XFL San Antonio Brahmas

The OSC Interview: San Antonio Brahmas Director of Team Operations Jose Jefferson

by Fran Stuchbury
February 1, 2023 - XFL (XFL)
San Antonio Brahmas


OurSports Central contributor Fran Stuchbury recently spoke with San Antonio Brahmas Director of Team Operations Jose Jefferson. Jefferson has been working with the XFL team since June of 2022, acting as a liaison between the Brahmas and the league's business and football operations personnel. Jefferson played as a practice squad player with the Arena Football League's Arizona Rattlers for two seasons (1993-94) and then for the Iowa Barnstormers for three seasons (1995-97). He went on serve as a head coach for several indoor football teams including the Lincoln Lightning, Lincoln Capitols, Sioux City Bandits and Colorado Crush. Jefferson has also worked as Player Personnel Director for the Sioux Falls Storm and has been the Executive Director of The College Gridiron Showcase since 2014.

Fran Stuchbury: What interested you in working for the XFL's San Antonio Brahmas?

Jose Jefferson: Honestly, they came after me. I didn't apply for this job, not that I wouldn't have wanted it anyway. It happened fairly quick quite honestly. I own and operate The College Gridiron Showcase; the XFL was there last year. They saw how we operated things. They said if something came up they would keep in touch. I didn't take it seriously because things like that really don't happen to me or for me.

In May, four months later, the XFL called and asked if I would be interested in an operations position. Within two days on the phone talking to my current boss, XFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Marc Ross and Executive Vice President of Football Doug Whaley, they let me ride two days without hearing a thing. They called me on a Friday and said "Hey, how would you like to work for the XFL?" I was like, "Okay, sure," and that's how it started and how quickly it happened.

I didn't aspire to do this; they say you don't choose your destiny chooses you. I am just happy and thrilled they thought enough about me to take this position. It's been great. Hines Ward has been a great experience, good coach, better person, so I am pretty blessed right now.

FS: What are your thoughts on the San Antonio Brahmas nickname and logo?

JJ: I think it's great. I am obviously a little biased. The other new cities, the Orlando Guardians and Las Vegas Vipers, have nicknames from old XFL cities. Our name is brand new and unique; Dwayne Johnson has a lot to do with that obviously because of his brand with the Texas roots and nature. It is Texas; you have to do something with the cowboy, a cow or a bull. We fit right in.

FS: Have you had any dealings with XFL co-founders Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Dany Garcia?

JJ: I have, I was chosen to work the green room they were in when they were in Dallas. It was about 30 minutes with Dwayne Johnson, Dany and me. They were filming with ESPN for a promo for the XFL. Johnson is a good dude, funny, big. I am 5'9", he is 6'5". When he talks to you he is very focused and listens to every word you say. It's like he wants to remember everything about you. The next time he sees you he already knows who you are and that's a really good thing.

As for Dany she's really smart, good business woman. It's her and his vision. It's not one or the others. They work really well together. Johnson has been great. In fact I will see him later on today for another function for the whole league. They are really good people to work for. They are genuine. That's why it will be great, because they are invested in it.

FS: How much did the player combines help the team with the XFL Draft?

JJ: I thought it was very helpful. Like I said, with owning an event, around 90 or 92 players were drafted from my event, the College Gridiron Showcase, alone. Then there were a lot of players that went through the player combines, and I thought they found a good number of guys. There are some great players that are sitting at home and should not be. That's why this league is so important to them. I think anytime you can go to someone that has decisions to make, rosters to build, you should do it. Most guys are sitting at home because they didn't think they could do it, so it was a mistake. Besides that, I like what we did with our player workouts. We can probably see more of those to come.

FS: Did the Supplemental Draft help the Brahmas get some key players as well?

JJ: I think it helped everybody. What people don't realize, we are not the NFL that can afford to take 90 players in training camp and throw away 20 of them at anytime. They have to get down to 53 players when the season starts. We started out with 75 guys and right now we will be making a cut to 60 players this week. That cuts into our practice squad and things of that nature and makes it tough, We play in 21 days and we have to get down to 50. We are playing with an NFL-size roster, but we don't pay them like an NFL camp roster. It makes it tough; we will make do. I thought we did a great job in camp in keeping the guys healthy and making some wise personnel decisions. It's a process when you've never worked in an expansion league, but this is going on expansion league six or seven expansion for me. I am used to the grind. Right now I am putting chairs away in the ballroom because we need to practice.

FS: Do you have access to other teams' camps for possible trades?

JJ: We have a personnel guy who does that, Will Lewis. He is amazing; he has done so much in the short period of time I have been around him. There are some great personnel people around the XFL. They have been around; they know what they are doing. I have learned how they process work. Nobody really has access to other team's practices. You have to just go from the team that had the player previously and what the personnel guy is telling you about that player. They can have a great player up for trade, but if you don't need him it doesn't really do much for you.

FS: The Alliance of American Football's San Antonio Commanders averaged 27,720 fans the four games they played at the Alamodome in 2019. Do you expect that to be even better with the Brahmas?

JJ: Absolutely, I think it will be better for a lot of reasons. We have done a lot of good community stuff down there. San Antonio was where Dwayne Johnson competed in his first Royal Rumble in 1997, so you have that going for you. For the simple fact you have Hines Ward. We did a lot of things early on. We went to the UTSA - Houston game, and they introduced coach Ward at halftime and the fans went nuts for him then. I truly believe we will be around much longer with the investment the XFL has in it, so I am excited. I know our ticket sales are right up there with the St. Louis BattleHawks. They are two of the markets that don't have NFL teams. So fans are embracing them as their own.

FS: San Antonio has been mentioned as a possibility for the XFL Championship. Would that be a good location for it?

JJ: I think so. A place with a dome stadium, Saint Louis or San Antonio, that you can control the climate would be good, but I am biased. We have a good market, so why not San Antonio?

FS: How has ESPN been as a television partner for the XFL so far?

JJ: Great people to work with, they obviously know what they are doing. They know how to do it; great partner. I don't work with them, but when I met Laura Rutledge and Stormy Buonantony and the rest of the crew they have, they have been great. They treat you like you are the one that is the star, when they are the ones that are stars.

FS: When you were on the practice squad with the Iowa Barnstormers, future Super Bowl, NFL MVP and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner was your roommate.

JJ: It was good. Like I said I was a practice squad player to help the team get better. I wasn't a main player, but we still keep in contact. We have never stopped talking really. In fact his son, Kansas State wide receiver Kade Warner, was at my event this year at the College Gridiron Showcase. We worked with him and help each other out and take care of each other when we can. He is busy at times. When I text or call Kurt during the week he doesn't get back to me, but when he is on the NFL Network is when he starts texting me (laughs). He's a good dude, I learned a lot from him. We are great friends so I am blessed that way.

FS: Having coached in the Indoor Football League are you happy the XFL has a partnership with the that league?

JJ: It's funny because I helped facilitate that, with IFL Commissioner Todd Tryon. Todd Tryon was a player in the IFL when I was a head coach. We have a great history together. I think that deal is going benefit the IFL. Obviously a little bit better because its a place for players to go down get some more film and experience. Also if there is a need, there is a reciprocal relationship that the players can come back. That's probably the only deficiency in the IFL. Is that you have a great player and is good for you and the XFL needs them. That kind of supersedes them being down there. Like I have said I have always been a fan of the IFL. That's where I cut my teeth staring in 1998, been there on and off the last 20 years, have great friends there, good memories. They show me some love and as long as they continue to do that, I will continue to support them and help them anyway I can.

FS: You coached Indoor Football League Hall of Fame running back Fred Jackson when you were a head coach with Sioux City Bandits in 2005. He went to to have a good NFL playing career with the Buffalo Bills.

JJ: Fred was fantastic. He was great to be around because he was still kid-like, fresh out of college. I enjoyed him. Not a lot of people know that he has an identical twin brother Patrick. They were very playful. They would switch each other and do each other's interviews, which if you didn't know them you wouldn't be able to tell who is who. I would get on them all the time. Great player for indoor. You can tell he didn't really belong here. That was the luxury of having him, having a guy that could change a game. In indoor football he averaged 91 yards a game. The field was only 50 yards long. He averaged almost twice the size of the field. Great returner, big team guy. He went on to the NFL and did his thing.

I don't take any of the credit for him. He made me a better coach having him as a player. He's the crown jewel of the IFL in rushing. Nobody is ever going to touch those records again - in 2005, 1,770 yards and scored 53 touchdowns. Definitely stats that won't ever be caught.

FS: How do you feel about having three Texas teams in the XFL with your San Antonio Brahmas, the Arlington Renegades and Houston Roughnecks?

JJ: Yes, it's different. I am from Nebraska; we have one team. It's difficult to generate rivalries when Nebraska went to the Big10 in 2011. They created a rivalry with Iowa, but it's still not the same since they have Iowa State. I love the coaches that are involved with it: the Houston Roughnecks' Wade Phillips and Arlington Renegades' Bob Stoops. I got to to know them over time when I started working for the XFL. I still want to beat them. I think it's great; they are going to do a good job with that. The mayors have bought into it also, saying "Hey, we are going beat you." There is some trophy that's going to go around with cigars between Coach Ward, Coach Phillips and Coach Stoops which I think is amazing. I am excited for it.

FS: For the fans in San Antonio who have yet to purchase a ticket to a Brahmas game, why should they come to a game?

JJ: They don't have a team there. I think UTSA fills the void in the fall, but there is nothing really there otherwise in the spring. Being down there for the short time I have, they have a very big disdain for not having a NFL team. They feel they have a place that can hold one. So now here you are with players who could be on NFL teams and on practice squads and they will be able to do their thing, so why not go to a game? We are one of the few cities that doesn't have a NFL team and with the XFL we now have that investment.

FS: Where do you see the XFL three years from now?

JJ: I see us in market. Right now we are all in Dallas-Fort Worth. I think that is good to start off because if there are issues we are able to handle them pretty quickly because all of us are together. I work with the other directors of team operations and when there are issues with one, we help each other out. In three years I can easily see us in market. Not seeing us be one of the main four, but being a huge spring sport. That's the plan, when you talk to Dwayne Johnson or Dany Garcia or Gerry Cardinale, that's what they say. Outside of the big four they want to be the next big thing.

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