After the USFL and the XFL merged into the United Football League, Birmingham Stallions coach Skip Holtz said the consolidated league would be a stronger brand of football than either of its predecessors.

The Birmingham offensive line in the Stallions’ season-opening 27-14 victory over the Arlington Renegades last week provided an illustration of Holtz’s point about the effect of moving from 16 spring football teams to eight in the consolidation.

Birmingham went to training camp with the five offensive linemen who started its 28-12 victory over the Pittsburgh Maulers in the 2023 USFL Championship Game. But the Stallions lined up for their first snap of 2024 with a completely new set of offensive linemen.

“When you look at it, I think it goes to speak to the level of competition,” Holtz said. “We had three guys who started on our offensive line a year ago that came to camp that were no longer here when we went into the opening game, and so I think it speaks volumes for (the new linemen) and the job they did coming in. In learning the offense and showing their talent level, I think our offensive line is much better than it was a year ago.”

Against Arlington, the Stallions started Christian Dilauro at left tackle, Deonte Brown at left guard, Cole Schneider at center, Zack Johnson at right guard and Alex Taylor-Prideau at right tackle.

“I thought our offensive line played well,” Holtz said. “We rushed for 183 yards in the game. I thought the offensive line with some new faces up there did play really well when you go back and you watch the film.”

Birmingham’s depth got tested early when Brown went down in the first quarter. The former Austin High School and Alabama standout has been placed on injured reserve.

Holtz expects the Stallions’ offensive line to be tested on Sunday by the Michigan Panthers’ defense. Birmingham plays Michigan at 11 a.m. CDT Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit. ESPN will televise the game.

Panthers coach Mike Nolan worked 18 seasons as a defensive coordinator and four more as a head coach in the NFL.

“The many years that he’s been a defensive coordinator in the NFL, he knows his defense,” Holtz said. “He knows what he wants to do. He knows how to plug and play where he has problems. There’s a lot of people that you go against that you may hurt them in the first half, and they can’t make the adjustment until the second half after they’ve had a half to talk about it. But Mike, if you hurt him on this play, the very next play, he’s plugged it up. It’s like all of a sudden, he’s rolling coverage to that side or he’s rolling an extra safety down or he’s moving his front. He’s got an answer. If you hurt him, he’s going to come back and attack what you’re doing. He doesn’t just sit back and say, ‘OK, this is our defense.’ …

“I think that the difference between an average D-coordinator, a good D-coordinator and a great D-coordinator is: How long does it take them to make a change? How long does it take them to fill a gap? When you’re hurting them with something, the average ones, they make it at halftime. The good ones make it at the end of the series. The great ones make it on the next play. And I think that’s probably the best way for me to talk about the job and the role that Mike Nolan plays.”

The Stallions also have an internal test on Sunday.

“What an exciting event to be part of,” Holtz of Birmingham’s victory in the first game in the history of the United Football League. “The opening game for the UFL reminded me a lot of the opening game for the USFL that we did in Birmingham just a couple of years ago. Just a lot of excitement, pageantry. The Rock was there; he’s out at midfield. All the stars were out. Deion (Sanders) was at the game; Troy Aikman was at the game. A lot of guys on the sidelines. Just a lot of excitement and energy in the stadium around the opening of the game. …

“I think for our players, one of the great motivating factors going into this game was this was the USFL champion versus the XFL champion to kick off the new UFL, so think for them there was a lot of energy, a lot of excitement. I call it the intangibles – the passion, the desire, the focus, really just the overall effort and the way that they played during the course of the game. I thought we were excellent with our intangibles. I thought they were really dialed in. They were really ready to play.”

Those factors won’t be present for the second game of the season.

“I think the challenge we have right now moving forward is to play every game with those type of intangibles, that type of effort, that type of togetherness, that type of energy,” Holtz said. “And even though there was a lot of energy because of the environment and opening game itself, we’ve got the obligation to carry that to every game. And we’re going to have a challenge this week with Michigan.”

The Panthers kicked off the season with an 18-16 victory over the St. Louis Battlehawks on March 30 as Jake Bates made a 64-yard field goal with three seconds to play.

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.