Gradkowski to Lions Could Open Door for Other UFL Coaches to Level Up
Image via X @bgradkowski5
Spring football has long been a realm wherein players could showcase their wares in the hopes of getting a promotion to the NFL. And for the most part, leagues have succeeded in advancing players up a level. They’ve done so in significant numbers dating back to the Alliance of American Football in 2019, the beginning of what has become a golden age of high-level, professional non-NFL leagues.
Not only is spring football a place for players to vie for an opportunity for advancement, but some leagues have sold themselves on wanting to do the same for coaches. The XFL in 2023, for example, specifically gave head coaching opportunities to those who had been overlooked at other levels but who desired to rise up the ranks.
To this point, the NFL and college have been slower to accept spring football coaches into (or back into) their fraternities in comparison to players. Some of that is because leagues have opted to hire coaches who have been past their use-by date. Even younger coaches, though, have struggled to utilize spring football as a stepping stone to something more.
After the XFL closed up shop in 2020, D.C. Defenders head coach Pep Hamilton was hired by the Los Angeles Chargers as their quarterbacks coach, eventually earning a job with the Houston Texans as their Offensive Coordinator. It’s difficult to say his work in the XFL got him those jobs, though; Hamilton was already a well-known assistant with an extensive background in both college and the pros.
Recently, however, UFL teams have found themselves needing to replace assistants who have moved on to bigger and better things; coaches whose work in spring football, rather than their past coaching elsewhere like Hamilton, is what got them noticed. It began not with a coach, but with a general manager: Birmingham Stallions wunderkind Zach Potter was hired by Sacramento State to be their general manager. It was a position that didn’t exist a decade ago in the college ranks, but the ever-changing NCAA landscape has called for someone to oversee personnel in this manner.
Potter is someone whose hiring was made because of what he did at the USFL/UFL level, winning three championships with the Stallions. His resume was basically non-existent before Skip Holtz plucked him out of obscurity for the job. Then, just last week, two UFL assistant coaches were hired by NFL teams. St. Louis Battlehawks offensive coordinator Bruce Gradkowski was brought in as an offensive assistant by the Detroit Lions. Gradkowski’s only pro experience as a coach has come with the Battlehawks. He has helmed two seasons of strong offenses led by QB A.J. McCarron.
A few days later, San Antonio lost their offensive line coach. Andre Gurode joined Deion Sanders at the University of Colorado. Gurode has worked under famed head coach Wade Philips the last two years, first with the Houston Roughnecks and then with the Brahmas. Gurode helped guide G Kohl Levao to All-UFL status and to a contract with the New York Jets. The Roughnecks gig was Gurode’s first foray into coaching.
Even former XFL 2023 Orlando Guardians head coach Terrell Buckley was hired to lead a program in 2025. Mississippi Valley State University signed Buckley to be their head coach. When I asked Buckley at an XFL Showcase in 2022 why he decided to accept the position with the Guardians, Buckley simply replied “head coach,” indicating the opportunity to lead a team - even a spring football team - was too attractive to pass up for someone who wanted to continue in the industry. He likely isn’t the only one to choose spring football for that reason.
Veteran coaches have also cashed in on the fruits of spring football. Longtime defensive line coach Bill Johnson spent the last three years bouncing between the USFL (Stallions), XFL (Roughnecks) and UFL (Stallions). He parlayed that into a senior defensive assistant job on the Chicago Bears’ staff for 2025 under new head coach Ben Johnson (no relation).
Other UFL coaches are expected to field offers in the coming seasons. Brahmas offensive coordinator A.J. Smith uses data and analytics in a way that is attractive to this generation of coaches and it’s likely someone will find value in hiring him. Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht has made it clear he wants to work in college or the NFL. He interviewed for the head coach job at his alma mater, West Virginia this off-season. And anytime a college head coaching job comes open, Stallions head coach Skip Holtz is often atop the candidate lists.
It’s taken a little longer than spring football executives have hoped, but it appears other leagues are beginning to take notice of UFL coaches and executives. Though these coaches are leaving the UFL at an inopportune time, it shows any prospective UFL hire that spring football isn’t the coaching dead end that it has appeared to be in the past.