USFL 2022: Ranking All 8 Teams' Coaching Staffs ft. Jeff Fisher, Skip Holtz and Todd Haley

The Birmingham Stallions and the New Jersey Generals will be playing the first game in the history of the 2022 USFL season on Saturday, April 16, in Birmingham, Alabama.

The USFL has eight teams. They will play all of their games at downtown Birmingham's Protective Stadium. The playoffs will take place in Canton, Ohio, which is the site of the NFL's annual Hall of Fame ceremony each August, and will conclude July 3.

The USFL has no prior history. Therefore, this new league will be a crapshoot. for the first few weeks, the eight teams' coaching staffs will aim to figure out their schemes. They will also be trying to figure out how to get guys that just met to play together for a common goal beyond landing an NFL contract.

Still, some USFL coaches have had a stronger history than others in the sport. This puts their new teams in the best position to win in 2022 and beyond, if there's going to be a beyond-this-season. Remember, the XFL looms in 2023.

Ranking 8 USFL coaching staffs in 2022

Bart Andrus, head coach, Philadelphia Stars

#8 - Bart Andrus, Philadelphia Stars

For their inaugural season, the City of Brotherly Love needs to be patient with the Stars' head coach, Bart Andrus. The 41-year coaching veteran had his longest-lasting job leading the NFL Europe's Amsterdam Admirals from 2001-2007. He hasn't held down a job longer than two years since. Even Fox Sports' coverage of Andrus tempers expectations for the upcoming 2022 slate.

#7 - Larry Fedora, New Orleans Breakers

Larry Fedora has had stints at a few of the most notable football programs across the country, making stops in the SEC (Florida), ACC (North Carolina), and Big 12 (Oklahoma State, Baylor). He's no stranger to big-time games.

In fact, having graced an environment like the "Swamp" in Gainesville, Florida, for a conference matchup, Fedora will be more than prepared to handle a far more toned-down environment like Protective Stadium in Birmingham. Crowds aren't expected to be sellouts for the USFL in year one.

That said, Fedora is still a head-coaching rookie, so while he might have beginner's luck, he could also find himself in over his head with the Breakers.

#6 - Mike Riley, New Jersey Generals

The most famous stop of Mike Riley's coaching career was with the Oregon State Beavers in the now-named Pac-12 conference. In 1999, he ended the team's 28-year streak of losing seasons and later returned for a second stint in Corvallis.

During that second stint, Riley established himself as, perhaps, the greatest coach in the history of the university, going 85–66 in 12 seasons. He owns the all-time record for wins at Oregon State with 93 wins in 14 seasons. His last great season as a head coach came in 2016 with Nebraska, when the Cornhuskers finished 9-4.

Whether or not he has it in him to still reach those heights is unknown, but there's, at least, a solid foundation from his OSU days to have faith in the NJ Generals head coach.

Top 5 head coaches in the USFL:

Kirby Wilson will lead the Pittsburgh Maulers of the USFL.

#5 - Kirby Wilson, Pittsburgh Maulers

Kirby Wilson has had a long career. He has bounced around the NFL and NCAA Power Five conferences, working at various roles since 1995. He began his career at community colleges in California in the 80s.

He's held roles as both a wide receiver and running backs coach, but he's been consistently getting professional RB coaching roles since 2002. Wilson's NFL experience should be helpful to players hoping to use the USFL as a springboard to the league.

The USFL will be a good interview for Kevin Sumlin.

#4 - Kevin Sumlin, Houston Gamblers

Kevin Sumlin made a critical career mistake when he joined the Arizona football program in 2018. The Wildcats are a basketball school, and Sumlin's head coaching record in Tucson was a putrid 9-20.

His stop in the desert was Sumlin's only head coaching tenure that didn't end with a record featuring roughly double the amount of wins as losses. During his stops with Houston and Texas A&M, he amassed an 86-43 record.

The USFL is Sumlin's redemption opportunity. Given his fruitful time in Texas, perhaps coaching the Houston Gamblers is the best fit for his future success, even if every game will be played in Alabama.

Skip Holtz' sour end to his Louisiana Tech career leads way to a new USFL beginning.

#3 - Skip Holtz, Birmingham Stallions

As the head coach of the only true home team during the 2022 USFL schedule, Skip Holtz has the chance to make more than just the local fans happy during the season, which starts April 16 at 7:30 ET.

His team will face the New Jersey Generals in the league's very first game. It'll be Holtz' first game coaching since late November when his Louisiana Tech Bulldogs lost the ninth game of the 2021 season, marking the end of his time in Ruston.

Holtz' coaching record has taken a nosedive since going 10-3 in 2019 and beating Miami in the Independence Bowl. Coaching the hometown team to victory would be a great way to transition into his next college head coaching job.

Todd Haley is back to coaching as a pro in the USFL after serving as a high school offensive coordinator.

#2 - Todd Haley, Tampa Bay Bandits

Todd Haley has this high of a ranking on this list because he was the mastermind behind an Arizona offense in 2008 that was considered one of the NFL's best that season. Those Cardinals reached Super Bowl XLIII but fell short to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

From there, Haley took a head coaching job with the Kansas City Chiefs that frankly didn't pay dividends for him in the slightest. He lost his first five games and had a public spat with star RB Larry Johnson that led to Johnson's release.

He stuck with the Steelers for five years and then had a brief stint in Cleveland before taking a high school coaching job in 2020. Haley could put his name back into NFL coaching conversations with a successful USFL coaching run.

Jeff Fisher has the most star power of any USFL coach.

#1 - Jeff Fisher, Michigan Panthers

Jeff Fisher took five years off from coaching, following his head coaching stint with the Los Angeles Rams. Even still, no USFL coach for the upcoming 2022 season has the rapport with any team that Fisher had with the Houston/Tennessee Oilers/Titans. For 15 years, and through a relocation and a rebrand, Fisher was the man in Texas and Tennessee.

Fisher was fired from the Rams in 2016 midseason right after the team announced an extension through the 2018 season less than two weeks earlier. That breach of trust likely had to do with his long hiatus away from the game.

He's back now, though, and he has a huge opportunity to return to prominence by parlaying this USFL opportunity into an NFL head coaching job.