom. Stephan Rachuk. January 6, 2022. January 6, 2022.
- Web site: Gaydos. Ryan. 2022-01-06. 4 USFL teams reveal their head coaches for upcoming season. 2022-01-06. Fox News. en-US.
- Web site: Houston Gamblers Conclude USFL Season with Defensive Win Over New Orleans Breakers . Stephan Rachuk . June 19, 2022 . USFL Newsroom . www.usflnewroom.com . February 28, 2023.
- Web site: USFL hires new general managers for two teams . October 18, 2022 . Fox Media LLC and Fox Sports Interactive Media, LLC. . foxsports.com . February 28, 2023.
- Web site: "We're Home" – Professional Football Returns To Memphis With Iconic USFL Showboats . November 15, 2022 . City of Memphis . www.memphistn.gov . February 28, 2023.
- Web site: USFL's Houston Gamblers hire Curtis Johnson as head coach . February 16, 2023 . Sam Young . Houston Chronicle . houstonchronicle.com . February 28, 2023.
- https://www.theufl.com/news/2024/january/12/united-football-league-reveals-team-markets-and-head-coaches-for-2024-season UNITED FOOTBALL LEAGUE REVEALS TEAM MARKETS AND HEAD COACHES FOR 2024 SEASON
- Web site: Rachuk . Stephan . 2023-07-25 . XFL Issues Statement on Houston Roughnecks Future at TDECU Stadium . 2024-01-01 . Pro Football Newsroom . en-US.
- Web site: Zuvanich . Adam . 2024-02-02 . Houston Roughnecks of United Football League to play home games at Rice Stadium . 2024-02-02 . Houston Public Media . en-US.
