Category: Alternative Football

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.

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.”

The original United States Football League played its inaugural season 40 years ago, ushering in three springs of big budget football that was far better than the NFL wanted you to believe. But 1983 was also the last waltz for the American Football Association, a minor league circuit that spent seven seasons in relative obscurity.

Its final game, however – an American Bowl clash between the homestanding Carolina Storm and San Antonio Bulls on July 23 – makes for an interesting footnote. While one team was kinda/sorta “promoted” to the USFL, the other joined a new professional league that never got off the ground.

By the time the AFA reached the end of the 1983 campaign, it was obvious it wouldn’t return in 1984. The new USFL had completed its first season, making a splash by luring established players from the NFL and signing up-and-coming stars. A national TV contract with ABC also made it a serious player on the national stage.

The AFA, on the other hand, was a revolving door of franchises that paid players very little; one percent of the home gate was the standard for most teams. But despite the low budgets and low profile, there were some good players and quality teams throughout its seven-year run. The last two standing in the final season were the Storm and Bulls, who were making a high-profile exit with their championship game appearance.  

San Antonio had long been a staple of non-NFL pro football, including a franchise in the ill-fated World Football League’s second season (the 1975 San Antonio Wings).

The city was represented by the Charros in the AFA from 1977-81, and the Bulls from 1982-83. Oilman Clinton Manges owned the franchise, and angled to trade up once the USFL was formed. AFA Commissioner Roger Gill – who also just happened to be general manager and head coach of the Bulls in 1983 – was willing to help.

“We’re using our team this summer as a training camp for the USFL,” Gill said in an interview with the Austin American-Statesman on June 17. “We have about 62 players, dress out 45 for games, and we get inquiries all the time from players who want to come out and try to make the team, because they know they’ll be in the USFL next year.

“I would say 10 or 12 will probably make our USFL team.”

Two weeks before the American Bowl, the USFL officially announced that Manges’ team would, indeed, be part of the growing league in 1984. Jacksonville – one of six expansion clubs in year two – had already secured the nickname “Bulls,” however.

Meanwhile, an entity called the International Football League was unveiled at a New York press conference on June 30, and Charlotte was announced as one of its flagship franchises. While it would play a spring schedule like the USFL, it had plans for expansion to Australia and Japan in 1985. By early July, the Storm was already touting its move to the IFL. And the day before the AFA title clash, it was reported that Roman Gabriel was closing in on an agreement to be the new head coach, replacing Steve Patton.

“I’m going to be involved next year,” Patton told the Charlotte Observer. “But knowing we need a national person as head coach, my position will be changed.”

Patton said he was in favor of the move.

“He’s a good, quality person – the kind of person I could be involved with,” Patton said. “The IFL needs name coaches, especially in a city that doesn’t have the recognition of a Los Angeles or a Miami.”

Other franchises in the IFL’s first year were to be placed in New York, Los Angeles, Honolulu, Houston, Chicago, Milwaukee, Miami, San Jose, Omaha and cities in Tennessee and Ohio.

As for the final American Bowl, it was a blowout; Carolina won, 39-0, in front of 4,626 people at Memorial Stadium. The Storm (originally knowns as the Carolina Chargers) finished 7-0 and ended their AFA run with two titles and a 20-game winning streak dating back to 1982.

Unfortunately for the champions, their impressive victory over the Bulls was not a springboard to even better days in a better league.

Failure to land a television partner forced the IFL to put their league “on hold,” and that hold continues into the summer of 2023.

The remnants of the Bulls, however, were reborn as the San Antonio Gunslingers, who played in the USFL in 1984 and 1985.

Eventually, of course, Charlotte won the ultimate professional football promotion, beginning play in the NFL in 1995.

San Antonio, meanwhile, went on to field teams in the World League of American Football, Canadian Football League, Alliance of American Football and XFL 3.0. In 2005, the city hosted the New Orleans Saints for four games due to the after effects of Hurricane Katrina.

As for the AFA, it served as a nice bridge between the WFL and USFL. Existing in an era before indoor football, it provided welcome opportunities and good competition for players who failed to earn spots on NFL and CFL rosters.

It never found a place in the spotlight, but it also deserves more credit than it received.