The 2022 Birmingham Stallions season was the first season for the

Birmingham Stallions The Birmingham Stallions were a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second professional league of American football in the United States in competition with the National Football League. They played their h ...

as a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

. They play as charter members of the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

, one of eight teams to compete in the league for the 2022 season. The Stallions play their home games at

Protective Stadium Protective Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium owned and operated by the Birmingham-Jefferson Civic Center Authority in downtown Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. Its naming rights are provided by the Protective Life company, which will pay $1 million p ...

and

Legion Field Legion Field is an outdoor stadium in the southeastern United States in Birmingham, Alabama, primarily designed to be used as a venue for American football, but occasionally used for other large outdoor events. Opened in 1927, it is named in ho ...

and are led by head coach

Skip Holtz Louis Leo "Skip" Holtz Jr. (born March 12, 1964) is an American football coach who is the head coach for the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL). Previously, he was the head coach for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (201 ...

. In week 8, the Stallions clinched the South division.

Background and history

As is the case with all eight teams competing in the league, the Birmingham Stallions take their name and color scheme from a franchise of the same name that competed in the original USFL. The original Birmingham Stallions, who competed in the USFL from

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, finished at or above .500 in each of their three seasons and were led by head coach

Rollie Dotsch Roland Daniel Dotsch (February 14, 1933 – March 16, 1988) was an American football coach who served primarily in an assistant capacity before becoming the first coach of the United States Football League's Birmingham Stallions on September 2, 1 ...

for the duration of their existence. The identical team names were the subject of a lawsuit brought to

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

by the owners of the original USFL, who claimed

trademark infringement Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attached to a trademark without the authorization of the trademark owner or any licensees (provided that such authorization was within the scope of the licence). Infringement may o ...

and

false advertising False advertising is defined as the act of publishing, transmitting, or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false claim, or statement, made intentionally (or recklessly) to promote the sale of property, goods, or servic ...

on the part of the new league.

Personnel

Final roster

The Stallions, like all other teams, have a 38-man active roster with a 7-man practice squad. Their first picks in the

2022 USFL draft The 2022 USFL Draft, also known as the 2022 USFL Player Selection Meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released throug ...

included quarterback

Alex McGough Alex McGough ( ; born November 19, 1995) is an American football quarterback for the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at FIU, and was selected by Seattle Seahawks in the seventh round ...

(round 1, pick 6), defensive end

Aaron Adeoye Aaron Adeoye (born August 26, 1993) is an American football defensive end who is a member of the Edmonton Elks of the CFL. He played college football at Southeast Missouri State University. College career Adeoye played college basketball for Bal ...

(round 2, pick 11), and offensive tackle

Chauncy Haney Chauncy may refer to: * ''Chauncy'' (album), by Jason Scheff, 1996 * Chauncy (name), including lists of people with the given name and surname * Chauncy School, a secondary school in Ware, Hertfordshire, England * Nan Chauncy Award, an Australi ...

(round 3, pick 22).

Staff

The Stallions' first head coach and general manager is

, who will also lead Birmingham's offense. Holtz, who served in various positions on college coaching staffs from 1987 to 2021, served most recently in head coaching positions at

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a teacher training school, East Carolina has grown from its orig ...

South Florida South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of th ...

, and

Louisiana Tech Louisiana Tech University (Louisiana Tech, La. Tech, or simply Tech) is a public research university in Ruston, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System and classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activi ...

. After finishing the 2021 season at Louisiana Tech with a record of 3–9, he was fired. The Stallions' defense will be led by

John Chavis John Chavis (c. 1763–June 15, 1838) was a free Black educator and Presbyterian minister in the American South during the early 19th century. Born in Oxford, North Carolina, he fought for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary ...

, whose most recent coaching positions include defensive coordinator spots at

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Schedule

Regular season

The Stallions'

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

schedule was announced on March 7. They opened the season against the

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

in the league's inaugural game, which did

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of simultaneous broadcast) is the broadcasting of programmes/programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultane ...

by both

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

and

, with an additional broadcast on NBC's

Peacock Peafowl is a common name for three bird species in the genera ''Pavo (genus), Pavo'' and ''Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae, the pheasants and their allies. Male peafowl are referred to as peacocks, and female pea ...

streaming service. This was the first simulcast of a live sporting event by rival television networks since 1967. Because the regular season is being held in its entirety at

and

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, the Stallions will play all of their games at their home stadium. The schedule format has each team playing a ten-game regular season, consisting of two games against each division opponent and one game against each team in the opposite division. Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. * mean that they host the game, since all eight teams play at the same stadium

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. New Jersey Generals

The Stallions started their first season in the inaugural opener for the USFL against the

. The Stallions won the coin toss and elected to defer. The Generals scored on their first drive to put the Stallions down 0–7. The Stallions answered with a 35-yard touchdown pass to

Osirus Mitchell Osirus Mitchell (born September 15, 1998) is an American football wide receiver. He played college football at Mississippi State. He signed with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) as an undrafted free agent following the 2 ...

to tie the game 7–7. The rest of the quarter saw the teams trade punts. The Generals scored the only points of the second quarter with a touchdown after an

interception, putting the Stallions behind 7–14. The Stallions then scored the only points of the third quarter with a C. J. Marable 3-yard rush, tying the game 14–14. In the fourth quarter the Generals scored first, putting the Stallions down 14–21. The Stallions would respond with a 6 play 67-yard touchdown, tying it up again at 21–21. The Generals responded with a 38-yard field goal drive, ending in a 47-yard field goal, putting the Stallions at 21–24 with 1:54 remaining. The Stallions responded by driving 59 yards downfield for a touchdown that would give them their first lead at 28–24, which would be the final score.

Week 2: at Houston Gamblers

For a second time in as many weeks, Stallions quarterback J'Mar Smith led Birmingham to three consecutive second half drives that ended with touchdowns. The reigning USFL Offensive Player of the Week, Smith went 19-of-29 for 214 yards on Saturday. His 34-yard, third quarter touchdown pass to Osirus Mitchell gave the Stallions a 19–18 lead. His 64-yard strike to Marlon Williams stretched Birmingham's lead to 33–21 with just over 13 minutes left. Houston, who took an 18–13 halftime lead on the strength of Will Likely's 63-yard pick-six, made it a one-possession game when Clayton Thorson connected with Tyler Simmons for a 44-yard touchdown with 12:24 left. The Gamblers comeback bid came up short, however, when Lorenzo Burns recorded his second pick of Thorson with 1:13 left.

Week 3: at New Orleans Breakers

The 2–0 Stallions played against division rival, the 2–0 New Orleans Breakers. In what started off as a slow offensive performance for both sides, the Stallions got a 7–0 lead on a

J'Mar Smith Jamarius "J'Mar" Smith (born September 24, 1996) is an American football quarterback for the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football at Louisiana Tech University. Early years A multi-sport athl ...

screen pass to Marlon Williams. Later into the 2nd quarter, the Breakers scored on a 10-yard pass from

Kyle Sloter Kyle Joseph Sloter (born February 7, 1994) is an American football quarterback who is a free agent. He played college football at Southern Miss before transferring to Northern Colorado. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Denver Bronco ...

to Johnnie Dixon which made the Stallions lead trim down to 7–6. With 7 seconds left in the half, Brandon Aubrey made a 33-yard field goal to give Birmingham a 10–6 lead at the half. Coming out of the half, the Breakers conducted an 8:50 17 play drive to regain the lead at 13–10 on an 11-yard pass from Sloter to Dixon. This would be the last time the Breakers would score all game. Birmingham would score 12 points in the final quarter of play. A touchdown from Smith to

Victor Bolden Jr The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

, a safety forced by Dondrea Tillman, and a Brandon Aubrey field goal. Birmingham would end up winning 22–13, which put them in sole possession of first place in the South Division with a 3–0 record.

Standings

Postseason

References

{{2022 Birmingham Stallions

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

Birmingham Stallions (2022)