Ahead of UFL Training Camp, Birmingham Stallions Remain Gold Standard: Part One
The USFL and XFL have become a 'United Football League.' The two entities, along with broadcast partners FOX, ABC and ESPN, are looking to combine their top elements in a joint effort to present the greatest product spring pro football fans have seen since the original USFL four decades ago.
As UFL teams report to the league's centralized training camp this weekend in Arlington, Texas, in preparation for the inaugural season to kick off on March 30, it's time to look at the best of the best in the newly merged league.
For spring pro football in the modern era, the back-to-back champion Birmingham Stallions top the list of the greatest teams we've seen.
Followers of clubs such as the AAF's Orlando Apollos or XFL 2020's Houston Roughnecks may take issue with that proclamation. After all, those two squads never got to finish their story. (Cue the Cody Rhodes/Dwayne Johnson reference).
The modern-era Birmingham Stallions have finished Chapters One and Two of their story grandly. As a result, they are the team to knock off the mountain top in the UFL.
And there are plenty of reasons to believe that they won't be.
First, the team is returning for year three under the guidance and leadership of Skip Holtz, with the same offensive and defensive schemes that helped propel Birmingham to glory.
Unlike some former semi-retired veteran head coaches who have used the avenue of spring pro football as more of a side gig, Holtz has committed fully to cultivating a winning culture in Birmingham. He is completely bought in — and has been from day one.
With so much turnover in the typically volatile world of spring pro football, where coaches and players advance their careers by moving onto the safer confines of the NFL or college football, continuity is king. Birmingham has that.
Then there's the secret sauce for the Stallions, a 23-year-old wunderkind named Zach Potter who is one of the top up-and-coming talent evaluators in the football landscape. The Council Bluffs, Iowa native, who began his formal education in football at Iowa Western Community College, has ascended quickly in the pro ranks with his stellar work in The Spring League and the USFL.
No one has been as adept as Potter at identifying and acquiring the best talent out of the pool of fringe NFL players for Spring Pro Football.
The Stallions' success on the field and in providing the most NFL opportunities to players is a testament to the quality of the football brass leading Birmingham.
It's also why they have become a desired destination for players looking for a path back into the NFL, as evidenced by Birmingham's latest signing of Ole Miss standout and 2022 third-round draft pick quarterback Matt Corral.
Of all the UFL teams, the Stallions have the most former NFL draft picks on their roster with 18. Many of these players are from the most recent NFL draft pools of 2020, 2021, and even 2022. The second closest team in this category is St. Louis, which has 11 players selected by NFL teams.
Beyond that, the other three teams in the now-coined USFL conference have a total of 18 former NFL draft picks. Furthermore, the Stallions also lead the pack among all UFL teams, with nearly half of the players on their offseason roster having been on an NFL roster in 2023 (35). San Antonio is second in that unique category at 25.
Excluding their compilation of promising recent NFL talent, Birmingham also boasts quite the collection of spring pro football standouts across its roster.
The one area where this stands out the most is on defense, specifically at linebacker. Spring league vet Scooby Wright is now teaming up with all USFL linebackers Kyahava Tezino, Chris Orr and the returning DeMarquis Gates. The latter has been arguably the spring's best linebacker since 2019.
With all that being chronicled, what can stop the Stallions' reign as champs in 2024? In Parts Two through Four, we'll look at three hurdles in front of the team as they prepare for the regular season.
Ahead of UFL Training Camp, Birmingham Stallions Remain Gold Standard: Part Two
You can find Mike Mitchell on X @ByMikeMitchell.
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Mike Mitchell is a pro football writer/insider with decades of experience covering and following multiple leagues. He covers the New York Jets for TheJetPress.com at FanSided. He has also written for XFL Board and at Hub Publishing covering the CFL, XFL and USFL.