Skip Holtz To Coach Birmingham Stallions

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Birmingham is gearing up to host the reincarnation of the United States Football League this spring, and another big name in coaching announced Thursday he will be along for the ride.

According to the USFL league offices, longtime college coach Skip Holtz announced on The Colin Cowherd Show on FS1 Thursday morning that he will be the coach for the Birmingham Stallions.

Holtz, the son of legendary college and NFL coach Lou Holtz, got his first head coaching job at East Carolina in 2005. He then coached at the University of South Florida from 2010-2012 before taking the head coaching job at Louisiana Tech, a position he held for nine seasons.

Holtz has posted a record of 118-98 over his career. Holtz is just one of the coaching hires announced by the league so far.

Kirby Wilson, whose 36-year career includes 24 years as an NFL assistant, will be a head coach for the first time as he leads the Pittsburgh Maulers. Other coaches in the league include former NFL and college head coach Mike Riley, who will coach the New Jersey Generals; longtime NFL assistant Todd Haley will coach the Tampa Bay Bandits; former Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin will lead the Houston Gamblers; and former NFL assistant Bart Andrus will be the head coach for the Philadelphia Stars.

Monday, the league issued a statement that it will reveal plans Jan. 25 for its eight teams to play 43 games in the city at Birmingham's Protective Stadium. Fox Sports has committed $150 million over three years to the USFL's operations and will be the league's official broadcast partner.

The Birmingham City Council earlier this month approved a resolution for mayor Randall Woodfin to execute an agreement with the USFL's ownership group to provide up to $500,000 of in-kind services to mitigate the cost of playing eight to 11 USFL games at Legion Field, with the remaining games to be played at Protective Stadium.