The 2023 Orlando Guardians season was the second season for the

Orlando Guardians The Orlando Guardians are a professional American football team based in Orlando, Florida. The team was founded by Vince McMahon's Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL. The Guardians played their home games at MetLife ...

as a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

. They played as charter members of the

XFL XFL may refer to: Sports * XFL (2001), a defunct American football league that played its only season in 2001 * XFL (2020), a professional American football league Vehicles * Bell XFL Airabonita, a 1940 U.S. Navy experimental interceptor aircra ...

, one of eight teams to compete in the league for the 2023 season. The Guardians played their home games at the

Camping World Stadium Camping World Stadium is a stadium in Orlando, Florida, located in the West Lakes neighborhood of Downtown Orlando, west of new sports and entertainment facilities including the Amway Center, the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, a ...

and were led by head coach

Terrell Buckley Douglas Terrell Buckley (born June 7, 1971) is a former American football cornerback and current Head Coach of the Orlando Guardians. He also played professional baseball for the Mobile Baysharks in the Texas-Louisiana League. College career Buc ...

. The franchise also relocated from

East Rutherford, New Jersey East Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the borough's population was 10,022, reflecting an increase of 1,109 (+12.4%) from the 8,913 counted in the 2010 census.

Orlando, Florida Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County, Florida, Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Greater Orlando, Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, acco ...

prior to the season, changing their name from New York Guardians to Orlando Guardians. On January 1, 2024, it was announced that the 2023 season was the last season for the Guardians.

Roster changes

On March 3, 2023, the Guardians released quarterback Quinten Dormady after he allegedly gave the

San Antonio Brahmas The San Antonio Brahmas are a professional American football team based in San Antonio, Texas. The team is an owned-and-operated member of the XFL, owned by RedBird Capital, Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia's Alpha Acquico, LLC. History The XFL ...

plays from the Guardians' playbook prior to the two teams' week 2 matchup. He was reinstated a day later, on March 4, 2023, when the league released a statement saying they would be investigating into the situation. He was subsequently placed on the team's reserve list. After undergoing a third party investigation, it was found that there was no substantial proof behind the allegations, and Dormandy was added back to the active roster.

Final Roster

Schedule

''All times

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

Game summaries

Week 1: at Houston Roughnecks

Week 2: vs. San Antonio Brahmas

Week 3: at Arlington Renegades

Week 4: vs. Houston Roughnecks

Week 5: at Vegas Vipers

Week 6: vs. Seattle Sea Dragons

Week 7: vs. DC Defenders

This was the Guardians only win of the season, knocking off the previously undefeated

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. The ...

Week 8: vs. Arlington Renegades

Week 9: at San Antonio Brahmas

Week 10: at St. Louis BattleHawks

Standings

Staff

''*Defensive Line coach

Ty Warren Ty'ron "Ty" Markeith Warren (born February 6, 1981) is an American football coach and former defensive end who is the defensive line coach for the Orlando Guardians of the XFL. He played college football at Texas A&M from 2000 to 2003. He then p ...

was no longer on the Staff after Week 5.

Mark Snyder Mark Snyder (born December 30, 1964) is an American football coach and former safety who is the linebackers coach for the Orlando Guardians of the XFL and previously the linebackers coach for the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football Lea ...

took over Week 6.'' ''*After week 5,

Devin Bush Sr. Devin Marquese Bush Sr. (born July 3, 1973) is an American former college and professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. Bush played college football f ...

was added to the coaching stuff as a defensive analyst.''

References

{{2023 XFL season

Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

Orlando Guardians seasons