Skip Holtz, head coach of the Birmingham Stallions, announced today that he will be stepping away from his role in the United Football League (UFL) to evaluate other opportunities following an extraordinary four-year run highlighted by three consecutive championships (2022-23 USFL; 2024 UFL). He leaves the UFL with a 33–7 regular-season record and 6–1 postseason mark.
Statement from Heat Coach Skip Holtz
Coaching the Stallions has been one of the great honors of my career. I’m grateful for the players, staff, the City of Birmingham, and our passionate fans who helped create such a special and winning culture. What we accomplished together is something I’ll always treasure.
I am not retiring. This is simply the right moment to pause, reflect, and look ahead. I’m excited about the next steps in my journey and energized by new possibilities. I look forward to seeing where this path leads.
Statement from UFL President & CEO Russ Brandon
Head Coach Skip Holtz can be summed up in one word – Champion. When they write the first chapter of the history of the United Football League, Skip and his three-time champion Birmingham Stallions will be the first names to jump off the page. He leaves the UFL with the respect and gratitude of our owners, executives, coaches, players, and, especially myself. We wish Skip, his wife Jennifer, and their entire family the best of luck.
Before his championship run in the UFL, Holtz built an accomplished résumé across major college football. A former Notre Dame player who later served as an assistant and offensive coordinator for the Fighting Irish, Holtz went on to lead programs at UConn, East Carolina, USF and Louisiana Tech – winning 152 games overall with 12 bowl appearances (and eight bowl wins) in 17 FBS seasons and eight conference or divisional titles.
After Holtz’s initial season at ECU, Holtz put together a run of four-consecutive bowl games with back-to-back Conference USA championships and a Conference USA Coach of the Year award. Likewise at Louisiana Tech, after the initial season, he took the program on a run of 7-consecutive bowl appearances (winning six straight bowl games) including three consecutive nine-win seasons along with the program’s first 10-win season in 35 years.
The UFL will announce Holtz’s replacement in the near future.
About the United Football League
The United Football League (UFL) is the premier professional spring football league, powered by the visionary leadership and investment of Mike Repole and Impact Capital, RedBird Capital Partners, FOX, Dany Garcia, Dwayne Johnson, and ESPN. Built on innovation, accessibility, and competitive excellence, the UFL delivers the most engaging professional football experience in the world—for both players and fans.The league features eight teams: the Birmingham Stallions, Columbus Aviators, Dallas Renegades, DC Defenders, Houston Gamblers, Louisville Kings, Orlando Storm, and St. Louis Battlehawks. The 2026 season kicks off Friday, March 27.
4 Comments
by 4th&long
The league is going back to being like the TSL but with much more money and bigger owners. They are structuring to make the cost commensurate with the revenue and focusing on selling the league instead of being NFL Jr and expecting people to show up. Its really back to the USFL slow build but with FB ops taking a lesser role being replaced by marketing and promotion.
The players screwed the league last year and that didn’t sit well with anyone and MR put out the ‘dev league’ comment and 3 yrs move on to address UFPA – IMO.
There will be plenty of players looking for reps and camera time as well as decent $.
Coaches will now be pseudo-GM’s and have a year round contract, Skip and Stoops were fine with a Feb to Mid-June league. That’s not the direction now.
And I really wanted Skip to stay but once I heard he was looking at CFB teams it was dicey.
If it flames out I blame XFL, USFL had the low cost structure 1st – albeit differently.
Brian Woods is likely saying I told you so.
by Ken Granito
Skip Holtz will likely take a college job, however I will hope their is a new league by 2027. I am not saying Holtz would be in that league as he will likely sign a college contract, but it would be interesting.
by Gary W.
This is starting to look a bit like amateur time. They’re running off the coaches and replacing them with coaches with little or no experience. Nothing happening in the way of advertising in any of the old markets. Christmas seems a great opportunity to sell tickets to new fans at these prices. Everything seems so disorganized and that’s never good. We getting promises of “things coming, next month”. That only works for a short while. Now it just looks like NR and the rest don’t know what they’re doing.
I was really looking forward to this coming season and now? I’m a whole lot less excited and I’m guessing many are thinking the same way.
by King Bomp
If management & ownership of the New York Jets were smart, they’d hire Skip Holtz as their new head coach.
But they’re not.