Uncertainty Faces UFL 2025 Season As Head Coaching Contracts Expire
UFL coaching contracts for the 2024 season expired on Sunday, June 30. That includes all eight league head coaches, who fall under the UFL's new seasonal employee category. As a result, all team coaches are off the clock and don't technically punch back into work until January 1, 2025.
The ultimate catch, however, is whether or not many of these coaches will want to punch back in.
On top of that, if a head coach doesn't return, it could greatly affect assistants who are on standby. The entire makeup of a UFL team's coaching staff can change if the lead domino falls.
Many of the UFL's head coaches, such as Birmingham's Skip Holtz and Michigan's Mike Nolan, have openly talked about how much they love their jobs in the league. But better opportunities could emerge for a coach like Holtz, who has gone above and beyond the call leading the Stallions to three straight league championships.
Losing Holtz would be a massive blow for Birmingham and the UFL, but it wouldn't be shocking if it happened.
As previously chronicled @uflsifn All UFL coaches are seasonal employees now. Current contracts expire 6/30
— Mike Mitchell (@ByMikeMitchell) June 25, 2024
Any head coaches that show up to showcases or league offseason events will be paid an appearance fee plus travel.
On Jan 1, 2025, the contracts kick back on for coaches. https://t.co/RcK3BlPV2o
Many of spring pro football's top coaches like D.C.'s Reggie Barlow have turned down opportunities to join an NFL staff or accept a prominent assistant job at a Power Five school. But perhaps the financial and career stability in college or the NFL could be more luring than it was a year ago.
The league-imposed free agency for coaches has a flip side, also giving the UFL the freedom to make changes at head coach without any contractual restrictions.
Memphis's John DeFilippo and Houston's CJ Johnson have passionately expressed a desire to return to the UFL next season. However, with the Showboats and Roughnecks struggling mightily in the standings and at the box office, a fresh coat of paint with a new leader at the helm for both teams could provide a significant spark. It's something that the UFL's football brass has to consider this offseason.
For other veteran coaches, like 77-year-old legend Wade Phillips or Bob Stoops, who has openly talked about the possibility of not returning to SI due to the league's changes, the 2024 season could've been the end of the road.
Our contracts go through the end of June, and then after that, we'll see what it's looking like for the following year. I hope to, but you just never know what the whole structure is going to look like. If it works and fits my life, then yes, and if it doesn't, then maybe not. We'll see.
- Arlington Renegades HC Bob Stoops
The new world for coaches in spring pro football creates uncertainty and some unique setups during the offseason.
For example, presumed Batthlehawks head coach Anthony Becht will attend the UFL's player showcase on Friday, July 12, 2024, at Missouri Baptist University. He will do so while technically not being a league employee. Instead, he and any other coaches participating in off-season events will be paid on a per-appearance basis plus travel fees.
An added unfortunate aspect of the league's coaches no longer being classified as full-time employees is that when their contracts expired, so did their medical insurance coverage.
The one saving grace for the UFL's potential continuity flaw with coaches off payroll is that all eight team General Managers are full time employees. That will help with offseason scouting in the draft and showcases, as well as carrying over team identities from last season. That's provided that the GM's will be drafting for the same head coaches they had in 2024.
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MIKE MITCHELL