ARLINGTON, Texas — So what is the secret sauce of the Birmingham Stallions?

“Great players. Great coaches. And overcoming your head coach,” Stallions coach Skip Holtz said earlier this month at the UFL media days. “That’s how we’ve been able to win.”

The Stallions won the inaugural UFL championship in 2024 and won USFL championships in 2022 and ’23. And despite Holtz’s proclamations, he is a large reason why Birmingham has won so much.

“He’s a teacher, then he’s a coach,” quarterback Alex McGough said. “You can respect that. When someone makes a mistake, he’s not just going to completely destroy them.”

In the past three regular seasons, the Stallions have gone 26-4, including a 9-1 mark a year ago. They have won with three different quarterbacks: McGough, J’Mar Smith and last year’s MVP, Adrian Martinez, who is now with the New York Jets.

Martinez passed for 1,748 yards and 15 touchdowns and ran for 528 yards and three TDs.

McGough is back after two seasons on and off the Green Bay Packers‘ practice squad, where he spent time as a quarterback and wide receiver. Holtz wasn’t ready to say McGough will be the starter, noting Matt Corral‘s experience.

“You need two quarterbacks in this league,” he said.

And Holtz knows the Stallions need to be ready.

“When there’s a team that’s winning at that stage, everybody circles the calendar,” Holtz said. “It’s like, ‘OK, when do you we play the (Kansas City) Chiefs? When do we play the Stallions?’ Back in the ’70s, it was, ‘When do we play the Cowboys, the Steelers or the Dolphins?’ The teams that are winning have that target on their back and you’ve got to be at a really high level. You’re going to get everybody’s best shot.”

Holtz’s message to the players noting the franchise’s three championships was that those don’t apply to this year’s team.

“We’ve got to go from scratch and we’ve got to find a way to win one game and a tough game with DC on the road to start the season,” Holtz said.

The players like the chance for a four-peat.

“I always say pressure is a privilege,” McGough said. “Not a lot of people get to say that they have a target on them. I think that’s a privilege. We got by on hard work and winning and sustained success, so I think we’ll be ready for it. We accept all challenges.”

Still going

Wade Phillips’ first coaching job was in 1969 at Orange (Texas) High School. He has coached football at some level for all but five years since.

At 77, Phillips is back for his second year with the UFL’s San Antonio Brahmas. There is not an older head coach in MLB, the NBA, the WNBA, the NFL, the NHL, MLS or NWSL, according to ESPN Research.

“It’s great fun for me,” said Phillips, who was the head coach of the Denver Broncos, Buffalo Bills and Dallas Cowboys, as well as the interim head coach at three different spots. “It’s a perfect setting. I get to coach football for four months and I’m off the rest of the year. Do what I love to do and then get to have some time off and be with family.”

If Pete Carroll, who is 73, can coach the Las Vegas Raiders, could Phillips make an NFL return?

“Well, they hadn’t called me,” he laughed.

Phillips, whose defenses have confounded quarterbacks for years, isn’t sure how much he wants to continue coaching.

“As long as I enjoy it,” Phillips said, “and as long as they’ll keep me around.”

Finding a quarterback

Either in the XFL or UFL, the St. Louis Battlehawks knew what they had at quarterback in AJ McCarron the past two seasons. The former Alabama star compiled a 12-5 record and threw for 3,732 yards with 39 touchdowns and 10 interceptions

This year, St. Louis is looking at Manny Wilkins, Max Duggan or Chevan Cordeiro.

“Three guys that can throw the ball really well, can make all the throws, but all of them have the ability to pull it and run and do some extra things,” St. Louis coach Anthony Becht said. “I just think that’s important in this league, and I’m tired of getting crushed on that by other teams. So now that’s a problem they have to deal with from us with all the other things we have on offense.”

Wilkins started two games last year. He was with the Packers in 2019 but moved into the music industry before coming back to football two years ago.

“To know the type of attitude I have when we go into battle is probably a little easier on their minds, knowing the level of detail, focus, all those things that I have,” Wilkins said. “I think maybe that puts some ease on their minds when it comes to having a new quarterback that’s not been your starter for two years. For me, having those two starts, first time starting a game in six years, took a break from ball for a little bit, but to have that opportunity to get the anxieties out, the butterflies out, all the things that are natural, you just need reps.”

Duggan led TCU to the national championship game against Georgia in 2022. He was with the Los Angeles Chargers for the past two summers.

“If you told me back then what my career was going to be like, I really didn’t know,” Duggan said. “There’s a lot of ups and downs and things. Just staying true to the game, working hard, seeing what happens, I’m excited to be here. It’s a great league and a place for guys to develop.”

Time to win

From 1999 to 2016, Bob Stoops never had a losing record at Oklahoma. He lost five games in a season only three times. As Stoops begins his fourth season with the Arlington Renagades, he is ready to win.

“If you’re going to do something, you want to win at it,” Stoops said. “Yeah, we want to win more than we have. Definitely.”

Stoops has a 9-16 record in three seasons (two in the XFL, one in the UFL), but he does have a championship. They won the 2023 XFL championship, despite a 4-6 record.

His quarterback then was Luis Perez, who remains the starter and is coming off a season in which he led the UFL in passing yards, touchdowns, passer rating and completions. It earned him a training camp invite to the Chargers, where he was one of the final cuts.

“It’s understood,” Perez said of the mandate to win. “Coming in this year when we had our first meeting, it was, ‘All right, guys, last year’s in the past, turn the page, it’s time to move on.’ We made some mistakes, and we’ve got to fix them this year and move forward and start 1-0 every week.”

Back on the sidelines

After spending more than 30 years coaching, including 16 as an NFL head coach or offensive line coach, Tom Cable was enjoying life in Idaho.

“I caught more fish, shot more elk than most people,” Cable said.

But last summer he visited his son, Zach, who is an assistant coach with the Chicago Bears, at training camp.

“I was on the field for like five minutes and I was like, ‘I miss teaching,'” Cable said. “So, yeah, you can say I missed that part of it for sure.”

Cable is the run game coordinator/offensive line coach for the Houston Roughnecks. Head coach Curtis Johnson is more than pleased to have a coach that caliber on his staff.

“He’s going to make our guys better,” Johnson said.

Cable, 60, is happy to be back coaching.

“It’s football. It’s teaching,” he said. “Specifically, you’re trying to take and help young people go where they want to go. It’s really a purpose-driven journey. That’s always been my thing. Some guys are trying to find their way in the game, find their way back to the NFL or find their way into the NFL. All you want to do is help them do that and see production on the field.”