A month after leading the Birmingham Stallions to their second consecutive United States Football League championship, Skip Holtz was hired as special assistant to the head coach at Northwestern University.
If I’m being honest, I thought that was likely the end of his reign in Birmingham. Sure, he said it wouldn’t affect his spring job, but how could it not?
I mean, he’d coached 273 college games to only 24 in the USFL, and I figured that ol’ Fall Saturday muscle memory might be too hard to ignore. He certainly had nothing left to prove in spring pro football.
Fortunately for Stallions fans, I was wrong.
“One of the things when we first started negotiations was if it was going to be a permanent position,” said Holtz, who has made a couple of recent stops at Protective Stadium where his old team will play in a new circuit – the United Football League – this spring. “Immediately, I said I have a job in February that I’m not gonna miss. I want to be back … this is where I want to be.”
In a football sense, Birmingham is now the only place where Holtz wants to hang his hat. And the way he sees it, there’s always something to prove.
“I’ve had opportunities to leave and go interview for other college head coaching jobs, but I’ve turned jobs down because I love the job that I have,” he said. “We’ve had the opportunity to win two championships and now we have the opportunity to roll our sleeves up and see if we can’t win another. Every year it’s a new team.”
As you know, the UFL is the result of a merger between the USFL and XFL. Birmingham was one of four USFL teams to survive the blend, and will now compete with the Arlington Renegades, D.C. Defenders, Houston Roughnecks, Memphis Showboats, Michigan Panthers, San Antonio Brahmas and St. Louis Battlehawks.
I thought the quality of play in both organizations was very good in 2023, and will be much, much better in 2024 thanks to consolidation. As Holtz has already said, with two leagues of eight teams last year, there were 800 players on rosters. This time, that number will be culled to 400.
Just because the NFL is at the top of the pro football pyramid doesn’t mean the rest of the structure is hollow.
There’s plenty of room for Triple-A ball.
“It’s like (part owner of the UFL Dwayne Johnson) talks about in the Player 54 documentary, if you have a roster of 53 players the 54th had nowhere to go and nowhere to play,” Holtz said. “You might be this close to making a roster, but you’re out. The UFL gives these young me the opportunity to continue to chase their dream and have an opportunity to make it into the NFL.
“That’s what these leagues are all about. It’s for entertainment, certainly, but it’s also for opportunity. You see these guys play here in our own backyard, guys like Brandon Aubrey and Alex McGough and Davion Davis … and then you see them make an NFL roster. That’s the reward.”
And that’s what brings Holtz back to the Magic City for another season. And the success he’s achieved and fun he’s having means the Stallions will have his undivided attention going forward.
“Northwestern was an incredible experience,” he explained. “To go to a place where they were 1-11 and to help a program that had just lost their head coach and help a bunch of coaches and players who were looking for answers win eight games and go to a bowl game and beat Utah was incredible.
“But that’s a lot of football in a year … I don’t think I’ll be doing anything this fall. And if my wife has anything to say about it, I know I won’t be doing anything this fall.”
Considering my relationship with alternative football – one that dates back to 1974 and the World Football League – I’ve become used to seeing leagues and teams come and go. Over time, I became more of an interested observer than a rabid fan.
But Holtz’s enthusiasm is contagious, making me want to go all-in on the UFL.
“I have had probably as much fun coaching in 35 years as I ever have coaching in Birmingham with the Stallions,” he said. “With the relationships with the players, the community, the fan base … it’s just been a very rewarding experience for me.”
Spring football’s history is defined by derailment, but you know what? Maybe – just maybe – it’s finally on the right track.
I’m just glad Skip Holtz is along for the ride.
Really fine column, Scott. Your sentiments echo mine. I’ve seen so many come and go. I am concerned about the UFL, but I am sure hoping it succeeds.