Former WVU TE Anthony Becht is Head Coach for XFL Team in St. Louis

Former WVU football tight end Anthony Becht has been named the head coach of the XFL team in St. Louis. He was previously announced as a head coach in the league back in June, but his team wasn’t disclosed until yesterday.

Football is back where it belongs, St. Louis! And I’m proud to be the head coach of your XFL Team. This is a fresh start. And we’re not going anywhere. So let’s create a franchise and fanbase that makes some noise!! @XFL2023 pic.twitter.com/UxBu8ObTjb

— Anthony Becht (@Anthony_Becht) July 25, 2022

The news broke as the XFL announced it’s seven cities and head coaches for its’ second reboot following its’ cancellation during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. The other cities and coaches are Arlington (Bob Stoops), Houston (Wade Phillips), Las Vegas (Rod Woodson), Orlando (Terrell Buckley), San Antonio (Hines Ward), Seattle (Jim Haslett) and Washington D.C. (Reggie Barlow).

Becht has ties to St. Louis, having spent the 2008 as a member of the Rams who have since moved to Los Angeles. That season, he appeared in all 16 games with 11 starts being primarily used as a blocking tight end.

Becht played at WVU from 1996-1999 before kicking off a 12-year professional career in the NFL. He was drafted in the first round by the New York Jets with the 27th overall pick and spent five years with them.

He then spent three years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and a season each with the Rams, Arizona Cardinals and Kansas City Chiefs. He was out of football in between his Cardinals and Chiefs tenure.

In his career he started 132 games catching 188 passes for 1,537 yards and 21 touchdowns. Yards wise he wasn’t far ahead of his collegiate numbers of 1,178 receiving yards with 11 touchdowns on 88 catches in four seasons.

The XFL also announced the stadium locations for each team except Las Vegas. With the full list found here.

St. Louis is one of the five teams that retain a team from the 2020 reboot of the league alongside Arlington, Houston, Washington D.C. and Seattle. The 2020 locations of Los Angeles, New York City and Tampa Bay were replaced.

St. Louis did not have a team in the original XFL, though they did have a NFL team at the time. Las Vegas and Orlando both had teams in the original XFL, but not the 2020 reboot. Birmingham, Chicago, Los Angeles, Memphis, New York City and San Francisco were the other cities from the original XFL.

The team in St. Louis was called the Battlehawks in 2020, but the team names have yet to be announced for the 2023 edition. There’s no guarantee that it will be the same name with the league now being owned by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson who bought it from founder Vince McMahon.

The season is currently expected to start on February 18, 2023 immediately following the Super Bowl.