The Birmingham Americans were the Magic City’s first professional football champions, winning the World Football League title in 1974. But they never had a chance to repeat because the team folded (and the reorganized WFL followed suit midway through the 1975 season).
Forty-eight years later, the Birmingham Stallions claimed the United States Football League crown.
Staring Saturday, they can take the first step toward doing it again.
Both the USFL and the Stallions have returned for a second season, and Birmingham will kick off Year Two by hosting the New Jersey Generals at 6:30 p.m. CDT at Protective Stadium.
“We’ve talked a lot about how hard it is to defend,” Stallions coach Skip Holtz said. “There’s only been eight Super Bowl champions repeat and four of them were like in the first 15 years, so it’s hard to repeat … it’s hard. Everybody shoots for you, and you’ve got to be at your best each and every week.
“But you’ve got a new team and what I’ve said to these guys is if what you did yesterday seems big to you, it just means we haven’t accomplished anything today.”
A brand-new league meant a whole new experience for players and coaches last year. There was no real point of reference in how to best structure camp and practices.
“Last year we went to camp with 45 players and we put everybody in a bubble,” Holtz explained. “It was like, ‘Don’t touch each other … we’ve got to get everybody to game day.’ This year we had 58, so there were 13 more players in camp than we had in 2022. And there are cuts this year.
“I feel a whole lot better going into year two because I’d never gone out there in fall camp without about 120 players. I was looking around last year going, ‘Where’s the defense?’ This is half of them. That’s your whole team now. But for me, I’m a lot more comfortable.”
As Holtz said, this is a new team, and there are some missing pieces from the 2022 squad.
Receiver Victor Bolden Jr., who led the squad in punt return yards, kick return yards and all-purpose yards a year ago, is now playing with the XFL Arlington Renegades.
Another former Stallions receiver – Osirus Mitchell – will be suited up for the Memphis Showboats in 2023. They’ll host the Philadelphia Stars Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CDT in the first game of the new season.
And there are also three offensive linemen gone from the inaugural USFL champions.
But there are plenty of familiar faces – and playmakers – back in the fold.
J’Mar Smith and Alex McGough are expected to share quarterbacking duties, and wideout Marlon Williams, who led the team with 474 receiving yards in 2022, will be their primary target.
The pass catching corps also features Davion Davis, Deon Cain and Jace Sternberger, and on Monday, the Stallions signed former LSU tight end Thaddeus Moss, who holds single-season school records for receptions (45) and receiving yards (570).
“There’s more of a sense of urgency this season,” Smith said. “We know we have a big target on our chests and on our backs, and we’re gonna get everybody’s best shot. The bottom line is to put points on the board.”
The Stallions have a terrific 1-2 punch in the backfield with the return of Bo Scarbrough and CJ Marable. Marable paced the club with 401 yards and five rushing TDs last season before getting injured in May, while Scarbrough averaged more than four yards per carry after joining the team midseason.
Defensively, the squad looks solid across the board. The line returns almost completely intact; Brian Allen is an experienced veteran leading the secondary; and Scooby Wright brings high intensity and big play capabilities to the linebacking unit. It was his interception return for a touchdown that sealed Birmingham’s wild 33-30 win over the Stars in the 2022 championship game in Canton.
“I think it’ll take the first couple of games to form an identity,” Wright said. “Being defending champion, there’s some added pressure, but it’s just a case of canceling out the noise and focusing on what’s important. I know on the defensive side we’re gonna be a team that flies around the football.”
Birmingham follows its opener against New Jersey with home games against Memphis (April 22) and New Orleans (April 29). The Breakers share Protective Stadium with the Stallions in 2023 as part of the league’s four hub model.
Birmingham’s first regular season road game is May 7 when it travels to Canton to play Pittsburgh. It’s back home on May 13 to face Houston, then off to Detroit on May 20 to meet the Michigan Panthers.
The Stallions and Breakers play for the second time May 27 in Birmingham, and Philadelphia comes in for a Week Eight showdown on June 3.
Birmingham’s final two regular season games will be held in Memphis, where Holtz’s team faces Houston on June 11 and Memphis on June 17.
“We’ve got to keep a chip on our shoulder,” Holtz said. “We’ve got to stay hungry and we’ve got to keep working because that’s how we won it and that’s the only way we’re going to be able to have any chance to go out there and have some success this year. I like the attitude and like the way they work, but this football team … we haven’t talked about defending or repeating since the opening meeting. “We’re a new football team, this is the 2023 football team … the 2022 team was an awesome experience, an incredible team, incredible togetherness, the way they were able to come together and what they put together, but this is a new year and I’m excited to watch them play.”