Arlington, Texas – What is the secret sauce for the Birmingham Stallion?
“A great player. A great coach. And I’ll overcome your head coach,” stallion coach Skip Holtz said earlier this month during his time in UFL media. “That’s how we can win.”
The stallion won its first UFL Championship in 2024, and won the USFL Championship in 2022 and ’23. And despite Holtz’s declaration, he is a big reason why Birmingham won so much.
“He’s a teacher, then he’s a coach,” said quarterback Alex McGau. “You can respect that. When someone makes a mistake, he doesn’t just destroy them completely.”
In the past three normal seasons, the stallion has gone 26-4, including the 9-1 mark a year ago. They won with three different quarterbacks: McGough, J’mar Smith, last year’s MVP and Adrian Martinez.
Martinez passed 1,748 yards and 15 touchdowns, running for 528 yards and 3 TDs.
McGough is back after two seasons and off on the Green Bay Packers practice squad. There, I spent time as a quarterback and wide receiver. Holtz wasn’t ready to say McGough would be the starter.
“This league needs two quarterbacks,” he said.
And Holtz knows that stallions need to be prepared.
“When there’s a team that’s winning at that stage, everyone surrounds the calendar,” Holtz said. “It’s like, ‘OK, when do we play the Chiefs (Kansas City)? When do we play the stallions?” Back in the 70s, “When do we play the Cowboys, Steelers, or Dolphins?” The winning team has that target on their shoulders and you have to really get to a high level.
Holtz’s message to players looking at the franchise’s three championships was that it wouldn’t apply to this year’s team.
“We have to go from scratch, so we have to find a way to win one game and tough game with DC to start the season,” Holtz said.
Players love the chance to get 4 Pete.
“I always say pressure is a privilege,” McGau said. “There aren’t many people who say they have a target. I think that’s a privilege. We’ve been hardworking and won and endured success, so we’re ready. We’ll embrace all the challenges.”
I’m still going
Wade Phillips’ first coaching job took place in 1969 at Orange (Texas) High School. He has coached soccer at all levels except five years.
At 77, Phillips is in his second year at UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas. According to ESPN research, there are no older head coaches in the MLB, NBA, NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS, or NWSL.
“It’s so much fun for me,” said Phillips, head coach of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys and interim head coach of three different spots. “It’s the perfect environment. I coach football for four months and take the rest of the year. I do what I want to do and take some time off and stay with my family.”
If 73-year-old Pete Carroll could coach the Las Vegas Raiders, could Phillips return the NFL?
“Well, they didn’t call me,” he laughed.
Phillips’ defense has been disrupting the quarterback for years, but he doesn’t know how much he wants to continue coaching.
“As long as I enjoy it,” Phillips said, “and as long as they protect me.”
Find a quarterback
In either the XFL or the UFL, the St. Louis Battle Hawks knew what they had at quarterback at AJ McCarron the past two seasons. The former Alabama star put together a 12-5 record and threw 3,732 yards with 39 touchdowns and 10 interceptions
This year, St. Louis is looking at Manny Wilkins, Max Duggan or Shevan Cordeiro.
“There are three guys who can throw the ball really well and make every throw, and they all have the ability to pull it and run and do some extra things,” St. Louis coach Anthony Becht said. “I think that’s important in this league and I’m tired of being crushed by it by other teams. So now, that’s an issue that we have to deal with from us with all the other things they’re attacking from us.”
Wilkins started two games last year. He was with the Packers in 2019, but moved into the music industry before returning to football two years ago.
“It’s probably a bit easier in their minds to know the type of attitude I have when we enter the fight, knowing the level, focus, everything I have,” Wilkins said. “It could be a relief to the heart when it comes to having a new quarterback who wasn’t a starter for two years. For me, starting these two starts for the first time in six years, I took a little break from the ball, but I have the opportunity to get rid of my anxiety.
Duggan led TCU to the national championship game against Georgia in 2022. He was with the Los Angeles Chargers the past two summers.
“I really didn’t know what my career would look like if I told him back then,” Duggan said. “There are a lot of ups and downs and things. Stay true to the game, work hard and see what happens, I’m excited to be here. It’s a great league and a place where guys grow up.”
Winning time
From 1999 to 2016, Bob Stopes had no record of losing in Oklahoma. He only lost three five games in the season. He’s ready to win as the Stoops begin his fourth season with the Arlington Renagades.
“If you’re going to do something, you want to win it,” Stoops said. “Yeah, we want to win more than we do. Definitely.”
The Stoops have a 9-16 record in three seasons (two in the XFL and one in the UFL), but he has a championship. Despite a 4-6 record, he won the 2023 XFL Championship.
His quarterback was Louis Perez. He is a starter and finishes a season leading the UFL with passing yards, touchdowns, passerby ratings and completions. It won him a training camp for an invitation to the Chargers, where he was one of the final cuts.
“That’s understood,” Perez said of his mission to win. “The thing that came this year when we held our first meeting was, ‘It’s okay, guys from last year’s past, turn the pages, it’s time to move on.” “We’ve made some mistakes and we have to fix them this year, move forward 1-0 every week and start. ”
Return to the bystander
After spending more than 30 years of coaching, including 16 as an NFL head or offensive line coach, Tom Cable enjoyed life in Idaho.
“I caught more fish and shot more elk than most people,” Cable said.
However, last summer he visited his son Zach. Zach visited at training camp, where he is the Chicago Bears assistant coach.
“I was on the field for about five minutes and they said, ‘I missed the teachings,” Cable said. “So, yeah, you can say I certainly missed that part.”
Cable is the Houston Rough Neck run game coordinator/offensive line coach. Head coach Curtis Johnson is pleased that he has a coach on his staff who has the ability to do so.
“He’s going to make our peers better,” Johnson said.
Cable, 60, is pleased to return to coaching.
“It’s football. I’m teaching,” he said. “Specifically, I’m trying to help young people get where they want to go. It’s really a purpose-driven journey. It’s always me. I’m trying to find my way in the game, I want to go back to the NFL or go to the NFL.
