{"id":180838,"date":"2026-02-26T06:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T06:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/180838\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T06:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T06:42:15","slug":"early-takeaways-from-dallas-renegades-camp-ft-rick-neuheisel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/180838\/","title":{"rendered":"Early Takeaways From Dallas Renegades Camp ft. Rick Neuheisel"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Renegades<\/a> have got the ball rolling in UFL<\/a> Training Camp. With a brand new Head Coach in Rick Neusheisel, and a revised roster, it\u2019s an exciting time for Renegades fans across the DFW area.<\/p>\n

Pro Football Newsroom had the chance to attend the team\u2019s open practice on Wednesday, February 25th. This is just the third practice that the Renegades have held.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a look at some of the major takeaways we saw from this practice \u2013 and what coaches & players had to say about it.<\/p>\n

Practice Takeaways<\/p>\n

It\u2019s pretty clear that the Renegades have a fresh backfield. Only Dae Dae Hunter has returned, with three new additions in Ellis Merriweather, Lorenzo Lingard, and Keegan Jones.<\/p>\n

Something to note about Jones: he\u2019s got speed. Keegan was taking a lot of reps during their kick return drills, making an early case for himself to make the roster for that reason alone.<\/p>\n

When it comes to the wide receivers, here\u2019s our observations:<\/p>\n

Tyler Vaughns, to no one\u2019s surprise, was commanding the offense early
\nSilas Bolden has speed, and is a vertical threat; scoring a long touchdown to wrap up practice
\nCoach Neuheisel mentioned that Greg Ward Jr. was full strength for the first time, and liked what he saw out of the veteran playmaker in the slot
\nDenzel Mims, the former 2nd round NFL draft pick, had a rough outing. We recorded two drops from him during practice<\/p>\n

At tight end, Seth Green received a lot of attention. With Sal Cannella no longer in the picture, Green has the opportunity to step up offensively. Both Luis Perez and Austin Reed connected with Seth on sizeable gains.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeth is a stud. He is the man. He lives out here, so we\u2019ve been training all offseason together.\u201d \u2013 Luis Perez<\/p>\n

Defensively, there were a few players who stood out as well. Taco Charlton and Andrew Dowell were key contributors when it came to getting to the quarterback. Neuheisel mentioned to us post-practice that Charlton has impressed early, with his new role playing outside linebacker.<\/p>\n

In the secondary, All-UFL DB Ajene Harris looked exactly like you\u2019d expect: solid. In addition, newly signed safety Tra Fluellen, out of Middle Tennessee State, was flying around making plays. He\u2019s aggressive, especially when playing downhill, and will certainly be involved in defensive stops in the run game. The same can be said for Chris Steele, another new addition who played with San Antonio last year.<\/p>\n

Quarterback Play<\/p>\n

Of course, it\u2019s early in camp \u2013 but everyone wants to know what the quarterback position looks like. Perez, being the veteran he is, took a decent chunk of snaps. Coach Neuheisel had this to say about the quarterback battle so far:<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Luis is ahead, from a standpoint of knowing what we\u2019re doing, and being a veteran of these spring leagues. But I think both Austin and Luke are outstanding prospects. I have high hopes for both of them. Austin has an incredibly strong arm. Sometimes, though, your strengths are your weaknesses. He\u2019s got that Terry Bradshaw \u2018if he\u2019s open, throw it. If he\u2019s not open, throw it harder\u2019. So we\u2019ve got to try and calm that down. Luke, he\u2019s got an extra dimension with his legs. It\u2019s been fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Our observations line up with what Neuheisel said. Austin Reed has an absolute rocket for an arm, but his decision making will need to improve if he wants to take the starting gig from Luis Perez. Meanwhile, Luke Lehnen could be a valuable gadget player, especially with his ability to smoothly run RPO actions.<\/p>\n

Comments From Coach Neuheisel<\/p>\n

We got to speak with Coach Neuheisel and ask him some questions after practice. First up, we wanted to hear about how he got connected with OC Noel Mazzone \u2013 someone spring football fans are very familiar with:<\/p>\n

\u201cNoel and I have known each other for a long time. We\u2019ve never worked together, but he actually worked with my son. My son gave him a glowing recommendation. So I\u2019ve been watching him, and said \u2018why not?\u2019. Part of this [the UFL] is to work your tails off, part of this is to win football games, but part of it is to have fun \u2013 and Noel knows how to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the defensive schemes, the Renegades have a strong staff. Mike Gillhamer is leading the defense, with a couple of linebackers coaches, and a DL coach in Brian Baker who will all pitch in to work together. Gillhamer will work with the backend with the secondary.<\/p>\n

See also<\/p>\n

\"Birmingham\"Birmingham<\/a><\/p>\n

Rick Neuheisel perfectly summed up his attitude in this first week of camp with the first two words out of his mouth to the press: \u201cI\u2019m ecstatic\u201d.<\/p>\n

Comments From Luis Perez<\/p>\n

Luis Perez is working with a brand new staff in Dallas, and it\u2019s safe to say that he\u2019s loving it. Perez immediately followed suit with Coach Neuheisel, with more \u201cecstatic\u201d verbiage:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m so ecstatic that I\u2019m here with these guys. A lot of quality offensive minds. I\u2019m very fortunate to be hooked up with these guys\u2026they have a lot of experience. I\u2019m just trying to be a sponge around them, and collaborate together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perez also told us that he\u2019s been able to work with some of his new targets prior to camp. Silas Bolden, Drake Stoops, and Perez have been training in Dallas since it was announced that they\u2019d both be Renegades, which has resulted in a smoother work flow to begin training camp.<\/p>\n

He also is excited about their running back room, one that looks a lot different this year:<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of these backs are very impressive guys. They understand the game very well. They\u2019re all explosive, and they have some size to them, and they can run the ball really well. Very good vision from what I\u2019ve seen. And they can all catch the ball too, which is very important for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recent Transactions<\/p>\n

DT Kevin Strong, Signed
DL Chace Davis, Retired<\/p>\n

Joining the Renegades roster is DT Kevin Strong, who lives up to the resume his last name might reflect. Kevin is a veteran, having spent the last several years in the NFL. Strong has been a part of a few different teams, with an outstanding campaign in 2023 with the Cardinals \u2013 totaling 46 tackles and 2.5 sacks.<\/p>\n

Throughout his NFL career, Strong has played in 50 games, making 13 starts. He\u2019s got 95 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and four PBU\u2019s to his name. Collegiately, he was a standout with the UTSA Roadrunners, including a couple of blocked kicks on special teams.<\/p>\n

The Dallas Renegades lost Chace Davis to retirement. Davis, who can play both on the interior and as an edge rusher, was an awesome success story in football, overcoming skin cancer to make his way to an NFL mini-camp with the Chiefs. We wish Chace the best as he heads into the next chapter of his life.<\/p>\n

What are your thoughts on where the Dallas Renegades stand right now? Who are you excited to watch this season? Let us know down in the comments below, or join the conversation on Discord!<\/a><\/p>\n

\"XFL,\"XFL,<\/a>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Renegades have got the ball rolling in UFL Training Camp. With a brand new Head Coach…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":180839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[72541,72537,102,104,103,27026,72543,72538,72548,72542,72545,72547,72539,72544,72536,19898,19902,72540,19899,68135,68133,72546],"class_list":["post-180838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-austin-reed","tag-chace-davis","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-dallas-renegades","tag-denzel-mims","tag-kevin-strong","tag-luis-perez","tag-luke-lehnen","tag-rick-neuheisel","tag-seth-green","tag-silas-bolden","tag-tra-fluellen","tag-tyler-vaughns","tag-ufl","tag-ufl-2026","tag-ufl-camp","tag-ufl-free-agency","tag-ufl-free-agent-signing","tag-ufl-retired-list","tag-ufl-training-camp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=180838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/180838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/180839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=180838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=180838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=180838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}