Briles to coach new spring football group in Dallas

Dave Wilson, ESPN Personnel WriterAug 10, 2023, 07:57 PM ET

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Dave Wilson is an editor for ESPN.com since 2010. He formerly worked at The Dallas Early Morning News, San Diego Union-Tribune and Las Vegas Sun.The International Football Alliance, a new spring expert league with three groups in the United States and three in Mexico, has worked with former Baylor coach Art Briles as the head coach of its Dallas team, league officials said on Thursday.In addition, league sources state they remain in negotiations with former Washington State coach Nick Rolovich to coach another team.The IFA, which plans to begin play in June 2024, will include 2 teams in Texas– in

Dallas and another market yet to be identified– and one in San Diego. The teams in Mexico will be found in Cancun, Guadalajara and Chihuahua.In addition to Briles and Rolovich, Hal Mumme, the originator of the Air Raid offense, will coach among the Mexican teams.

Noel Mazzone, who has more than 40 years of experience as an offending assistant in college and professional football, will coach of the Guadalajara club.Each team will include 53 players plus 7 practice team members. They are restricted to 20 American players, with the rest needed to be from Mexico or other international countries.It’s a go back to the sideline in Texas for Briles, 67, fired from Baylor in 2016 following a report by a law firm that investigated how Baylor and his football program responded to allegations of sexual attack against his players. Briles spent 2019-20 as the head coach at Mount Vernon High School in East Texas, where he went 20-6 and led the Tigers to the state semifinals. In 2022, he led Firenze Guelfi to the Italian Bowl champion in another global league.Rolovich was a volunteer assistant at San Marin High School in Novato, California last fall. He was fired by WSU in Oct. 2021 together with 4 of his assistants after they declined to adhere to a Washington State mandate that all state workers be

immunized versus COVID-19. Mumme, the former Kentucky coach, has recently been an assistant in the XFL and Mazzone stank planner for the USFL’s New Orleans Breakers.The IFA is carrying out tryouts searching for players, consisting of one in Melissa, Texas, north of Dallas, on Aug. 20.