HARRISONBURG — Mickey Matthews is ready for his permanent vacation to be over.

“I’ve become a real South Carolinian,” Matthews, the former James Madison football coach, said over the phone earlier this week. “I’ve got a pickup, a dog and a golf cart and I play a bunch of golf, so that’s what I do.

“I’m bored beyond tears down here. My whole life I was in fights this time of year and I still like being in fights, so it’ll be good.”

Last month, the XFL’s Dallas franchise — this week coined the Dallas Renegades by the league — tabbed Matthews as its linebackers and defensive quality control coach.

Renegades coach Bob Stoops, the former coach at Oklahoma, hired Matthews, who stepped away from college football after the 2017 season on the heels of two years as defensive coordinator at Coastal Carolina. He was the headman at Madison from 1999 through 2013 and led the program to its first national championship in 2004.

“Bobby is a good guy and still the best thing I do is coach football,” Matthews said. “I love coaching football and I enjoy it. I have as much energy for it, because now that I’m back in it all I do is sit around and draw defenses against plays. My brain is working good again, so it’s like the old days. I feel like I’m 35 instead of 65.”

He said he’s eager to work with Stoops and the Dallas staff since Matthews has known Stoops and Dallas offensive coordinator Hal Mumme for decades as they’ve all crossed paths at different stops during their respective college coaching careers.

“It’ll be fun,” Matthews said. “Bobby [Stoops] was at Florida when I was at Georgia, so we were recruiting all the same players and we were on the same committees for the AFCA. I was the head of the I-AA coaches at the AFCA, so I met with Bobby a lot and we’ve always kept up.”

Matthews said he thinks the XFL will be successful in its second attempt, noting the television deals with ESPN and FOX already secured.

“When the NFL makes cuts next week, there’s going to be 1,100 football players looking for jobs,” he said. “So we’re going to draft in October and figure out which kids want to play, so we’re going to have good players. It’s basically going to be guys that aren’t even a step away from the NFL. It’s the guys that are a half step away from the NFL.”

The XFL’s reboot begins Feb. 8, the Saturday after the Super Bowl. Dallas will play its home games at Globe Life Park, the current home of the Texas Rangers, and Matthews said he’ll be happy to live in his home state for three months.

“Don’t need a road map in Dallas,” Matthews said. “I used to say when I was recruiting up in the north that I’d need an interpreter sometimes, but if I go to Texas everyone understands me.”