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2023 Houston Gamblers season

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2023 Houston Gamblers season
OwnerNational Spring Football League Enterprises Co, LLC, (Fox Sports)
General managerRobert Morris
Head coachCurtis Johnson
Home fieldSimmons Bank Liberty Stadium
Results
Record5–5
Division place3rd in South Division
Playoff finishDid not qualify

The 2023 season was the Houston Gamblers' 2nd and final season in the United States Football League and their 1st under head coach/general manager tandem of Curtis Johnson and Robert Morris.

Draft

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2023 Houston Gamblers draft
Round Selection Player Position College Notes
1 3 Chase Brice Quarterback Appalachian State
2 10 Justin Ford Defensive end Montana
3 18 Joseph Fisher Offensive guard Shepherd
4 26 Scott Matlock Defensive tackle Boise State
5 34 Jeffrey Johnson Defensive tackle Oklahoma
6 42 Keenan Issac Defensive back Alabama State
7 50 Alex Jensen Offensive tackle South Dakota
8 58 Brady Russell Tight end Colorado
9 66 Jason Taylor II Safety Oklahoma State
10 74 Colby Reeder Linebacker Iowa State

Personnel

[edit]

Roster

[edit]
2023 Houston Gamblers final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

  •  8 Brandon Barnes
  • 86 Rodell Rahmaan
  • 85 Josh Pederson
  • 42 Clint Sigg
Offensive linemen
  • 66 Nick Buchanan C
  • 74 Avery Gennesy T
  • 77 Tyler Higby G
  • 78 Brandon Hitner T
  • 52 Braylon Jones C
  • 65 Jair Joseph G
  • 51 Na'Ty Rodgers T
  • 72 Jordan Steckler T

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

  • 20 Nick Grant CB
  • -- Jalen Green S
  •  2 Jeremiah Johnson S
  • 33 Elijah Jones CB
  •  5 Bydarrius Knighten CB
  • 25 Dayan Lake S
  • 40 Isaiah Lewis S
  • 10 Malcolm Washington CB

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • -- Julian Allen TE (Suspended)
  • 22 Manny Bunch S (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 99 Damion Daniels DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 13 Andrew Galitz P (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  •  4 Shermari Jones RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • -- Bamidele Olaseni T (Did not report)
  • 92 Ikenna Onwuasoanya DT (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 29 T. J. Pledger RB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  •  1 Anthony Ratliff-Williams WR (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 38 Donald Rutledge Jr. DB (IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 14 Andrew Soroh S (IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Rookies in italics
49 active, 11 inactive

Staff

[edit]
2023 Houston Gamblers staff

Front office

  • General manager – Robert Morris

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

  • Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Eric Price
  • Running backs/wide receivers/offensive quality control – Garrett Chachere
  • Special teams/tight ends – Ray Rychleski
  • Offensive line – Andy Townsend
Defensive coaches
  • Defensive Coordinator/linebackers – Chris Wilson
  • Defensive line – Kwahn Drake
  • Defensive backs – Brett Maxie
  • Assistant defensive backs/defensive quality control – Zach Shagi



Schedule

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Regular season

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Week Date Time (ET) Opponent Result Record TV Venue Recap
1 April 16 12:00 p.m. vs. Michigan Panthers L 13–29 0–1 NBC Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Recap
2 April 22 12:30 p.m. at New Orleans Breakers L 31–38 0–2 USA Protective Stadium Recap
3 April 29 7:00 p.m. vs. Memphis Showboats W 30–26 1–2 Fox Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Recap
4 May 6 1:00 p.m. at Philadelphia Stars W 41–16 2–2 Fox Ford Field Recap
5 May 13 4:00 p.m. at Birmingham Stallions W 27–20 3–2 Fox Protective Stadium Recap
6 May 21 4:00 p.m. vs. New Jersey Generals W 16–10 4–2 Fox Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Recap
7 May 28 3:00 p.m. at Memphis Showboats L 20–23 4–3 USA Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Recap
8 June 3 12:00 p.m. at Pittsburgh Maulers W 20–19 5–3 USA Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium Recap
9 June 11 1:00 p.m. vs. Birmingham Stallions L 15–38 5–4 NBC, Peacock[a] Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Recap
10 June 18 1:00 p.m. vs. New Orleans Breakers L 10–17 5–5 FS1 Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium Recap

Bold indicates divisional opponent.

Game summaries

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Week 1: vs. Michigan Panthers

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Week 1: Michigan Panthers at Houston Gamblers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Panthers 6 3 71329
Gamblers 6 7 0013

at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium

Game information

The Gamblers hosted the Michigan Panthers for their season opener. The Panthers began the scoring with a Marcus Baugh 22-yard reception from Josh Love. The Gamblers responded with a long drive capped off with a 2-yard rushing touchdown from T.J. Pledger to tie the game at 6–6. The Panthers extended their lead with a 35-yard field goal from Cole Murphy before the Gamblers answered with a T.J. Pledger 2-yard rushing touchdown on the back of a muffed punt by the Panthers, closing out the first half with Houston up 13–9. The second half began with a Panthers punt before Panthers cornerback William Saba intercepted Kenji Bahar to set the Panthers up 2-yards to score, which they capitalized off of with a Stevie Scott 2-yard run to put them in lead 16–13. The third quarter ended with a Houston fumble and a Michigan punt. In the fourth quarter, the Panthers drove the ball down the field, ending with a Trey Quinn 24-yard reception to put the Panthers ahead by 22–13. With Panthers defensive end Breeland Speaks forcing a fumble in the redzone, the Panthers quickly drove 82 yards down the field to score on a Joe Walker 34-yard reception to extend the Panthers' lead to 29–13, which would be the final score.

Standings

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South Division
# W L PCT GB DIV PF PA STK
1 (y) Birmingham Stallions 8 2 .800 - 4–2 287 196 W5
2 (x) New Orleans Breakers 7 3 .700 1 4–2 237 184 W3
3 (e) Houston Gamblers 5 5 .500 3 2–4 223 236 L2
4 (e) Memphis Showboats 5 5 .500 3 2–4 190 213 L2
(x)–clinched playoff berth; (y)–clinched division; (e)–eliminated from playoff contention

Notes

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  1. ^ Game coverage started on Peacock and NBC joined the game in progress.[1]

References

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  1. ^ "Due to the possibility of severe weather in Memphis, the start time for Sunday's USFL game between the @USFLGamblers and @USFLStallions at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium has been changed to 1PM ET/12PM CT. @NBCSports will start game coverage streaming on @peacock. Coverage of the Gamblers-Stallions game will switch to NBC at the conclusion of Sunday's French Open Men's Final".