Lumen Field is once again set to become the House of the Dragon. The Sea Dragon, that is.
On Monday morning, the XFL released the name and logo of Seattle's newest football team, as the league gets ready for a return after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the XFL to cancel its 2020 comeback just five games into its schedule, and sent it into bankruptcy.
Now with new ownership, new logos, and three new cities on the league roster, the XFL is gearing up for play once again. The league was previously owned by Vince McMahon of WWE fame and was purchased in August 2020 by actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, business partner Dany Garcia, and investment group Redbird Capital.
Seattle, which finished 1-4 under former head coach Jim Zorn in 2020 as the "Dragons," will make their return this spring with a new, more oceanic moniker, and a slightly different team logo. In a league news release, the XFL described the Seattle franchise's new identity in glowing fashion.
"Representing the emerald city with the same ferocity as the rough Seattle seas, the Seattle Sea Dragons come to the field with a powerful wave of force behind them. Beware — this is where the calm meets the storm. "
What exactly is a Sea Dragon? Is it a "Puff the Magic Dragon"-esque creature who lives by the sea, or is it more akin to the Loch Ness Monster?
According to Sea Dragons head coach Jim Haslett, part of the charm is that it can be anything you want it to be.
"It's mythical, because you can make it in your own mind whatever you want to make it," Haslett said. "To me, it's something that comes out of the sea."
Haslett is a former Buffalo Bills linebacker and NFL Coach of the Year who led the New Orleans Saints from 2000 to 2005, and most recently served as inside linebackers coach for the Tennessee Titans until 2021.
Haslett sees the new logo and name as a fresh start for the league and the Seattle XFL fan base.
"I just think it's something new, a fresh start for everybody, and I think it's cool ," Haslett said. "I think Sea Dragons are kind of cool ... and the apparel is awesome. I'm kind of fired up about the clothing more than anything right now."
Seattle's 2023 XFL rivals will include the Arlington (Texas) Renegades, San Antonio Brahmas, St. Louis Battlehawks, D.C. Defenders, Orlando Guardians, Houston Roughnecks, and Vegas Vipers.
Haslett has coached in Seattle many times over the years as his various NFL employers came to town to play the Seahawks, and promises to bring a fun brand of football to a city with plenty of competition for fans' time and dollars.
"We're going to try to put a team together that is competitive and guys that love to play football," Haslett said. "We're not drafting anybody who doesn't love to play football. We're going to make it fun."
Former University of Florida head coach Ron Zook will be the Sea Dragons defensive coordinator, while former University of Hawaii coach June Jones will run what Haslett expects to be an explosive offensive aerial attack.
Jones was the head coach of the XFL's Houston Roughnecks in 2020, a team which finished undefeated and had the league's top passing offense.
"If you look at the offensive coordinator we have, you're not going to see a lot of runs," Haslett said with a laugh.
The process of signing players has already begun, as the Sea Dragons have already acquired a pair of currently unnamed quarterbacks to the roster, and will fill out the rest of the roster during the XFL draft in mid-November.
Haslett is convinced that the league's quality of play will be high because of the deep pool of talented players currently available, and with a new ownership group running the show, he is confident that the league is set up for success in XFL version 3.0.
Earlier this year, the XFL entered into a collaboration agreement with the NFL, partnered with the NFL Alumni Academy to help develop future XFL players, and signed a multiyear agreement with Disney to air the league's games on ABC, ESPN, and FX.
"Everything points for everything to do well," Haslett said. "The arrow is going up. So as coaches, we've just got to get players and put them on the field and coach them up and make sure that they're doing the best they can. And then I think my job is to get as many players as I can to live their dream, whether it's to go play in the NFL, or just play this out and win a championship. Whatever their dreams are, we're gonna try to help them out. That's what our goals are this year as coaches"
The 2023 XFL season will kick off on Feb. 18.
