Reggie Barlow is looking forward to the opportunity to make his mark in the XFL as the head coach of D.C.'s to-be-named team.
He joined 106.7 The Fan's Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier in studio Wednesday to preview the latest upstart of the league that's twice been shuttered.
Barlow, 50, credits a Dec. 2021 NFL.com article written by former Atlanta Falcons assistant GM Scott Pioli for assisting in getting him the exposure needed to surface on the XFL's radar.
"It is a great opportunity and I'm just blessed to be a part of the other seven coaches that they have that's part of XFL," Barlow told 'Grant & Danny' on 106.7 The Fan. "Obviously there's former players, there's Wade Phillips and guys that have been around a long time."
"I think what happened was an article by Scott Pioli, who does a lot for the NFL Network and some other stuff, he had mentioned minorities that may perhaps deserve an opportunity to get looked at as coordinators or as a head coach," he explained. "I think someone saw that and the conversation kind of started from there."
"I just was happy to be able to engage and have those conversations, so they could see who I am and who I was as a coach," he said, "and then obviously I could get a chance to find out about the XFL and all that it will be standing for this next go around."
Barlow is a former NFL wide receiver and return specialist who played eight seasons (1996-2003) between Jacksonville and Tampa Bay. He went on to coach at his alma mater, Alabama State, first as a quarterbacks coach (2005-06) and later as head coach from 2007-2014. Prior to joining the XFL, Barlow was the head coach at Virginia State (2016-2021).
Barlow says the interview process went through XFL co-owners Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and Dany Garcia, as well as Senior VP of Player Personnel of the XFL Doug Whaley and Executive VP of Football Operations Marc Ross.
"We talked with the executives, obviously the leaders here with Dwayne Johnson and Miss Garcia," Barlow said. "I did have an opportunity to speak with her. We did talk with Doug and Marc, who's also part of the league. So just having those organic conversations with those guys and one thing went from another one and then the opportunity was here."
The third iteration of the XFL is scheduled to kick off on Feb. 18, 2023. Team names, logos and uniforms are slated to be unveiled at a later date. The previous iteration which launched in 2020 was off to a rousing success until the pandemic forced league operations to shut down in March of 2020.
The D.C. Defenders, who called Audi Field home, were averaging 16,000 fans per game. The league eventually filed for bankruptcy in April 2020 and was later sold to Johnson.
"I think the last time, I mean, it was headed in the right direction, right," Barlow said. "Nobody could have predicted there was going to be a pandemic which caused it to stop."
Former Washington Redskins defensive coordinator Gregg Williams will serve in that same role for D.C.'s XFL team.
