The D.C. Defenders are now scrambling to find a new head coach with the 2025 UFL season starting next weekend after former head coach Reggie Barlow informed the team he is leaving to take the head coaching job at Tennessee State on Saturday according to Pro Football Newsroom reporter James Larsen.
Reggie Barlow is 53 years old and is from Montgomery, Alabama. He spent two seasons as D.C.’s head coach with a 13-7 recording, including a 9-1 season in 2023 leading the Defenders to the XFL Championship Game where they lost to the Arlington Renegades 35-26. He was named the XFL Coach of the Year. In 2024, the Defenders finished in third place with a 4-6 record in the UFL.
Barlow began his coaching career at Alabama State (2005-06) as the quarterbacks coach guiding and mentoring future NFL second-round pick Tarvaris Jackson. He became head coach at Alabama State in 2007 through 2014. Other notable NFL players who were under Barlow during his coaching tenure were Isaiah Crowell, Terren Jones, Greg Jenkins, and Nigel Carr.
The Hornets won three straight SWAC East Division championships. He finished with a record of 49-42 in eight seasons which ranked him second all-time in program history.
After coaching at George Washington Carver High School, he returned to college this time at Virginia State in 2016. He spent four seasons coaching the Trojans with a 25-10 record including their first undefeated season in 2017 going 10-0 winning the CIAA championship over Fayetteville State, and a berth in the Division II playoffs. Barlow resigned from Virginia State in 2022 to become the head coach of the D.C. Defenders.
As a player, Barlow was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the fourth round (110th pick) of the 1996 NFL Draft. He played five seasons in Jacksonville making 33 catches for 472 yards, 146 punt returns for 1,581 yards, two touchdowns, one kick return for 92 yards, and three fumble recoveries in 69 games.
Next, he played for the Oakland Raiders in 2001 before playing his final two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2002-03) making six catches for 50 yards, one touchdown, 12 punt returns for 58 yards, and 10 kick returns for 385 yards in 13 games winning Super Bowl XXXVII over the Oakland Raiders in 2003.
Collegiately, Barlow played four seasons at Alabama State (1991-95) making 133 catches for 2,536 yards, and 17 touchdowns. In his senior season, he made 58 catches for 1,267 yards and 12 touchdowns. Barlow still owns the school’s single-season record with 1,267 yards, set in 1994.
