Scott Adamson, Author at Adamsonmedia.com

Upward and onward for Dr. Anthony Blevins

As part of Watson Brown’s first recruiting class at UAB in 1995, Anthony Blevins helped the Blazers blaze a trail as the program transitioned to what was then known as the Division 1-A level of college football. He had five tackles in a 29-0 loss to Auburn on August 31, 1996 – UAB’s first game as a member of the NCAA’s top division.

Twenty-seven years later, the former cornerback – now Dr. Anthony Blevins – continues to forge new paths.

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On July 7 Blevins was named head coach of the XFL Vegas Vipers, becoming the first former UAB player to take the reins of a professional football team. His most recent role was assistant special teams coordinator for the NFL’s New York Giants, and his coaching experience ranges from prep to pro.

“Our players will have an incredible opportunity to learn from a coach with NFL and NCAA experience, and we look forward to seeing his impact on the field and in the locker room,” XFL President Russ Brandon said.

Thing is, stalking sidelines was hardly Blevins’ passion after he graduated from UAB with a sociology degree in 1998.

“I started coaching at Alabama State University in Montgomery right after I was done playing college ball,” said Blevins, a Pleasant Grove High School product. “I got a taste of coaching, but didn’t really think I wanted to do that. So, I decided to get into corporate America and took a couple different jobs.

“I also tried to make another run at playing in the (original) XFL in 2001 (with the Birmingham Thunderbolts), but after a knee injury, I knew that was done.”

And while he was planning on getting away from coaching, coaching kept seeming to find its way back to him.

“I ran into one of my former college coaches and we talked about different guys who were bouncing around,” he explained. “The name of one of my former coaches at UAB (George Pugh) came up, and he was coaching in Atlanta. I ended up taking a job with UPS in their corporate office, which was based in Atlanta, and we ended up catching up. He offered me an assistant coaching job to help out with his high school team (Meadowbrook High School) but I wasn’t interested.

“He talked me into meeting up for lunch and we went up to the high school just to check it out. He only had one other coach helping with 45 kids, so I decided to help them out while he was looking for assistants. After a few weeks I asked him if the offer as an assistant coach still stood because I was really having a lot of fun with the kids and enjoyed what we were building.”

Then, it hit.

“When I coached right after school, I was young and going through the process,” he said. “It was when I was in Atlanta coaching high school when I fell in love with it.”

Blevins was at Meadowbrook from 2003-04, and moved to the college ranks from 2005-07, working with wide receivers, defensive backs and special teams at Mississippi State. It was during his time with the Bulldogs when he earned a Master’s degree in instructional technology.

That was a springboard for three other college jobs (including a one-year stint at UAB in 2012) and assistant coaching gigs with the Arizona Cardinals (2013-17) and Giants, where he started in 2018 as a special teams coach.

He was part of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship Program with the Chicago Bears (2008), Cardinals (2010) and Indianapolis Colts (2011).

Oh, and he also managed to get a PhD in instructional systems and workforce development at Mississippi State in 2015.

“The PhD ranks right there at the top of the board, and it’s not even close,” Blevins said. “Education is something no one can take away from you. You can lose certain jobs in coaching, you can have different titles, but no one can take away all the hard work and dedication I put into my degree, and I’m proud of that.”

When the Vipers came calling, they quickly knew they’d found the right man for the job.

“Anthony’s talent and potential were evident throughout the interview process and in speaking with some coaches, staff and former players from the New York Giants, it was clear that he knows how to connect with players and staff,” XFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Marc Ross said. “He is a very bright coach who has made stops at every level of football from coaching high school in Atlanta to the Giants with collegiate and NFL stops in between. On top of his coaching experience, he knows what opportunity our league can provide to players and staff.”

Although injuries prevented him from competing in XFL 1.0, Blevins was a member of the Regional Football League’s Mobile Admirals in 1999 and played for the af2 Birmingham Steeldogs a year later.

So, how did suiting up in alternative leagues help prepare him to coach in one?

“To me, that’s simple – you have to be able to adapt, adjust and be flexible,” Blevins said. “If someone was in the NFL or major Division 1 program, they have certain resources. In different leagues, you have to be flexible with a bunch of different things, whether that’s on practice time or sharing certain facilities.

“Those attributes off the field will certainly help our guys when they take the field if something doesn’t go as planned in a game.”

Remembering the lessons learned from his college days doesn’t hurt, either.

“Being a former player helps give me an insight into the players, but the coaching game is so different from being a player,” he said. “There certainly have been certain instances where I think like a player as a coach, but mainly from a teaching perspective. I want to make sure that players understand what we are teaching them, so from time to time I’ll put on my former player hat and say, ‘Would this make sense to me as a player?’”

Last season the Vipers – under the direction of Rod Woodson – struggled to a 2-8 record, last in the North Division of the rebooted XFL.

Blevins hopes to flip the script when a new season kicks off next February.

“We’re going to come out and work every day,” Blevins promised. “We are going to play a style of football that’s tough and physical. We want to dictate to the other teams that they have to play us a certain way.

“There’s no film on me as a head coach, so I can’t give away too many secrets, but we’ll be a fun team to watch.”

Talking with the animals

Anyone who knows me knows I love my animals.

They’re not like family, they are family – and that being the case, I converse with them as I would a human member of my tribe.

“Steve, are you ready for breakfast?” I’ll ask our Chihuahua each morning.

When I do, he jumps from the bed, hits the floor running at full stride, and does a couple of twirls in front of his food bowl.

“Here you go, buddy,” I’ll say as I pour his dry food. “Now, let me go the fridge and get some wet food to mix in. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

By anthropomorphizing my critters, I feel as though we’re the same species and on the same wavelength.

But I wonder … do they do the same to us? They’d have to, right?

Bane, our gray cat, chatters incessantly. Unless he’s asleep, he’s “talking,” and many times he’s talking to me.

On my end, I’m hearing a series of chitters and chirps that make little sense, prompting me to say things like, “What’s the matter, Mr. B?” or, “Do you want daddy to pick you up and hold you?”

I’ll assume he does, and after he’s picked up and held, he’ll purr enthusiastically.

But … was that truly his request? Perhaps he was jabbering on about something else entirely.

“What bugs me,” he might’ve been saying in his native, sandpaper tongue, “is that Bruce Wayne faked his death in The Dark Knight Rises. Honestly, it just ruined the whole movie for me and really tarnished Batman’s legacy. And do you think after Alfred saw him and Selena at that café and realized he was still alive, Alfred reported the fraud to Jim Gordon? Hell, no. He just walked away smirking, like it was no big deal.”

And when I responded, all Bane heard was, “Blardy, blardy, blar, blar, blar.”

Still, I’m guessing he assumes I was agreeing with him (which I kinda do; Batman is a lot of things, but he ain’t no quitter).

Mr. B has also developed a habit of rousting me in the middle of the night with frantic warbling.

At first, I’d get up to check his food or water bowls, but usually they were mostly full. After several rude awakenings I discovered – much to my horror – that he was alerting me to the fact that he’d just left a prize in the litter box.

So, while originally I thought he was saying, “Dad, I need help” most likely his words were, “Better scoop, bag and take it to the dumpster, my man … I don’t want my fuzzy butt going anywhere near that evil.”

Thor, the ginger cat, is usually quiet but every now and then he’ll let loose with a series of thunderous meows.

No clue what he’s trying to communicate but I figure it’s along the lines of, “Duuuuude! Duuuuude! Duuuuude!”

Then again, it could be a simple case of Cat Tourette Syndrome.

Steve – as is the wont of all small dogs – loves to bark. And he barks a lot.

Squirrels, birds, outdoor cats, outdoor dogs, delivery drivers, feral children … he can unleash some of the most bloodcurdling sounds you can imagine. To me, it’s ear-piercing noise.

What he might be trying to convey, however, is “ASSHOLES! ASSHOLES! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!!!!”

But to his credit, he does have some barks that I think he knows I understand.

When he needs to go outside to pee and/or poop, he’ll trot to the door and release a quick, sharp bark.

I translate it to, “Dad, please take me out.”

In his dog dialect the direct quote is closer to, “Grab the leash, bitch, before I bite your butt.”

And at night if he, the female human and his kitty bros are already in the bedroom and I’m still on the futon in the den, he’ll stare at me with a pitiful look and yip twice.

I hear, “Please come to bed, dad.”

He’s saying, “Hit the sheets, assface, before I bite your butt.” (I just assume Steve curses and likes to bust my chops … he seems like the type).

Once in bed, he’ll look straight at his mom and make a series of grunts and growls as if trying to say, “I often think about biting the fleshiest part of the male human’s buttocks … I’m not sure why, I’m just compelled to do it.”

Obviously, my Beastie Boys don’t speak English, and I don’t speak Doglish or Catlish. It’d be kinda messed up if we did.

We communicate quite well, though, and have been able to build a pretty sweet world together. That makes me very, very happy.

Even if Steve wants to bite my butt.

Saint shares sneak peek at Squadron

**Birmingham** Squadron coach T.J. Saint is excited about the 2023-24 season. *(photo courtesy of the Birmingham Squadron)*

The NBA Summer League gives fans an opportunity to check out stars in the making as they compete in a high-energy tournament format. It’s great entertainment and I find myself watching as many games as I can.

For coaches, though – especially those in charge of NBA G League teams – it serves as part classroom, part job fair.

Birmingham Squadron boss T.J. Saint was in Las Vegas to watch the New Orlean Pelicans’ up-and-comers, some of who’ll be part of his club during the 2023-24 season. Entering his second season as head coach of their G League affiliate, Saint has a vested interest in the men dotting the roster.

“I think the Pelicans are going to do some different things offensively, so a lot of the Summer League for me was just kind of getting a feel for that system,” Saint told me during a Tuesday telephone conversation. “And I had a chance to learn a lot about some of our new players, guys that’ll be in Birmingham with us. Summer has always been a tremendously valuable time to start to build relationships with the new players, and then just reinforcing what you’ve learned and continuing to coach.”

Two-way player Dereon Seabron averaged a team-high 17.2 points during the Pelicans’ five-game Summer League schedule, while E.J. Liddell was good for 12.8 per game. Liddell was the Pelicans’ second two-way player in 2022-23, but was sidelined by a torn ACL.

The good news for Birmingham is that Liddell now has a clean bill of health. The better news is that a new collective bargaining agreement has paved the way for each team to carry a third two-way player.

Saint said that will have a huge impact on the Squadron and how he approaches game management.

“Having three two-way players in 2023-24 changes things a lot,” he explained. “I mean, those guys play anywhere between 25 and 30-plus minutes per game, and you have to map that out across your entire team when building a rotation. With one guy, there’s a set percentage they have to play but with two, that’s 25 percent of your minutes and you add a third, that’s 37 percent of your minutes. So, it’s a huge deal going from essentially one to three – it’s a game changer.”

Seabron was a crowd favorite in 2022-23, averaging 34.5 minutes on the court over 27 outings and scoring 18.4-points per night. He also made five appearances with the Pelicans last season.

“I’m really looking forward to working with Dereon … he’s not a rookie anymore,” Saint said. “Having him there in his second year means knowing what to expect and knowing he’s gotten a lot better and gotten a lot stronger. I think he’s gonna have a banner year.”

Local tryouts for players will begin next month. And despite the fact that making a roster is a longshot, Saint says they’re important for the trialists.

“It’s awesome to see people who have come to games as fans and they come out in September wearing our logo and trying out for the team,” he said. “I think it’s really cool. I remember when I was growing up if I walked into my favorite NBA team’s open tryout and wearing their logo, I’d be pretty hyped about it. So, I love these tryouts … we always get good people, good energy.

“It allows our coaches to have a good experience and coach those guys, and I think it’s tremendous for the community. I wish we could do more of them, honestly.”

As for the G League Draft, it’s set for Saturday, October 28.

“By the time we get to the G-League Draft, most of the roster will be set,” Saint said. “The day after the draft is our first team meeting, so going into it you know what you want and what you need. Right now, we’re slated to get the sixth pick in the first round. But sometimes to get the stuff you need, you just kind of go get the best available. So, we’re kind of working through some more stuff on the roster on the front end, but by draft time it just kind of takes care of itself.”

I’ve been a G League fan for several years now, even before the circuit decided to put down roots in the Magic City. The games are so much fun to watch, and one of the main reasons is because it’s professional basketball played at a high level.

It’s not the NBA, but it’s the next best thing in North America.

“How many times do you see a player playing in a minor league and the very next night play in a major league? That happens here, because you will literally see a player on the court here one night and in the NBA the next,” Saint said. “You’re gonna see people right on the fringe and some people you know … that you recognize from college. These are guys who have either already done it or right on the fringe to do it.

“I think New Orleans is five hours away, Memphis (home of the Grizzlies) is three or so hours away, and Atlanta (home of the Hawks) is a little over two hours away, but Legacy Arena is right here, and we have some really talented players.”

Another impressive aspect of the organization is how much work it does in the community. On July 31 members of the front office staff and Morris Bart Law Farm held a volunteer event at the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, and today they volunteered with United Way of Central Alabama and Jones Valley Teaching Farm to help beautify Henry J. Oliver Elementary School.

Saint hopes Birmingham sports fans will have more chances to become familiar with the players in the coming months as they take part in civic activities.

“I think one of the things we’re going to do even more this year, speaking with (Squadron general manager) Leslie Claybrook, is we’re going to really do our best to get our players out in the community more so people can get to know them better,” Saint said. “They might know what college they’re from, especially a local guy like John Petty from Alabama, but we’re just trying to really help them get to know who our players are, have a little bit of a relationship with them, talk to them at different events. We’re going to really make that a paramount focus for us this year. When you can do that, the fans feel more a part of it.

“It can help our guys, and I think the team that we’re putting together is going to be really solid. I’m super excited about it.”

Me, too.