Houston Roughnecks make GM change from Lionel Vital to Will Lewis

The Houston Roughnecks (along with the other seven UFL franchises) needs a new coach. The Roughnecks got a new general manager.

By Professional Football Editorial, Lionel Vital is out. Will Lewis is in.

The Roughnecks finished 2024 with the league’s worst record, 1-9.

Vital worked for the Patriots from 2000 to 2004 as a scout for a year and then as assistant director of college scouting. He spent 2005-06 with the Ravens. He joined the Falcons in 2007 as assistant director of player personnel. From 2013 to 2015, he was director of player personnel in Atlanta. He worked for the Cowboys from 2016 to 2021. Vital retired from the NFL in 2022 before coming out of retirement last year to work in the UFL.

Lewis went from coaching to scouting in the 1990s, working for the Packers from 1997 to ’98, 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 professional scouting). He worked for the AAF’s Memphis Express in 2019, the XFL’s Houston Roughnecks in 2020, and the XFL’s San Antonio Brahmas in 2023.

It’s unclear who makes the decisions about general managers coming and going on UFL teams, especially when there is no head coach hired. The UFL is owned by a single entity, with no individual franchise owners.

Regardless, someone decided to make the switch from Vital to Lewis. With one win in 10 games, it’s not a huge surprise.