2023 Philadelphia Stars season

2023 Philadelphia Stars season
Owner	National Spring Football League Enterprises Co, LLC, (Fox Sports)
General manager	Michael Woods
Head coach	Bart Andrus
Home field	Ford Field Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium (Week 2)
Results
Record	4–6
League place	3rd in North Division
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 2023 season was the Philadelphia Stars' second season in the United States Football League (USFL), their second season under head coach Bart Andrus and their first under general manager Michael Woods. With their fourth loss of the season against the Birmingham Stallions in Week 8, they failed to improve on their previous season where they went 6–4 in the regular season. They failed to again qualify for the playoffs and avenge their narrow loss to the Stallions 33–30 in the 2022 USFL Championship Game.

Offseason

Stadium plans

Shortly before the completion of the 2022 season, the USFL announced plans to move into two or four hubs for teams to play in.[1] In November, the USFL was reportedly exploring options of having a hub in Metro Detroit, with possible locations being the Eastern Michigan Eagles' Rynearson Stadium and the Detroit Lions' Ford Field.[2]

It was announced that the Stars would be playing their games in the Detroit, Michigan hub at Ford Field. They will share this hub with their North Division rival, the Michigan Panthers.[3]

Draft

The Stars clinched the 7th pick in the 2023 USFL draft and hold the 7th pick in every round.

2023 Philadelphia Stars Draft

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	6	Alfred Edwards	Offensive tackle	Utah State
2	13	Anderson Hardy	Offensive tackle	Appalachian State
3	21	Issac Moore	Offensive tackle	Temple
4	29	Truman Jones	Defensive end	Harvard
5	37	Earl Bostick Jr.	Offensive tackle	Kansas
6	46	Jose Ramirez	Defensive end	Eastern Michigan
7	54	Demontrey Jacobs	Offensive tackle	South Florida
8	62	Trey Botts	Defensive lineman	CSU
9	70	Destin Mack	Cornerback	The Citadel
10	78	Dre Terry	Linebacker	Alabama A&M

Personnel

The Stars, like all other teams, have a 38-man active roster with a 7-man practice squad.[4]

Roster

2023 Philadelphia Stars roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 10 Case Cookus 19 Vad Lee 13 Kevin Thomson Running backs (RB) 25 Paul Terry 27 Dexter Williams  6 Jamyest Williams Wide receivers (WR) 84 Samuel Akem  1 Corey Coleman  7 Devin Gray 80 Cyril Grayson 14 Diondre Overton 17 Keric Wheatfall  9 Terry Wright Tight ends (TE) 85 Ryan Izzo 88 Pro Wells

Offensive linemen (OL) 65 Sean Brown C 73 Jake Burton T 70 Shamarious Gilmore G 78 Drew Himmelman T 72 Khalil Keith G 62 C.J. Perez C 67 Colby Ragland T 60 Airon Servais G 77 Chris Toth T Defensive linemen (DL) 92 Tyler Clark DT 98 Ali Fayad DE 44 Darius Hodge DE 95 Ralph Holley DT 97 Chris Nelson DT 51 LaBryan Ray DT 58 Adam Rodriguez DE 94 Jordon Scott DT 99 Carson Taylor DE

Linebackers (LB) 50 Joey Alfieri ILB 49 B. J. Bello ILB 40 Joel Dublanko OLB 45 Ryan Greenhagen OLB 55 Gabriel Sewell Jr. OLB Defensive backs (DB) 21 Cody Brown FS 29 Amani Dennis CB 18 Joshua Moon SS 30 Carlins Platel CB  3 Stanford Samuels III CB 33 Devin Taylor CB  4 LaDarius Wiley SS 35 Denzel Williams DB 20 Evan Worthington FS Special teams 15 Luis Aguilar K/P 11 Lirim Hajrullahu K/P 54 Ryan Navarro LS

Reserve  5 Matt Colburn RB (IR) 22 Te'von Coney OLB (IR) 19 K. J. Costello QB (DNR) 80 Bug Howard TE (DNR) 78 Jahair Jones G (DNR) 90 Cedrick Lattimore DT (IR) 30 Jordan Moore OLB (Susp.) 12 Chris Rowland WR (IR)  8 Channing Stribling CB (IR)  2 Jordan Suell WR (IR) 61 Tristen Taylor T (IR) 23 Mazzi Wilkins CB (IR) Rookies in italics 50 active, 12 reserve

Staff

2023 Philadelphia Stars staff

Front office General manager – Michael Woods Head coaches Head coach – Bart Andrus Offensive coaches Running backs – Ryan Meyers Wide receivers/passing game coordinator – Marcel Bellefeuille Tight ends – Glenn Smith Offensive line/run game coordinator – Jeff Jagodzinski

Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/linebackers – Brad Miller Defensive line – Brandon Maguire Assistant defensive line – Brandon Noble Defensive Backs/Special teams coordinator – Martin Bayless

Schedule

Regular Season

Week	Date	Time (ET)	Opponent	Result	Record	TV	Venue	Recap
1	April 15	4:30 p.m.	at Memphis Showboats	W 27–23	1–0	Fox	Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium	Recap
2	April 23	7:00 p.m.	vs. Michigan Panthers	L 10–24	1–1	FS1	Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium	Recap
3	April 30	12:00 p.m.	vs. Pittsburgh Maulers	L 13–21	1–2	NBC	Ford Field	Recap
4	May 6	1:00 p.m.	vs. Houston Gamblers	L 16–41	1–3	Fox	Ford Field	Recap
5	May 14	12:00 p.m.	vs. New Jersey Generals	W 24–21	2–3	NBC	Ford Field	Recap
6	May 21	12:00 p.m.	vs. New Orleans Breakers	W 16–10	3–3	FS1	Ford Field	Recap
7	May 27	9:00 p.m.	at Pittsburgh Maulers	W 37–31	4–3	FS1	Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium	Recap
8	June 3	3:00 p.m.	at Birmingham Stallions	L 24–27	4–4	NBC	Protective Stadium	Recap
9	June 11	7:00 p.m.	at New Jersey Generals	L 33–37	4–5	Fox	Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium	Recap
10	June 18	7:00 p.m.	at Michigan Panthers	L 20–23	4–6	Fox	Ford Field	Recap

Bold indicates divisional opponent.

Standings

North Division
#	view talk edit	W	L	PCT	GB	DIV	PF	PA	STK
1	(y) Pittsburgh Maulers	4	6	.400	-	4–2	177	178	W2
2	(x) Michigan Panthers	4	6	.400	-	3–3	171	215	W1
3	(e) Philadelphia Stars	4	6	.400	-	2–4	220	258	L3
4	(e) New Jersey Generals	3	7	.300	1	3–3	187	212	L1
(x)–clinched playoff berth; (y)–clinched division; (e)–eliminated from playoff contention

Game summaries

Week 1: at Memphis Showboats

Week 1: Philadelphia Stars at Memphis Showboats – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Stars	7	13	7	0	27
Showboats	7	3	7	6	23

at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium

• Date: April 15
• Game time: 4:30 p.m. EST
• Referee: Bryan Banks
• TV announcers (FOX): Kevin Kugler (play-by-play), Mark Sanchez (analyst), and Devin Gardner (sideline reporter)

Game information

First quarter PHI – Corey Coleman 6-yard pass from Case Cookus (Luis Aguilar kick good), 6:21. Stars 7–0 Drive: 9 plays, 71 yards, 4:29. MEM – Rashard Davis 43-yard pass from Brady White (Alex Kessman kick good), 1:01. Tied 7–7 Drive: 8 plays, 62 yards, 5:20. Second quarter PHI – Matt Colburn 5-yard pass from Case Cookus (Luis Aguilar kick good), 10:23. Stars 14–7 Drive: 10 plays, 56 yards, 5:38. PHI – Dexter Williams 12-yard rush (Luis Aguilar kick blocked), 1:55. Stars 20–7 Drive: 8 plays, 62 yards, 4:13. MEM – Alex Kessman 28-yard field goal, 0:41. Stars 20–10 Drive: 6 plays, 49 yards, 1:18. Third quarter MEM – Ryan McDaniel 29-yard pass from Brady White (Alex Kessman kick good), 6:26. Stars 20–17 Drive: 7 plays, 81 yards, 3:39. PHI – Devin Gray 14-yard pass from Case Cookus (Luis Aguilar kick good), 0:13. Stars 27–17 Drive: 10 plays, 64 yards, 6:13. Fourth quarter MEM – Alex Collins 1-yard rush (Alex Kessman kick no good), 7:24. Stars 27–23 Drive: 12 plays, 54 yards, 7:49. Top passers PHI – Case Cookus – 20/29, 212 yards, 3 TD MEM – Brady White – 16/29, 182 yards, 2 TD, INT Top rushers PHI – Case Cookus – 7 rushes, 31 yards MEM – Alex Collins – 14 rushes, 63 yards, TD Top receivers PHI – Devin Gray – 7 receptions, 77 yards, TD MEM – Rashard Davis – 2 receptions, 75 yards, TD

References

1. "USFL will return for second season, will play in multiple hub cities with no expansion in 2023". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
2. "USFL explores Metro Detroit hub for 2023; Eastern Michigan has been contacted". The Detroit News. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
3. Larsen, James (2023-01-23). "Ford Field Reportedly Set To Host USFL Northern Hub In 2023". USFL Newsroom. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
4. "USFL to have a "player selection meeting" on February 22–23". ProFootballTalk. 2022-01-04. Retrieved 2023-02-07.