How good have the Birmingham Stallions been?
Well, since kicking off on April 16, 2022, they’ve played 28 games, won 25 of them, and claimed both championships in the two seasons the modern United States Football League competed.
In fact, no team currently participating in spring outdoor pro football has fewer losses and, of course, none have come close to the number of victories Skip Holtz’s charged have notched.
Now, as the team enters the halfway point of its third regular season – and first in the United Football League – it continues to set the standard for on-field success.
The Stallions, at 4-0, are the lone unbeaten team in the UFL. And they sit atop the USFL Conference with a two-game lead over the second-place Michigan Panthers, a club they’ve already defeated on the road.
Birmingham has two dominant wins (27-14 over Arlington and a 33-14 beatdown of Memphis); a hard-fought, 20-13 victory over Michigan; and last Saturday’s come-from-behind, 20-18 conquest of DC in a soggy, lightning-delayed field goal fest.
Not only did the most recent game produce a new hero in kicker Ramiz Ahmed (he had four field goals including the game winner), but he’s now the starter.
Chris Blewitt suffered an injury that placed home on the IR for six to eight weeks, so Ahmed has gone from a temp to a full-time employee.
The Stallions have won in different ways but the winning continues, which is the sign of a team that knows how to maintain success.
“The biggest aspect is that we’ve come together with so many new faces, and that we’ve gelled and we’ve found a way to win four games,” Holtz said on Tuesday. “It certainly hasn’t been perfect – every game on offense and perfect every game on defense – but I do feel like we’re getting better. And for us to be able to have had the success we’ve had to this point, obviously has been one of the things that I’m really proud of.”
The two-quarterback system of Matt Corral and Adrian Martinez has worked quite well, despite the fact that the popularity of platooning QBs went out with the demise of the wishbone attack.
The signal callers have combined for 942 passing yards and four touchdowns, and Martinez, C.J. Marable and Ricky Person Jr. provide a three-headed monster on the ground.
“We’re doing it right now with two quarterbacks, and I think it works because we have two very talented quarterbacks and I think everybody on the offensive line and within the quarterback room, they’ve been very professional,” Holtz said. “They’re working together to make things happen.”
Deon Cain has been the leading receiver, but eight different players have reeled in catches. Cain, Jace Sternberger, Amari Rodgers and Marlon Williams have converted receptions into TDs.
Defensively, the line has helped the unit become one of the best – and stingiest – in the UFL.
Kyahva Tezino leads the circuit in tackles (32 total and 19 solo), while Carlos’ Davis’ five sacks tops the charts.
Despite all the numerous positives, though, Holtz says Birmingham still has plenty of work to do to be the best it can be.
“If there’s one thing we really need to keep improving on, I think it’s just the overall development and execution of what we’re trying to do as an offense and defense,” Holtz explained. “We watched the film this morning (of the win over DC) as an offense, and saw things that had nothing to do with a physical mistake, they were mental mistakes and execution mistakes on our part. There were 27 plays in that game we feel like we didn’t help ourselves. We didn’t do the things that we needed to do. And I think that’s where we’ve just got to keep getting better.
“I can’t say we have to run it better or we have to throw it better or we have to stop the run better. I mean, I think we just have to overall continue to improve on what we’re doing. Because I think it’s all the little things that are the difference in winning or losing right now. And that’s what we’ve got to continue to strive for is to get those things perfected and cleaned up.”
Next up is a road trip to face the Houston Roughnecks on Saturday, a club that is basically a rebranded version of the Houston Gamblers of the 2022-23 USFL.
The Gamblers were the only USFL team that managed to beat the Stallions twice, once in the inaugural season and again last year.
But the approach to that game will be the same as Birmingham approaches them all.
“In order to win, we just have to stay focused … kind of rinse and repeat every Sunday,” Holtz said. “Watch the film, put it to bed, and then start going through the process of what we’ve got to do to get ready for first downs today, and third downs tomorrow, and then polish some things up on Thursday and get ready for Saturday.”
Note: Starting punter Colby Wadman was injured on Saturday and won’t be making the trip to Houston. Birmingham signed Drue Chrisman, who spent time with the Cincinnati Bengals, to fill his spot.