Los Angeles Wildcats (XFL)

The Los Angeles Wildcats (LA Wildcats) were a professional American football team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and was an owned-and-operated member of the second XFL. The Wildcats played their home games at Dignity Health Sports Park. On March 8, 2020, the Wildcats played their final game against the Tampa Bay Vipers, which was the final XFL game before the league suspended operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Los Angeles Wildcats
Established 2018 Folded 2020 (2022 Officially)
League/conference affiliations
XFL (2020) West Division (2020)[1]
Current uniform
Team colors	Black, red, light orange[2]
Personnel
Owner(s)	Alpha Entertainment, LLC
President	Heather Brooks Karatz
Head coach	Winston Moss
Team history
Los Angeles Wildcats (2020)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Home stadium(s)
Dignity Health Sports Park (2020)

History

On December 5, 2018, Los Angeles was announced as one of eight cities that would join the newly reformed XFL, as well as Seattle, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, and Dallas.^[3] On May 7, 2019, Winston Moss was announced as the team's head coach.^[4] On August 21, 2019, the team revealed its name, logos, and identity as the Los Angeles Wildcats, alongside the rest of the XFL teams.^[5] A secondary logo was released August 24.

On October 15, 2019, the Wildcats announced their first player in team history, being assigned former Birmingham Iron Quarterback Luis Perez, who was later traded to the New York Guardians.^[6]

On February 8, 2020, the team played its first game losing to the Houston Roughnecks 37–17 in Houston.^[7] Chad Kanoff scored the first touchdown in franchise history with a scramble left for a five-yard score.^[8] On February 23, 2020, the Wildcats earned their first win in franchise history, defeating the DC Defenders 39–9.^[9] On March 8, 2020, the Wildcats came from behind to win against the Tampa Bay Vipers 41–34 in what was the final game of the 2020 iteration of the XFL. 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 2–3 record. On April 10, 2020, the XFL suspended operations, with all of the league's employees, players, and staff terminated.^[10]

On July 24, 2022, the XFL announced its reactivation for the 2023 season, and confirmed that the Wildcats would not return for that season. On October 31, 2022, the league announced that the Wildcats' place in the league was taken by the San Antonio Brahmas.

Final roster

2020 Los Angeles Wildcats final roster

	Quarterbacks  8 Josh Johnson  3 Chad Kanoff  2 Jalan McClendon Running backs 31 Terrell Alex 28 Martez Carter 38 Winston Dimel FB 41 DuJuan Harris 34 Elijah Hood 24 Larry Rose Wide receivers -- Sergio Bailey 80 Saeed Blacknall 17 Jalen Greene 18 Adonis Jennings 15 Tre McBride 84 Jordan Smallwood 11 Nelson Spruce Tight ends 88 De'Quan Hampton 85 Ryan O'Malley		Offensive linemen 65 Sean Brown T 59 Fred Lauina G 75 Lene Maiava T 72 Storm Norton T 73 Jaelin Robinson T 74 Tyler Roemer T 56 Nico Siragusa G 66 Patrick Vahe C 62 Dwayne Wallace G Defensive linemen 99 Latarius Brady DE 90 Roderick Henderson NT 97 Reggie Howard NT 95 Alex Jenkins DE 77 Shawn Oakman DE 91 Boogie Roberts DE 96 Andrew Stelter NT 98 Devin Taylor DE		Linebackers 53 Alex Funches 50 Quentin Gause ILB 54 Taiwan Jones ILB 59 Victor Ochi OLB 94 Cedric Reed OLB 57 Will Smith ILB 52 Tre' Williams ILB Defensive backs 35 Bryce Cheek CB 22 Jerome Couplin S 21 Mar'Sean Diggs S 36 Ahmad Dixon S 20 Jaylen Dunlap CB 27 Harlan Miller CB 33 Arrion Springs CB 23 Mike Stevens CB 30 Bradley Sylve CB 47 Roman Tatum CB 29 Jack Tocho S 32 LaDarius Wiley S Special teams 45 Ryan Navarro LS  4 Giorgio Tavecchio K  7 Shane Tripucka P		Reserve lists 82 Brandon Barnes TE (IR) 77 Ryan Cummings G (IR) 70 Toa Lobendahn G (IR) 44 Willie Mays OLB (IR) 70 Kahlil McKenzie G/C (IR) 78 Anthony Morris OT (IR)  9 Nick Novak K (IR) -- Damian Prince OT (IR) 93 Trevon Sanders DE (IR)  6 Colton Schmidt P (IR) 57 active, 10 inactive

Staff

2020 Los Angeles Wildcats staff

	Front office Director of player personnel – Joey Clinkscales Director of football operations – Charles Bailey Manager of football operations – Ty Knott Head coaches General manager/Head coach – Winston Moss Assistant head coach/tight ends – Ty Knott Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Norm Chow Running backs – Dave Atkins Receivers – Mike Wilson Offensive line – Jerry Fontenot Offensive quality control – Kade Rannings			Defensive coaches Defensive line – Vince Amey Defensive backs – Otis Smith Defensive quality control – Al Brown Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator/safeties – Martin Bayless

Player history

Current NFL players

XFL Season	Pos	Name	NFL Team
2020	OT	Storm Norton	Atlanta Falcons
2020	QB	Josh Johnson	Baltimore Ravens

Notable players

XFL Season	Pos	Name	Notes
2020	RB	DuJuan Harris	Former Green Bay Packers Running Back
2020	P	Colton Schmidt	Former Buffalo Bills Punter
2020	K	Nick Novak	Former San Diego Chargers Kicker

Coach history

Head coach history

#	Name	Term	Regular season				Playoffs			Awards
			GC	W	L	Win %	GC	W	L
Los Angeles Wildcats
1	Winston Moss	2020	5	2	3	.400	-	-	-

Offensive coordinator history

#	Name	Term	Regular season				Playoffs			Awards
			GC	W	L	Win %	GC	W	L
Los Angeles Wildcats
1	Norm Chow	2020	5	2	3	.400	-	-	-

Defensive coordinator history

#	Name	Term	Regular season				Playoffs			Awards
			GC	W	L	Win %	GC	W	L
Los Angeles Wildcats
1	Pepper Johnson	2020	1	0	1	.000	-	-	-
2	Winston Moss	2020	4	2	2	.500	-	-	-

Rivalries

Overall regular season record vs. opponents

Team	Record	Win %
Vegas Vipers	1-0	1.000
DC Defenders	1-0	1.000
Houston Roughnecks	0-1	.000
Orlando Guardians	0-1	.000
Arlington Renegades	0-1	.000
Seattle Sea Dragons	0-0	N/A
St. Louis Battlehawks	0-0	N/A

Season-by-season record

Season	Team	League	Conference	Division	Regular season			Postseason results	Awards	Head coaches	Pct.
					Finish	W	L
2020	2020	XFL		West	3rd	2	3	Season Suspended after 5 games due to Covid-19		Winston Moss	.400

Records

All-time WIldcats leaders
Leader	Player	Record	Years with Wildcats
Passing Yards	Josh Johnson	1,092 passing yards	2020
Passing Touchdowns	Josh Johnson	11 passing touchdowns	2020
Rushing Yards	Elijah Hood	78 rushing yards	2020
Rushing Touchdowns	Martez Carter	2 rushing touchdowns	2020
Receiving Yards	Nelson Spruce	267 receiving yards	2020
Receiving Touchdowns	Tre McBride	4 receiving touchdowns	2020
Receptions	Nelson Spruce	20 receptions	2020
Tackles	Ahmad Dixon	45 tackles	2020
Sacks	Cedric Reed	3.0 sacks	2020
Interceptions	Mike Stevens Jack Tocho	2 Interceptions 2 Interceptions	2020 2020
Coaching wins	Winston Moss	2 wins	2020

Market overview

Los Angeles is one of two cities to have also hosted a team in the original XFL, the other being New York/New Jersey; the Los Angeles Xtreme was the champion of the earlier XFL in the league's only season. (A third broader megalopolis, Central Florida, has also hosted teams in both the 2001 and 2020 incarnations of the league.)

As television networks have traditionally required alternative leagues to field teams in New York and Los Angeles to secure television coverage without brokering the airtime,^[11][12] Southern California has a long history of alternative professional teams. In addition to the Xtreme, the city has hosted: the Los Angeles Avengers, LA KISS, Anaheim Piranhas and Los Angeles Cobras in the Arena Football League; the Los Angeles Express in the USFL; the Southern California Sun in the World Football League; the Orange County Ramblers and short-lived Long Beach Admirals in the Continental Football League; and numerous teams in the Pacific Coast Professional Football League in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Wildcats were in one of the most heavily crowded sports markets in the United States, competing for sports dollars against two NFL teams (Los Angeles Rams and Los Angeles Chargers), two NHL teams (Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks), two NBA teams (Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers), multiple NCAA Division I college basketball and college football programs, and in March and April, both the LA Galaxy and Los Angeles FC in MLS and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels in the MLB