Six Teams Announce Head Coaches for PBR Team Series
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – There still may be about five months until the rosters for the upcoming PBR Team Series take shape, but the men who will be tasked with leading a championship roster are starting to become crystal clear.
Six of the eight-founding teams in the PBR Team Series announced their head coaches Friday night during the PBR Team Series Draft Lottery at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden prior to Round 1 of the PBR Monster Energy Buck Off at the Garden, presented by Ariat.
Ariat Texas Rattlers: Cody Lambert
PBR co-founder and PBR Director Cody Lambert will lead the Fort Worth, Texas, based bull riding squad. The Bowie, Texas, legend is no stranger to coaching and he has been credited with having an influential impact on many bull riders and rodeo athletes of various generations, including two-time World Champion Jess Lockwood.
Lambert, a 1996 PBR Ring of Honor inductee, was not only an exceptional bull rider, but a top-tier saddle-bronc rider as well. The current PBR Director of Livestock qualified for the NFR seven times in bull riding and three in bronc riding, and he appeared in the PBR World Finals every year through 1996.
Lambert: “My wish is this will be the next big thing for us since forming the PBR. This is the next big step. The PBR took it from bull riding being a part of rodeo and being standalone events to there actually being a league of bull riding that there never had been before. This will take it to where there is a league and opportunities for people to cheer for a team, or a city to own their team. A city and a state. We are not the Fort Worth Rattlers. We are the Texas Rattlers. We had discussed doing this a couple years ago and then COVID hit. The teams would have been launched a year earlier if we hadn’t had to step down and change the way we did everything. I had a discussion with Ariat (Susan Alcala / Mark George) that long ago because they were the first team that bought in, and they asked if I would coach back then and I was interested.
“I have had a passion for helping the bull riders and I have felt I have had something more to offer to the sport. Thirty years into (the PBR) and this is my dream job. This is what I have I have wanted to do all along.”
Carolina Chaos: Jerome Davis
The 1995 PRCA champion bull rider and PBR co-founder is often considered a founding father for bull riders east of the Mississippi, especially in his home state of North Carolina. Davis, a 1998 Ring of Honor inductee, has mentored and coached many bull riders at his ranch in Archdale, North Carolina, including the legendary two-time PBR World Champion J.B. Mauney. Davis and his wife, Tiffany, have also raised some of the top bucking bulls in the ABBI and PBR as well.
Davis: “I’m excited about teaming up with Richard (Childress) and Austin (Dillon). These guys know how to win with a team concept, and I know bull riding from a rider side of it to a stock contractor. I think when we put our heads together its going to be good. I am excited to get the ball rolling.”
Kansas City Outlaws: J.W. Hart
J.W. Hart’s 15-year professional riding career netted a host of honors, including 1994 Rookie of the Year, 2002 World Finals event winner, and 2004 Challenger Tour Champion. The original “Iron Man,” Hart rode in a then-record 197 consecutive premier series events and was inducted into the Ring of Honor in 2009. He now raises bulls and works the broadcast booth as an announcer.
Hart also has plenty of success coaching in the team concept, leading Team USA to two gold medals at the PBR World Cup (2008, 2009) and serving as an assistant coach for Justin McBride on the last four PBR Global Cup USA squad.
Hart: “I know this has been on the radar for so long with Sean (Gleason) and the guys at the office. It has been talked about and dreamed about for so many years, and to see it finally come to fruition is exciting for me. It is kind of surreal that it is happening in New York and that I get to be a part of such a great team. Lennie (Foree) and Phil (Pulley) and the guys couldn’t come tonight because of COVID and some family issues, but we are excited. I can’t wait. It is going to be a new era in bull riding.
“I have been a part of a World Cup team that I was a head coach for three years and I won two of the gold medals there and being a part with McBride on Team USA at the Global Cup and a couple wins there. Fortunately, we know what we are doing at the Outlaws.”
Missouri Thunder: Luke Snyder / Ross Coleman
Luke Snyder and Ross Coleman travelled the PBR circuit together for 11 years, are great friends and boast 25 PBR World Finals Qualifications between them. Each is a member of the PBR Ring of Honor. Snyder, who broke Hart’s record by riding in 275 consecutive premier series events, is a member of the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame and Coleman is widely recognized as one of the toughest riders to ever compete in the sport.
Coleman most recently coached alongside McBride and Hart to help lead the Team USA Eagles to a gold medal at the 2020 PBR Global Cup.
Snyder: “Well, I will tell you what. What a time to be a bull rider. It is going to be a great thing. Johnny (Morris) would have loved to have been here, he is such a great advocate for Western sports in general. Working with my best buddy Ross, and we got the band back together with Randy Bernard as our G.M. We got a good A team in place here to really come out strong. We are excited.
He (Johnny Morris) is building a heck of an arena. It is a big outdoor amphitheater carved into a side of a mountain. It is one of the most beautiful views not just in the Ozarks, but anywhere. We are excited to host an event there.”
Coleman: “I can’t wait until June. I think the team aspect is going to up everyone’s riding. Getting to coach with Luke and work for Randy (Bernard) and Johnny Morris is a privilege. Also, we will have some great chemistry between all of us and our riders we draft. The riders will get paid more and they also will learn more. This will make the PBR more of a mainstream sport. I can’t wait to watch this sport grow.”
Nashville Stampede: Justin McBride
The Nashville Stampede will be led by one of the greatest bull riders of all time in Justin McBride. The two-time PBR World Champion set a host of records in his career, including the single-season event wins record (8) and most career event wins (32) on the premier series.
The 2009 PBR Ring of Honor inductee qualified for the PBR World Finals 10 consecutive seasons and has since become a staple for the PBR television broadcasts on CBS Sports Network as the lead color analyst.
McBride has team coaching experience as well, leading the Team USA Eagles to victory at two of the past four Global Cups. The 2020 Team USA Eagles was the first PBR World Cup / Global Cup team to ever win the international competition on its home soil.
McBride: First off, I love the concept and I love what it can do for not only the guys, but for the sport as a whole. From the riders making more money, for one, and, for two, being better bull riders. But I think from a fan experience at an event to watching on TV, there is a whole host of things that this will make the sport better.
“The Morris family is a great family, and we have a great team in place. Mr. (Billy) Morris, and this is one reason why I love him, he is very, very engrained. Everything we preach about Be Cowboy. Those morals, that foundation. That is Mr. Morris. He is a very, look you in the eye, shake your hand, stand by your word type of guy. I can’t wait for these young guys to meet him. They are going to love him instantly. Our team will have an identity. We will be a stand-up team and a tough team. We will be tough – mentally and physically. There is going to be a lot of stuff that is going into that league. There are going to be a lot of conversations before the draft, but that is one thing that is non-negotiable. Mental and physical toughness.”
Oklahoma Freedom: Cord McCoy
Fan favorite Cord McCoy appeared at the PBR World Finals six times in his career, as well as the NFR once, before transitioning into one of the sport’s top stock contractors.
Now the Tupelo, Oklahoma, native will be tasked with leading the Oklahoma City based Freedom bull riding team.
McCoy: “Such an honor to be involved in a great history-making moment. The whole day has been full of excitement from draft position to coaching ideas and strategies. The Oklahoma Freedom team has hit the ground running with a winning attitude.”
Thursday and Friday was a historical milestone as the PBR and its eight-founding teams unveiled their host cities and team logos.
• Ariat Texas Rattlers, based in Fort Worth, Tex., owned by the Fisher family
• Arizona Ridge Riders, based in Glendale, Ariz., owned by Teton Ridge
• Austin Gamblers, based in Austin, Tex., owned by Egon Durban
• Carolina Chaos, based in Winston-Salem, N.C., owned by the league and operated by Richard Childress Racing.
• Kansas City Outlaws, based in Kansas City, Mo., owned by Pulley Outlaws LLC
• Missouri Thunder, based in Ridgedale, Mo., owned by Johnny Morris
• Nashville Stampede, based in Nashville, Tenn., owned by Morris Communications Company
• Oklahoma Freedom, based in Oklahoma City, Okla., owned by the league and operated by Prodigal
The PBR Team Series’ inaugural 10-event regular season will culminate in a team playoff at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas November 4-6, 2022. The league will launch with eight founding teams, each scheduled to host in their respective city an annual bull riding event and western lifestyle festival, building excitement and rooting interests in the sport:
There will be two “neutral site” league-produced events, regular-season events and the season playoff and championship. The PBR Team Series’ inaugural 10-event regular season will culminate in a team playoff at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas November 4-6, 2022. All PBR Team Series events will be carried on either the CBS Television Network, streaming live on Paramount+, CBS Sports Network or Pluto TV.
Events will be structured in a tournament-style format with all teams competing in head-to-head matchups against a different opponent each day. Each game will feature five riders per team squaring off against another team. The team with the highest aggregate score of qualified rides among its riders will be declared the winner of each game. The event winner will be the team with the most game wins across an event, with a special bonus round designed as a tie breaker to determine final event standings.
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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