The USFL is back this weekend — Here are the head coaches and where you might know them from
The USFL is back this weekend with eight teams from the original league, which existed in the 1980s.
The USFL is the third spring league in recent years but is trying to become the first to complete a season since the original XFL in 2001.
The league will play a 10-week regular season with all games taking place in Birmingham, Alabama. There will be a 4-team playoff, to be held in Canton, Ohio.
Unlike the original USFL, which poached star players from the NFL with big contracts, the most recognizable names might be the head coaches.
Below we look at the head coach on every team for the debut season.
Birmingham Stallions — Skip Holtz
College head coaching experience: 17 seasons at East Carolina, South Florida, and Louisiana Tech. He took his teams to 12 bowl games but never finished a season in the AP Top 25.
NFL head coaching experience: None
Best known for: The son of legendary college coach Lou Holtz.
Houston Gamblers — Kevin Sumlin
College head coaching experience: 13 seasons at Houston, Texas A&M, and Arizona. He took his teams to seven bowl games.
NFL head coaching experience: None
Best known for: He had a winning record in all six seasons with Texas A&M, including an 11-2 campaign his first year. That team, with Johnny Manziel, finished fifth in the AP Poll. Manziel won the Heisman Trophy.
Michigan Panthers — Jeff Fisher
College head coaching experience: None
NFL head coaching experience: 22 seasons with Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans and St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams. His teams won 10+ games six times. He has not been a head coach since 2016.
Best known for: He led the Titans to the 1999 Super Bowl, where they lost to the St. Louis Rams after coming within one yard of sending the game to overtime. Fisher is also known for how often his teams won seven or eight games in a season — 10 times in 22 seasons.
New Jersey Generals — Mike Riley
College head coaching experience: 17 seasons with Oregon State and Nebraska. He led his teams to 10 bowl games and four times finished in the AP Top 25.
NFL head coaching experience: 3 seasons with the San Diego Chargers.
Best known for: Riley went 14-34 with the Chargers, including 1-15 in 2000. After being fired, he rejected an offer to coach the University of Alabama and later returned to Oregon State.
New Orleans Breakers — Larry Fedora
College head coaching experience: 11 seasons with Southern Miss and North Carolina. His teams went to bowl games eight times and twice finished in the AP Top 25.
NFL head coaching experience: None
Best known for: In 2015, Fedora's UNC team went 11-1 in the regular season, reaching No. 8 in the AP Poll. UNC lost to eventual national championship runner-up Clemson by one touchdown in the ACC Championship game. He has not been a head coach since 2018.
Philadelphia Stars — Bart Andrus
College head coaching experience: 1 season at Rocky Mountain College (NAIA)
NFL head coaching experience: None
Best known for: He was a head coach in NFL Europe for eight seasons, winning the championship in 2005 with the Amsterdam Admirals. He has also been a head coach in the CFL, the UFL, and The Spring League. His most recent coaching job was as the QB coach for the University of Ottawa in Canada.
Pittsburgh Maulers — Kirby Wilson
College head coaching experience: None
NFL head coaching experience: None
Best known for: Has been a running backs coach in the NFL for 23 seasons for nine different teams. Some of the head coaches he worked under include Pete Carroll, Jon Gruden, Dennis Green, and Mike Tomlin. He was on the staff for two Super Bowl-winning teams (Bucs, Steelers) and was also a coach on the 2017 Browns that went 0-16.
Tampa Bay Bandits — Todd Haley
College head coaching experience: None
NFL head coaching experience: 3 seasons with the Kansas City Chiefs, reaching the playoffs once. He was fired after Week 14 in 2011.
Best known for: Haley is a long-time NFL offensive coordinator, spending 10 seasons in the role with four teams.
Now take a look at the top QBs in the USFL's debut season.
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