| Orlando Guardians | |
| Current: | 2023 Orlando Guardians season |
| Uniform: | Orlando Guardians Uniform (2023).svg |
| Established: | 2019 (as the New York Guardians) |
| Folded: | 2022 |
| Location: | East Rutherford, New Jersey (2020) Orlando, Florida (2023) |
| Stadium Years: | MetLife Stadium East Rutherford, New Jersey (2020) Camping World Stadium (2023) |
| Owner: | Alpha Acquico, LLC[1] |
| Coach: | Kevin Gilbride (2020) Terrell Buckley (2023) |
| League: | XFL |
| Division: | East (2020) South (2023) |
| Team History: |
|
| No League Champs: | 0 |
| No Conf Champs: | 0 |
| No Div Champs: | 0 |
| No Playoff Appearances: | 0 |
| Colors: | Green, lime, grey |
The Orlando Guardians were a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. The Guardians competed in the XFL. The team was founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment as the New York Guardians and were owned-and-operated by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. The Guardians played their home games at MetLife Stadium in 2020 and played their home games at Camping World Stadium in 2023. The Guardians had a franchise regular season record of 4–11 (.267), the second worst win percentage among all XFL teams.
See main article: 2020 New York Guardians season. New York, joined Seattle, Houston, LA, St. Louis, DC, Tampa Bay, and Dallas as the XFL's inaugural cities. On April 15, 2019, the team hired Kevin Gilbride, who most recently was the Offensive Coordinator for the New York Giants as their first head coach.[2] The team name and logo were revealed on August 21, 2019, as well as the teams uniforms on December 3, 2019.[3]
On October 15, 2019, The Guardians announced their first player in team history, being assigned former Oakland Raiders Quarterback Matt McGloin.[4]
The Guardians won the first game in franchise history, topping the Tampa Bay Vipers 23–3 at MetLife Stadium. Quarterback Matt McGloin scored the first touchdown in team history on their first possession, a one-yard score that put them up 6–0.[5] McGloin would later find Colby Pearson for a passing touchdown. Defensively, the Guardians forced three turnovers, including a fumble return for a touchdown by Jamar Summers. Tampa Bay reached the red zone five times, but emerged only with a field goal thanks to a standout defensive effort. The Guardians' first road game saw them become the victims of the first shutout in the new XFL's history, as they fell to the DC Defenders by a 27–0 final at Audi Field. The game became notable for a McGloin sideline interview with ABC/ESPN's Dianna Russini, in which he was very critical of the team's offensive gameplan. McGloin was eventually pulled from the game for backup Marquise Williams in the second half. On March 12, 2020, The XFL announced that the remainder of the 2020 XFL season had been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The team finished with a 3–2 record. On April 10, 2020, The XFL suspended operations, and all employees, players and staff would be terminated.
See main article: 2023 Orlando Guardians season. As early as April 2020, the XFL was reported to have been relocating a team to Orlando. Orlando had not yet been available at the time the league chose its inaugural eight teams because of the Alliance of American Football placing the Orlando Apollos there, but it was one of the largest markets without an NFL team and had hosted the Orlando Rage, one of the most successful teams in the original XFL of 2001. The earliest reports had the league planning to move the Tampa Bay Vipers to Orlando,[6] as the Vipers had only lukewarm support (amid a league-worst 1–4 record) in Tampa, and its practice facility in Plant City[7] was located on Interstate 4 halfway between the two cities, which are 80miles apart. The same reports had indicated that the league had hoped to stay in the New York metropolitan area, with the main obstacle being a stadium (MetLife Stadium was one of the largest stadiums in the XFL with one of the league's poorest average attendances); discussions had begun about potentially moving to the more appropriately sized Red Bull Arena. When team locations were revealed on July 25, 2022, the league (now under ownership of the Dany Garcia-Dwayne Johnson consortium) confirmed that Orlando would receive a team in 2023 and Tampa Bay would no longer have one. In the same announcement, the league also confirmed that there would also be no team in the New York area.[8] However, when team brands were leaked in September and confirmed a month later, it was instead revealed that the Vipers brand would be relocated to Las Vegas, Nevada and that Orlando would receive the branding of the former New York Guardians.[9] [10]
Terrell Buckley was reported as the Orlando team's head coach on April 6, 2022;[11] the league confirmed this on July 25.[12]
Orlando Guardians finished the season 1-9 only winning against the DC Defenders
In September 2023, Axios reported that the XFL was in advanced talks with the USFL to merge the two leagues prior to the start of their 2024 seasons.[13] On September 28, 2023, the XFL and USFL announced their intent to merge with details surrounding the merger to be announced at a later date.[14] The merger would also require regulatory approval.[15] In October 2023 the XFL filed a trademark application for the name "United Football League".[16] On November 30, 2023, Garcia announced via her Instagram page that the leagues had received regulatory approval for the merger and were finalizing plans for a "combined season" to begin March 30, 2024.[17] The merger was made official on December 31, 2023, and on January 1, 2024, it was announced the Guardians would not be part of the merger.[18] [19]
| XFL Season | Pos | Name | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | QB | Matt McGloin | Former Oakland Raiders Quarterback | |
| 2023 | QB | Paxton Lynch | Former Denver Broncos Quarterback, 2016 1st Round Pick | |
| 2023 | WR | Eli Rogers | Former Pittsburgh Steelers Wide Receiver | |
| 2023 | WR | Cody Latimer | Former Denver Broncos Wide Receiver, 2014 2nd Round Pick | |
| 2023 | S | Matt Elam | Former Baltimore Ravens Safety, 2013 1st Round Pick |
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | |||||
| New York Guardians | |||||||||||
| 1 | Kevin Gilbride | 2020 | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | – | – | – | ||
| Orlando Guardians | |||||||||||
| 2 | Terrell Buckley | 2023 | 10 | 1 | 9 | .100 | – | – | – | ||
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | |||||
| New York Guardians | |||||||||||
| 1 | G. A. Mangus | 2020 | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | – | – | – | ||
| Orlando Guardians | |||||||||||
| 2 | Robert Ford | 2023 | 10 | 1 | 9 | .100 | – | – | – | ||
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | |||||
| New York Guardians | |||||||||||
| 1 | Jim Herrmann | 2020 | 5 | 3 | 2 | .600 | – | – | – | ||
| Orlando Guardians | |||||||||||
| 2 | Tony Carter | 2023 | 10 | 1 | 9 | .100 | – | – | – | ||
| Team | Record | Win % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Wildcats | 1–0 | 1.000 | |
| DC Defenders | 1–1 | .500 | |
| Vegas Vipers | 1–1 | .500 | |
| Arlington Renegades | 1–2 | .333 | |
| Seattle Sea Dragons | 0–1 | .000 | |
| Houston Roughnecks | 0–2 | .000 | |
| San Antonio Brahmas | 0–2 | .000 | |
| St. Louis Battlehawks | 0–2 | .000 |
| All-time Guardians leaders | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leader | Player | Record | Years with Guardians | |
| Passing Yards | Quinten Dormady | 1,507 passing yards | 2023 | |
| Passing Touchdowns | Quinten Dormady | 10 passing touchdowns | 2023 | |
| Rushing Yards | Devin Darrington | 294 rushing yards | 2023 | |
| Rushing Touchdowns | Quinten DormadyDevin Darrington | 4 rushing touchdowns | 2023 2023 | |
| Receiving Yards | Cody Latimer | 593 receiving yards | 2023 | |
| Receiving Touchdowns | Cody Latimer | 4 receiving touchdowns | 2023 | |
| Receptions | Cody Latimer | 50 receptions | 2023 | |
| Tackles | Terrance Plummer | 56 tackles | 2023 | |
| Sacks | Cavon Walker | 4.5 sacks | 2020 | |
| Coaching wins | Kevin Gilbride | 3 wins | 2020 | |
The Guardians were the first professional outdoor football team in Orlando since the Orlando Apollos of the Alliance of American Football in 2019, where they averaged over 19,000 fans per game. The Guardians joined the Orlando Magic, Orlando Solar Bears,Orlando City SC, and the Orlando Pride as professional sports teams based in Orlando. The Guardians also joined the Orlando Predators (NAL) as professional football teams located in Orlando.