January 5th, 1984, Birmingham Post-Herald: "Stallions Fill Needs On USFL Draft Day"

Alabama Airborne Announces Coaching Staff

No disrespect intended, but this team has been in the formative stages for so long, to no apparent forthcoming conclusion, that I'd kind of given up on looking into them.

Major League Football has been much more active on social media in recent months, however, so they do appear to be preparing to pull the trigger on their inaugural season. It's supposed to start August 9th, so...They'd better haul ass! 

I'm not even 100% certain that this is intended to be a Birmingham-based club. Past releases indicated Birmingham specifically but this one does not. I get the approach of wanting to embrace the entire state, but people really should know where you're playing...

Today, we are...pleased to announce the coaching staff of our fourth and final team for the MLFB’s inaugural season starting August 9.

With hundreds of years of coaching experience, the Alabama Airborne staff is eager to get to training camp and start the process of building a team that plays exciting football. Airborne players will benefit from some of the finest football minds ever assembled and Airborne fans will find these coaches will do everything in their power to construct a team that is fun to root for.

Coaches for the 2022 Alabama Airborne include:

Head Coach-Jerry Glanville. With more than 50 years of coaching experience, Glanville has been devoted to the game since his own high school playing career. Beyond his extensive NFL coaching resume, Glanville worked as an analyst and broadcaster for major networks such as Fox. 

During his tenure as Head Coach for the Atlanta Falcons from 1990 – 1993, Glanville was literally “too legit to quit” appearing in the iconic MC Hammer music video synonymous with his Atlanta Falcons. Coach Glanville’s teams are known for their defensive tenacity, and he has coached multiple all-pro players and developed hungry defenders at all levels of football. Glanville brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the MLFB.

Offensive Line-Kris Cinkovich. Boasting nearly 30 years of coaching experience, Cinkovich has been known throughout his career as a great mentor, tremendous recruiter, and a coach who does everything to assist his players. Cinkovich began his collegiate playing career at Spokane Falls Community College before finishing at Carroll College. 

Cinkovich’s first coaching position was linebacker coach at Central Washington. His coaching career also included positions with Oregon Tech, UNLV, Green Valley HS, Las Vegas HS, UNLV, and Arkansas. Cinkovich finished his collegiate coaching career as Assistant Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, and Offensive Line Coach at the University of Idaho.

Assistant Coach-“Dynomite” Daniel Kuhn. Dynomite Kuhn is no stranger to the gridiron having served in multiple coaching and football operations positions. During his time at Tennessee State University, Dynomite served as Director of Operations spearheading team travel and assisting with business logistics for the program. At Georgia Southern, Kuhn served as the executive assistant to the head coach and was responsible for the construction oversight of a $13 million football end zone complex. 

Dynomite has a long-standing relationship with Coach Jerry Glanville serving him in various capacities while head coach of the NFL’s Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons. Kuhn’s prior positions include being chief of staff with the Hartford Colonials (2011-12), director of video and football operations at Portland State (2006), director of football operations with the University of Pennsylvania (2006-09), and director of operations with the Austin Wranglers (2003-06).

Defensive Line and Linebacker Coach-Robert Lyles. Following a successful college playing career at TCU, Lyles was drafted in the fifth round of the NFL draft. Lyles enjoyed a long professional playing career with the Houston Oilers, Atlanta Falcons, Tampa Bay Storm, and Memphis Pharaohs. Lyles transitioned to coaching in 1996 as defensive coordinator with the Portland Forest Dragons and over the years has held numerous coaching positions including head coach for the Los Angeles Avengers and Georgia Force of the Arena Football League (AFL). 

Defensive Back Coach-Kim McCloud. Following a successful college playing career at the University of Hawaii as well as a professional career playing in both American and Canadian football, McCloud took a short break from the football world before beginning his coaching career at the high school level. This sparked a passion for coaching that led McCloud to eventually work at Baylor, Eastern Illinois, Syracuse, and eventually his alma mater. 

Quarterback and Wide Receiver Coach-Jeff Reinebold. Originally from Canada, Reinebold is truly a “coach’s” coach having worked in Canadian Football League (CFL), the collegiate level, and even NFL Europe. Reinebold brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to MLFB and is excited about the upcoming season.  

Special Teams Coordinator-Jesse Thompson. After a college playing career at Portland State and Southern Oregon, Thompson began his coaching career at Madison High School in Portland, Oregon before moving on to the collegiate ranks. From 2004 to 2006, Thompson was an assistant coach at Lewis and Clark College in Portland.

Thompson worked as running backs coach at Northern State University during the 2007 season before returning to Portland State. During his two years at Portland State, Thompson honed his craft under legendary coaches Jerry Glanville and Mouse Davis. Thompson assisted in an offensive unit that led the country in passing yards per game during the 2008 season. As the Vikings running backs coach, Thompson helped develop running back Bobby McLintock into a 2009 First-Team All-Big Sky Conference player.

"Birmingham Iron Cruises in Debut Win"

As print media has become nearly extinct in recent years, tracking down newspaper clippings of game summaries from 2019 becomes almost impossible. Where the Birmingham Iron is concerned, we'll have to turn to news websites.

I don't think I could be less original than to copy from al.com but their coverage was quite good at the time, I found, and I want to hang on to it in case the links go dead at some point.

For now, the abbreviated article below was written by Evan Dudley. The photography is the work of Vasha Hunt. They have a February 10th, 2019, publishing date.

Iron is forged by hand but it was the leg of former NFL veteran kicker Nick Novak that gave Birmingham’s newest professional football team its first win in the inaugural weekend of the Alliance of American Football.

The Birmingham Iron took an early lead on three first-half field goals from Novak before former Alabama running back Trent Richardson put the exclamation point with two fourth-quarter touchdowns on a 26-0 shutout of the Memphis Express at Legion Field.

Novak, who played collegiately at Maryland before a 12-year career in the NFL, was the highest profile player to sign with the Iron – outside of local favorites like Richardson – and proved his worth with kicks of 29, 28 and 47 yards in the first half while pushing a 31-yard field goal through to give the Iron a 20-point lead midway through the fourth quarter.

The AAF has no kickoffs or PAT attempts so Novak was relegated to only field goals.

The showdown between quarterbacks was settled quickly as Memphis quarterback and former 2016 second-round pick Christian Hackenberg struggled mightily against the Iron defense. Hackenberg was 10-of-23 for 87 yards and an interception, and looked completely lost in the passing game while getting sacked twice and hounded throughout the contest.

Iron quarterback Luis Perez, who taught himself the finer details of the position by studying YouTube videos before winning a national title at Texas A&M-Commerce, was solid if not surprising in his debut. The California native was 19-of-33 for 252 yards with no turnovers and 17 yards on three carries.

...

The running game for both teams was inconsistent through three quarters until Richardson showed the potential that made him an NFL first-round pick in the final 15 minutes. He had only 18 rushing yards heading into the fourth quarter but added 40 rushing yards and two scores – plus a reception on a 2-point conversion attempt – and a catch for 14 yards.

Richardson turned it around in the second half and flashed the ability that made him an All-American at Alabama.

“Trent’s an unbelievable person and player,” Perez said. “He works very hard, and he’s very hard on himself so after that fumble he gathered himself up and said, “That’s on me and I’m going to come back and I’m going to end this game. I’m going to run the ball down their throats and we’re going to get this win.” And sure enough he did that.” 

... 

The Iron defense was spectacular, allowing only 202 yards while shutting out the Express and forcing three turnovers. Jonathan Massaquoi, a former Troy linebacker, was the defacto leader for the Iron and was excellent in space with seven total tackles (3 for a loss) and two sacks to go along with three quarterback hurries.

The most telling number from the defensive performance, however, was the Iron’s ability to force the Express into an 0-of-2 showing inside the red zone.

Novak was named the Special Teams Player Of The Week for hitting on four field goal attempts in this game.