AJ McCarron is back in the United Football League - but this time, he’s trading the helmet for a headset. The former Alabama star quarterback is set to take over as head coach of the Birmingham Stallions for the 2026 season, the league announced Thursday.
It’s a full-circle moment for McCarron, who’s long been a fixture in Alabama football, from his high school days in Mobile to his national championship runs with the Crimson Tide. Now, he’s stepping into a new chapter, leading a team that’s already built a reputation as the UFL’s gold standard.
Until this week, McCarron was actually running a different kind of campaign - for lieutenant governor of Alabama. But that bid came to an end on Wednesday, just one day after the UFL announced that Skip Holtz, the only head coach the Stallions have known, would not return for a fifth season.
McCarron didn’t hide his excitement in the league’s official announcement:
“This game has given me so much as a player, and now I am ready to give back as a coach. It’s even more special that I get to do that while representing my home state - a state that has supported me throughout my career.”
He also made it clear that he’s not taking over a blank slate.
“Our team will build upon the amazing legacy of Skip Holtz.
I have a tremendous amount of respect for coach Holtz, what he has done for the league and for the Stallions. I am ready to put in the work that will continue producing championship wins for the city of Birmingham.”
That legacy McCarron’s referencing? It’s a big one.
Holtz led the Stallions to titles in each of their first two seasons in the USFL (2022 and 2023), then added the inaugural UFL championship in 2024 after the USFL and XFL merged. Over four seasons, Holtz’s teams went 33-7 in the regular season and 6-1 in the playoffs.
That’s a dynasty by any spring football standard. Even in 2025, when the Stallions fell just short of another title shot - losing 44-29 to the Michigan Panthers in the USFL Conference Championship - they remained one of the league’s top-tier programs.
Now it’s McCarron’s job to keep that bar high.
While this will be his first official coaching role, McCarron is no stranger to leadership. He was the steady hand behind Alabama’s back-to-back BCS national titles in 2011 and 2012, and he nearly added a third in 2013, a season that earned him the Maxwell Award and a runner-up finish in Heisman voting. His résumé is steeped in winning - and that’s exactly what the Stallions are banking on.
After college, McCarron spent time with five NFL teams - the Bengals, Bills, Raiders, Texans, and Falcons - and later became one of the faces of the XFL’s return, leading the St. Louis Battlehawks in both 2023 and 2024. His 2021 season was derailed by a torn ACL in a preseason game with Atlanta, but he bounced back to rejoin the Bengals in 2023 before returning to spring football.
UFL president and CEO Russ Brandon summed up the hire this way:
“AJ McCarron is a part of the fabric of winning football that is woven throughout the state of Alabama. It is only appropriate that a winner like AJ takes over the reins of the three-time champion Birmingham Stallions as they embark upon a new era.”
McCarron will be guiding the Stallions through a league that’s already seen some offseason shakeups. Since the end of the 2024 season - when his Battlehawks lost to the San Antonio Brahmas in the XFL Conference Championship - the UFL has undergone some franchise changes. The San Antonio, Michigan, and Memphis teams have been replaced by the Columbus Aviators, Louisville Kings, and Orlando Storm, setting the stage for a reshaped 2026 season.
The UFL’s 10-week regular season is set to kick off on March 27, and all eyes will be on Birmingham to see how McCarron handles the transition from quarterback to head coach. He’s got the pedigree, the passion, and the pressure - now it’s time to see if he can turn that into wins.