Holtz excited about UFL’s future

During the two-year revival of the modern United States Football League, Skip Holtz led the Birmingham Stallions to back-to-back titles, a 21-3 overall record, and earned a Coach of the Year nod.

Beginning in March, he’ll try to guide the Stallions to a threepeat spanning two leagues.

Birmingham – along with a combination of seven other former USFL and XFL teams – will usher in the era of the United Football League this spring. The two-time USFL Stallions will open against the XFL titlist Arlington Renegades on March 30 at Choctaw Stadium.

“What an exciting time right now for everybody,” said Holtz, who was at Protective Stadium in Birmingham on Tuesday to talk about the upcoming season. “I know there’s been a lot of questions out there about how it’s gonna work or how we’re gonna do it, and we have as many questions as everybody else does.

“We’re in the process right now of getting these questions answered as far as rules and how we’re going to do dispersal drafts, so it’s unique and it’s new for everybody. I think the thing that excites me the most is that there are going to be eight cities around the country that are going to have the opportunity to host and support spring football, and Birmingham is one of them.”

Training camp opens in Arlington on February 24, and all eight teams will use it as a hybrid hub; players will live and train there, but play games in home markets.

Birmingham, the Houston Roughnecks, Memphis Showboats and Michigan Panthers comprise the USFL Division, with Arlington, the DC Defenders, San Antonio Brahmas and St. Louis Battlehawks populating the XFL Division.

Teams that failed to survive the merger were the New Jersey Generals, New Orleans Breakers, Philadelphia Stars and Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL and Orlando Guardians, Seattle Sea Dragons and Vegas Vipers of the XFL.

The Houston Gamblers of the USFL will assume the identity of the XFL Roughnecks, meaning for all practical purposes the UFL is an even split of four teams from each league.

“I know it was disappointing for the four out of each league that weren’t able to be part of this, but hopefully, we can make this work,” Holtz said. “We’re gonna watch this continue to grow and hopefully those other eight will be back together again. I think there’s been an incredible amount of vision on how to make this work.

“I think it’s great for spring football and solidifies spring football. It’s gonna make the product even better than it has been.”

Although 2023 USFL MVP Alex McGough is now with the Green Bay Packers, former starting quarterback J’Mar Smith is back with the Stallions.

There are also plenty of other familiar faces returning to the roster, including wide receivers Victor Bolden Jr., Deon Cain and Amari Rodgers, tight end Jace Sternberger, and running backs CJ Marable and Ricky Person Jr.

Defensively, linebacker Scooby Wright is back with Birmingham for the third consecutive year, and Kyahva Tezino (linebacker) and Travin Howard (linebacker) are some free agent signings that should bolster the 2024 bruise crew. All-USFL cornerback Channing Stribling, who played with the now defunct Philadelphia Stars last season, was picked up on Monday via the dispersal draft, along with Anree Saint-Amour (defensive end, New Orleans Breakers), Chris Orr (linebacker, New Jersey Generals), and Hercules Mata’Afa (defensive end, Generals).

“We’ve lost a lot of good players, but we’re adding a lot of good players,” Holtz said. “J’Mar is coming back after injuring his finger last year, and he was the quarterback who helped lead us to the championship in our first season. And we’ve added a guy like Adrian Martinez, who was a college quarterback at Kansas State and Nebraska, and had great success.

“Scooby Wright, Mr. Excitement – the Shark-Dog – is back and we added guys like Tezino and Orr … I think the talent level in this league is going to go up. If you’re not getting better, you’re getting passed.”

And while kickers don’t always land in the spotlight, that’s not the case with the Stallions.

Brandon Aubrey parlayed a successful run with Birmingham into an NFL All-Pro rookie season with the Dallas Cowboys, and this spring he’ll be replaced by Chris Blewitt.

Blewitt, who spent time with three NFL clubs, played for the Pittsburgh Maulers last season. He finished with 94 points and made 27 of 33 field goals, including a five against the Stars in an April 30, 2023, USFL matchup.

As for the coaching staff, there have been several changes heading into a new league and new year.

“We’ve got some staples that are returning,” Holtz said. “John Chavis, our defensive coordinator, is going to return, and we’re bringing back both Bill Johnson and Corey Chamblin, who were our defensive line coach and secondary coach the first year we were here.”

Mikes Jones returns to handle wide receivers, Daric Riley will coach cornerbacks, Steven Smith will coach the offensive line and Chris Boniol will again be in charge of special teams.

“There are some new faces in there,” Holtz said. “I felt like it was important with us going in since half the teams we play are coming from the XFL that I have no knowledge of or have never played against, that we bring in some guys from that side.”

Johnson was D-line coach for the XFL Roughnecks last season while Chamblin worked for the Brahmas in 2023

As for rule changes, Holtz said that remains a work in progress. The UFL will adopt XFL conversions (no PATS, only tiered one, two, and three-point scrimmage plays) and the USFL kickoff formation (ball is kicked off from the 20 and kicking team members must be stationary until the ball is kicked. The receiving team must have a minimum of eight players and maximum of nine lined up between its 30 and 40-yard line).

The UFL will hold another dispersal draft on January 15.

All teams will bring 75 players to camp but rosters must be cut down to 50 by opening weekend.

Each club will play a 10-game regular season.

“Wow, a new league … it’s really exciting,” Holtz said. “The product is gonna get better, it’s gonna get stronger, and I think there’s gonna be even more interest with Fox and ABC and ESPN and everybody involved.

“Where before you had everybody pulling the rope in a different direction, now we’re pulling the rope in the same direction and we stopped fighting each other. And I think you’re gonna see the UFL really take off from where it is today.”

BIRMINGHAM ROSTER

Name	Position	College	Previous Team
Calvin Ashley	OT	Auburn	NJ
Marcus Baugh	TE	Ohio St	NO
Chris Blewitt	K	Pittsburgh	PIT
Victor Bolden Jr.	WR	Oregon St
Lorenzo Burns	CB	Arizona
Cohl Cabral	OC	Arizona St
Deon Cain	WR	Clemson
Cam Carter	OT	Murray St	NJ
TJ Carter	S	TCU
Nevelle Clarke	DB	UCF
Christian DiLauro	OT	Illinois
O’Shea Dugas	OG	Louisiana Tech
Derwin Gray	OT	Maryland
Darius Harper	OT	Cincinnati
Travin Howard	LB	TCU
Daniel Isom	S	Washington St.	PHI
Chris Jackson	CB	Marshall
Gary Jennings	WR	West Virginia
Zack Johnson	OG	North Dakota St
Matt Kaskey	OG	Dartmouth
Carlo Kemp	DE	Michigan
Damon Lloyd	LB	Indiana (Pa.)
CJ Marable	RB	Coastal Carolina
Adrian Martinez	QB	Kansas St
Hercules Mata’afa	DE	Washington St	NJ
Mark Milton	CB	Baylor
DaMarcus Mitchell	OLB	Purdue
Chris Orr	ILB	Wisconsin	NJ
Ricky Person Jr.	RB	North Carolina St
Kenny Robinson	S	West Virginia
Amari Rodgers	WR	Clemson
Anree Saint-Amour	DE	Georgia Tech	NO
Cole Schneider	OC	UCF
J’Mar Smith	QB	Louisiana Tech
Jace Sternberger	TE	Texas A&M
Channing Stribling	CB	Michigan	PHI
Elijah Sullivan	OLB	Kansas St
Alex Taylor-Prioleau	OT	South Carolina St
Kyahva Tezino	ILB	San Diego St
Jordan Thompson	DT	Northwestern
JoJo Tillery	S	Wofford
Dondrea Tillman	DE	Indiana (Pa.)
Jaylen Twyman	DT	Pittsburgh
Binjimen Victor	WR	Ohio St
Colby Wadman	P	Cal-Davis
Eli Walker	FS	Kansas St	PIT
Tre’Vour Wallace-Simms	OG	Missouri
Curtis Weaver	DE	Boise St
James Wiggins	SS	Cincinnati	NO
Marlon Williams	WR	UCF
Marvin Wilson	DT	Florida St
Scooby Wright III	ILB	Arizona
Willie Yarbary	DL	Wake Forest