The Orlando Guardians, formerly the New York Guardians from XFL 2.0, are the third of four teams in the South Division. The Guardians will call the Camping World Stadium, formerly known as the Citrus bowl, home for the season.

Coaches:

The Orlando Guardians will be coached by 14-year NFL veteran and Super Bowl Champion Terrell Buckley. After his many years of playing at a high level on the field, Buckley transitioned to coaching at his alma mater Florida State where his #27 uniform is retired. Oh, and by the way, in its proud history the Seminoles only have 7 retired jerseys. He also cut his teeth coaching with Akron, Louisville, Mississippi State, and Ole Miss. The winning breed carries over to the Offense Coordinator position with Robert Ford, originally from Belton, Texas. Ford was the tight ends coach for the Dallas Cowboys for all three of their Super Bowl wins. The Guardian defense will be led by 7-year NFL veteran Tony Carter who has been coaching since 2018 in the NFL and college. Another notable coach is Ty Warren from Bryan, Texas and a Texas A&M Aggie who also comes from a winning pedigree being a 2x Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots.

Team:

The Orlando Guardians had a late addition to its roster and it was a big one. Former 1st round pick and San Antonio born Paxton Lynch will be leading the team at the QB position. The Guardians also have a quality backup in Deondre Francois from Florida State. The receiving corps and tight ends are also stacked with talented players. Eli Rogers being the veteran of the group with NFL experience playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Other DDSN notables bein Cedar Hill native WR Charleston Rambo who was 2nd team All ACC for the Miami Hurricanes in 2021. The Guardians also have Super Bowl Champion and 2x 2nd Team Big 10 Cody Latimer. Latimer brings experience but is listed at TE so he may have lost a step since his NFL days with the Broncos. Also listed at TE are Texas natives, Logan Carter from Henrietta (dot your bingo card) and Ryan Becker who played for SMU from Marble Falls.

The defense will have a strong and deep defensive line group beginning with lineman Jacoby Jones from the University of Texas, Josh Harvey-Clemons and Gerald Willis. Former TCU Horned Frog Stansly Maponga from Hebron, Texas by way of Zimbabwe is one of the most decorated on the defensive line earning multiple all conference honors from the Mountain West & Big 12. The linebacking corps will be lead by Grey Cup Champion Terrance Smith who was also a 2x All-AAC player at UCF.

The secondary will be led by 1st Round NFL draft pick Matt Elam, a Florida Gator legend and former Baltimore Raven.

Season Prediction:

Running down the Guardian’s roster seeing the amount of talent being coached by a class of winners on the highest level should set this team up for success. We can see this team competing for the South Division and maybe even a championship.

Stay tuned for the remaining XFL team breakdowns as the season kicks off this Saturday!