The Houston Roughnecks are a professional American football team based in Houston, Texas. The Roughnecks compete in the United Football League (UFL). The team is owned-and-operated by Dwayne Johnson's Alpha Acquico and Fox Corporation. The team was a founding member of the USFL, as the Houston Gamblers in 2022, named after the 1980s USFL team of the same name. Though named after the city of Houston, the 2020s Gamblers never played there under that brand, instead playing its home games as the guest of other USFL teams in Birmingham, Alabama in 2022 and Memphis, Tennessee in 2023. When the USFL and XFL merged to form the UFL in 2024, the Gamblers took over the branding of the original Houston Roughnecks that had played the 2020 and 2023 seasons in the XFL and will play in Houston at Rice Stadium.
| Houston Roughnecks | |
|---|---|
 Current season | |
| Established November 22, 2021 Play in Rice Stadium (Houston, Texas) | |
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| League/conference affiliations | |
United States Football League (2022–2023)
United Football League (2024–present)
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Current uniform | |
| Team colors | Navy, red[1] |
| Personnel | |
| Owner(s) | Fox Corporation (50%), Dany Garcia, Dwayne Johnson, RedBird Capital Partners (50%) |
| Head coach | Curtis Johnson |
| Team history | |
| |
| Championships | |
| League championships (0) | |
| Conference championships (0) | |
| Division championships (0) | |
| Home stadium(s) | |
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History
Houston Gamblers (2022–2023)
The Houston Gamblers were one of eight teams that were officially announced as a USFL franchise on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on November 22, 2021.[2] On January 6, 2022, it was announced on The Herd with Colin Cowherd that former NCAA Football Head coach Kevin Sumlin was named the Head coach and General manager of the Gamblers.[3] Houston was the only city in the USFL nominally based west of the Mississippi River and the only team that had a representative team in both professional spring football leagues, the USFL (the Gamblers) and the XFL (the Roughnecks), though the Gamblers never set foot in Houston, instead playing as a traveling team under the USFL's hub model.
On January 6, 2022, former college head coach, Kevin Sumlin was named the head coach and general manager for the Houston Gamblers.[4] The Gamblers' first season game was on April 17, 2022, against the Michigan Panthers at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama. Kicker Nick Vogel made a 37-yard field goal in the first quarter (the first points for the franchise). The Gamblers defeated the Panthers 17–12, winning their first game in franchise history. The Gamblers lost their next seven games before winning for their final two games of the season, and failing to qualify for the USFL playoffs.[5]
In September, 2022, the Gamblers announced that Robert Morris was named their new general manager.[6] In November 2022, the USFL announced that the Gamblers will play at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium in Memphis, Tennessee for the 2023 season.[7] In February, 2023, Sumlin announced his plans to join the coaching staff of the Maryland Terrapins, this led to the Gamblers hiring former New Orleans Saints assistant coach, Curtis Johnson as their new head coach.[8]
Houston Roughnecks (2024–present)
On January 1, as part of the merger with the XFL, the Gamblers merged with their XFL counterpart, the Roughnecks. The merged team took on the Roughnecks name and identity (including history and social media presence), while maintaining the Gamblers' coaching staff, player rights and position in the USFL Conference.[9] The team will play in Houston as the Roughnecks did, but renovations to TDECU Stadium, the Roughnecks' home in 2020 and 2023, required the use of a different venue; Rice University Stadium was approached about the possibility prior to the merger.[10] On February 1, 2024, the Roughnecks announced an agreement to play the 2024 season at Rice Stadium.[11]
Current roster
Players
| Quarterbacks Running backs
Wide receivers
Tight ends
| Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
| Linebackers
Defensive backs
Special teams
| Reserve lists
Roster updated May 21, 2024 50 active, 5 reserve(s) |
Staff
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
| Defensive coaches
|
Player history
Current NFL players
| Season | Pos | Name | NFL Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | DT | Domenique Davis | Cincinnati Bengals |
| 2022–2023 | TE | Josh Pederson | Jacksonville Jaguars |
| 2022 | LS | Tucker Addington | Washington Commanders |
Notable players
| Season | Pos | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024–present | LB | Reuben Foster | Former San Francisco 49ers Linebacker, 2017 1st Round Pick |
| 2024 | TE | Ryan Izzo | Former New England Patriots Tight End, 2018 7th Round Pick |
USFL Offensive Player of the Year award winners
| Gamblers USFL OPOY winners | |||
| Year | Player | Position | Selector |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Mark Thompson | RB | USFL |
USFL Defensive Player of the Year award winners
| Gamblers USFL DPOY winners | |||
| Year | Player | Position | Selector |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Chris Odom | DE | USFL |
Coach history
Head Coach history
| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | ||||
| Houston Gamblers | ||||||||||
| 1 | Kevin Sumlin | 2022 | 10 | 3 | 7 | .300 | - | - | - | |
| 2 | Curtis Johnson | 2023 | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | - | - | - | |
| Houston Roughnecks | ||||||||||
| — | Curtis Johnson | 2024–present | 8 | 1 | 7 | .125 | - | - | - | |
Offensive Coordinator history
| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | ||||
| Houston Gamblers | ||||||||||
| 1 | David Beaty | 2022 | 10 | 3 | 7 | .300 | - | - | - | *Co Offensive Coordinator |
| 2 | J. D. Runnels | 2022 | 10 | 3 | 7 | .300 | - | - | - | *Co Offensive Coordinator |
| 3 | Eric Price | 2023 | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | - | - | - | |
| Houston Roughnecks | ||||||||||
| — | Eric Price | 2024–present | 8 | 1 | 7 | .125 | - | - | - | |
Defensive Coordinator history
| # | Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | ||||
| Houston Gamblers | ||||||||||
| 1 | Tim Lewis | 2022 | 10 | 3 | 7 | .300 | - | - | - | |
| 2 | Chris Wilson | 2023 | 10 | 5 | 5 | .500 | - | - | - | |
| Houston Roughnecks | ||||||||||
| — | Chris Wilson | 2024–present | 8 | 1 | 7 | .125 | - | - | - | |
Records
| All-time Gamblers/Roughnecks leaders | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leader | Player | Record | Years with Gamblers/Roughnecks | |
| Passing Yards | Kenji Bahar | 2,250 passing yards | 2022–present | |
| Passing Touchdowns | Clayton Thorson | 10 passing touchdowns | 2022 2022–2023 | |
| Rushing Yards | Mark Thompson | 1,150 rushing yards | 2022–present | |
| Rushing Touchdowns | Mark Thompson | 17 rushing touchdowns | 2022–present | |
| Receiving Yards | Justin Hall | 641 receiving yards | 2023–present | |
| Receiving Touchdowns | Isaiah Zuber Justin Hall | 5 receiving touchdowns | 2022–2023 2023–present | |
| Receptions | Justin Hall | 47 receptions | 2023–present | |
| Tackles | Donald Payne | 117 tackles | 2022 | |
| Sacks | Chris Odom | 13.5 sacks | 2022, 2024–present | |
| Interceptions | William Likely | 4 interceptions | 2022 | |
| Coaching wins | Curtis Johnson | 6 wins | 2023–present | |
Statistics and records
Season-by-season record
| UFL champions† (2024–present) | USFL champions§ (2022–2023) | Conference champions* | Division champions^ | Wild Card berth# |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | Awards | Head coaches | Pct. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | W | L | |||||||||
| 2022 | 2022 | USFL | South | 4th | 3 | 7 | Chris Odom (DROY) | Kevin Sumlin | .300 | ||
| 2023 | 2023 | USFL | South | 3rd | 5 | 5 | Curtis Johnson | .400 | |||
| 2024 | 2024 | UFL | USFL | TBD | 1 | 4 | |||||
| Total | 9 | 16 | All-time regular season record (2022–2024) | .360 | |||||||
| 0 | 0 | All-time postseason record (2022–2024) | – | ||||||||
| 9 | 16 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2022–2024) | .360 | ||||||||