Houston Roughnecks change general manager from Lionel Vital to Will Lewis

The Houston Roughnecks (with the seven other UFL franchises) need a new coach. The Roughnecks have a new general manager.

By Pro Football Newsroom, Lionel Vital is absentWill Lewis is here.

The Roughnecks finished 2024 with the worst record in the league at 1-9.

Vital worked for the Patriots from 2000-04 as a scout for one year and then as assistant director of college scouting. He spent the 2005-06 season with the Ravens. He joined the Falcons in 2007 as assistant director of player personnel. From 2013-15, he was director of player personnel in Atlanta. He worked for the Cowboys from 2016-21. Vital retired from the NFL in 2022, before coming out of retirement last year to take a job with the UFL.

Lewis transitioned from coaching to scouting in the 1990s, working for the Packers from 1997 to 1998, the Seahawks from 1999 to 2012 (as director of pro scouting and then vice president of player personnel), and the Chiefs from 2013 to 2017 (as director of pro scouting). He worked for the Memphis Express of the AAF in 2019, the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL in 2020, and the San Antonio Brahmas of the XFL in 2023.

It’s unclear who makes the decisions about the arrivals and departures of UFL general managers, especially when there are no coaches under contract. The UFL is owned as a single entity, with no individual franchise owners.

Anyway, someone decided to replace Vital with Lewis. With one win in 10 games, it’s not a big surprise.