UAB Director of Character Development Matt McCants

UAB has done a nice job of introducing us to its 2023 coaching staff in recent days through a series of press releases.

It had slipped my mind that Matt McCants had played for the Birmingham Iron. He was actually born in Mobile, but being that he's played collegiately and professionally in Birmingham, it still seemed appropriate to profile him here.

We'll begin with the school's article from a few days ago, but follow that up with an article from Josh Bean for al.com.  

A seven-year NFL veteran and former offensive lineman for the Blazers, Matt McCants was named UAB's Director of Character Development by Head Coach Trent Dilfer in December of 2022 and enters his third season on staff.

"As we help these young men chase their best, I feel that it is very important to have a model of that on our staff," Dilfer said. "Matt McCants fits that perfectly. He's a seven-year NFL veteran and has incredible credentials there, but more importantly he is an A+ human being. He is a coach that all the players on the team can look up to as someone they want to grow up to be like. We are excited that Matt McCants will be our Director of Character Development as well as use his football knowledge to better the staff."

 

In his role, McCants will serve the student-athletes in all aspects of personal development and growth both as a football player and a person. From community service projects to mentorship programs and providing football insight from someone who played at UAB and at the highest level in the NFL, McCants will help grow the players both on and off the field.

McCants was a two-time First Team All-Conference USA offensive lineman for the Blazers from 2007-11 and was selected in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the New York Giants. McCants also spent time in the Raiders, Bears and Browns organizations.

 

In 2019, McCants was a member of the AAF's Birmingham Iron, and then was on the XFL's St. Louis Battlehawks in 2020 before COVID-19 shut down the league.

 

McCants spent the 2021 spring season at Fairfield High School and then joined the UAB staff in the summer of 2021 as a volunteer coach. Last season in 2022, he was a strength and conditioning coach who focused on the offensive line.

 

With the help of McCants in 2022, UAB's offensive line set the school record for single season rushing yards (3,063), rushing yards per game (235.6) and tied the single season rushing touchdown record (32).

 

McCants graduated from UAB in 2011 with a criminal justice degree and a minor in theatre. He and his wife Alowe have one son, Sam.

Wonderful. The article below is from March 23rd, 2019. The full version of the article can be accessed through this link. There was no credit for the image I located and positioned mid-article, and the website on which it appeared has since been suspended. 

Matt McCants wasn’t supposed to play football.

It now seems impossible, considering McCants started four seasons as UAB's left tackle, was selected by the New York Giants in the 2012 NFL draft, and played in 30 NFL games for the Oakland Raiders and Chicago Bears.

It's true, though. McCants didn't play football until his senior season at Williamson High in Mobile.

"My mom wouldn't let me play football," said the 6-foot-5, 310-pound McCants, a midseason addition to the Birmingham Iron (4-2), which plays at Memphis on Sunday night. "She was afraid I was going to get hurt."

Instead, McCants played tuba in Williamson's show-stopping band during halftime at every football game during his freshman, sophomore and junior years of high school while everyone from counselors to classmates encouraged him to play football.

Former Williamson coach Bobby Parrish remembers seeing "a big boy walking the halls" as a freshman and asking McCants if he wanted to play the sport.

"He said, 'No, I don't play football. It's all about the band," Parrish said.

But McCants harbored a secret desire to play, an understandable dream considering Williamson grad JaMarcus Russell was then LSU’s starting quarterback -- and became the NFL’s No. 1 overall pick just before McCants graduated from high school -- and Williamson’s Antonio Coleman was then playing at Auburn.

McCants walked the Williamson hallways with Nick Fairley, who later won the Lombardi Award as the college football's top interior lineman at Auburn in 2010 and was a first-round NFL draft pick.

“My senior year came around, and I had achieved everything I could in the band,” the 29-year-old McCants said. “I was ready for a new challenge, and I convinced my Mom to let me play. And she begrudgingly did, so it all worked out.”

Peggy McCants didn’t simply allow her son to play. She made a deal -- if Matt earned all As, he could play football. He did it.

"She challenged me, and I had a goal, and I went and got it," McCants said. "That was that."

McCants’ decision to join team first added depth to the Williamson offensive line, which allowed Parrish to move Fairley to from offensive tackle to a full-time defensive lineman. That meant McCants spent that first year of football going against Fairley.

Even though McCants didn't start early in his senior season, Parrish said, the newcomer had moved into the starting lineup by the end of the season.

College coaches loved McCants' potential -- a long-armed, athletic 300-pounder with uncanny quickness and agility.

"I can tell you this: Once he came out to play, he was committed to playing football," Parrish said. "That's a compliment to him. When he first came out there, I kind of brushed it off. Once he got there, he really showed he wanted to play."

As player with only one season of high school football experience, McCants seemed like a strong candidate to redshirt at UAB. Instead, he quickly rose on the depth chart and started the 2007 season opener at Michigan State in a game televised by ESPN2.

He left UAB as a four-year starter, returned home to play in the Senior Bowl and was a sixth-round draft pick by the New York Giants.

"Every day, I wanted to work and get better, and I took that attitude to UAB," McCants said. "When I first got to UAB, I was fourth on the depth chart at left tackle and by the time we played Michigan State, I was the starting left tackle. Every day, I just had the mindset that I wanted to get better. I didn't want to stay average, I didn't want to be a fourth-string left tackle. I thought of myself as a starter caliber player and I always wanted to work toward that.

"I just wanted to be the best. That's what was always driving me," he added. "I kept asking myself, 'What can I do to be successful? What can I do to get to the top?'"

I've also come across this article about McCants hosting a special needs football camp a number of years. This is one impressive guy, easy to cheer for. 

2022, May 15th: Birmingham Stallions 30, Philadelphia Stars 17

The summary below is from RJ Young for Fox Sports, though there was some trimming done and one correction.

Young stated that the Stallions kicked two field goals in the third quarter to make their lead seven points at that time, but that was not the case. They already led 21-17 and kicked one to make it 24-17. The final six points came on a J'Mar Smith touchdown run from two yards out. In any event, the full version is here.

The last scoring drive for the Birmingham Stallions was indicative of just how methodical and efficient Skip Holtz’s squad was Sunday.

The Stallions salted a 30-17 win against the Philadelphia Stars with a 17-play, 60-yard march down the field that chewed up 10 minutes, 28 seconds of the fourth quarter, a dominant statement from what remains the USFL's only undefeated team (5-0).

The Stallions held the ball for more than 38 minutes and scored 23 straight points behind a dominant run game and an efficient passing performance from quarterback J’Mar Smith.

Smith completed 17 of 22 passes for 203 yards with a TD.

Stars tailback Paul Terry took the first play from scrimmage for a 43-yard sprint through the middle of the Stallions' defense. Two plays later, he caught a pass for 21 yards to move the Stars inside the 10-yard line. 

Running back Matthew Colburn finished the drive, walking into the end zone to open the scoring 7-0.

Later, Terry scored the Stars’ second TD from 9 yards out, and a team built to throw the ball all over the yard had scored two rushing TDs. 

But those would be the only TDs the Stars scored.

Photo by Emilee Chinn / Getty Images

After suffering a calf injury earlier in the week, Stallions linebacker (Scooby) Wright was forced to miss the game. Nate Holley was called on to fill the space normally occupied by Wright, who has been the talisman of the Birmingham defense.

But it was DeMarquis Gates who set the tone for the Stallions' defense with four tackles, including 1.5 sacks, while the Stars' defense — playing without star cornerback Channing Stribling — struggled to find an answer for Smith.

The former Michigan corner had recorded four interceptions in four games, and he was certainly missed when the Stallions responded with a 17-yard passing touchdown from Alex McGough to wideout Michael Dereus — who was standing by himself in the back of the end zone — for the Stallions' first score of the game.

...

Smith and McGough threw TDs in the first half. But the offense really found a better passing rhythm when Smith entered the game and found Marlon Williams for a pass between four defenders. Williams then proceeded to go 38 yards to the house to cut the deficit to 17-14 late in the first half.

At the half, Smith had completed nine of 12 pass attempts for 124 yards with a TD, while McGough had completed just four of 11 attempts for 50 yards with a TD and an INT. 

The Stallions squandered an opportunity to score late in the half when their drive stalled out at the 5-yard line, and kicker Brandon Aubrey bounced a 23-yard chip shot off the uprights.

Birmingham running back CJ Marable scored from 29 yards out to put the Stallions up 21-17 in the third quarter. He reached the century mark in rushing yards later in the same period and finished with 114 yards on 23 carries. With his performance against the Stars, Marable became one of the top five statistical rushers in the league at the halfway mark of the season.

The Stallions stretched their lead to seven points with (a 45-yard field goal) in the third quarter...and managed to hold the Stars scoreless in the second half.

The Stars still had a chance to try to win the game late, and Stars coach Bart Andrus was going to try to use a couple of unique USFL rules to try to win.

On Birmingham's final drive of the game, Andrus told his defense to let the Stallions score. He hoped that would lead to the Stars getting the ball back with a chance to score and, instead of a traditional onside kick, elect to go for it on fourth-and-12 to retain possession.

It would've been a fitting gamble, as Andrus and the Stars became the first team to attempt and convert a three-point conversion earlier this year.

August 23rd, 1975: The Birmingham Vulcans Offensive Line

The image below appeared in the Birmingham Post-Herald on the date specified in the subject line. While the "Vulcans (WFL '75)" page is meant to display news articles chronologically, I didn't want this image buried among all the clippings there. We all know offensive linemen rarely get the credit they deserve!

April 29th, 1984: Birmingham Stallions 31 @ Denver Gold 14

March 18th, 1992: "Holland the 'Mouth' Has Plenty to Talk About"

A little background info on Birmingham Fire defensive back John Robert Holland provided by the Birmingham Post-Herald.

Holland is the father of Miami Dolphins safety Jevon Holland. Jevon was born in British Columbia, Canada. The following are excerpts from an article that appeared in The Province, a Vancouver newspaper, in late April of 2021, prior to that year's NFL draft. They make for a great "where are they now?" segment about John Robert.

(Jevon's) father, John Robert, broke into the CFL with the B.C. Lions in 1990, before putting up an “All-World” season with the Birmingham Fire in the World League of Football and then joining the San Francisco 49ers for a couple of years. He returned to the CFL in 1993, winning a Grey Cup and earning an all-star nod in 1994, before returning to B.C.

But it was the first year in B.C. following his time at Sacramento State that Holland — who was the original “Hollywood” before his son took over the nickname — sunk the deepest roots.

“The Canadian Football League, it actually saved my life. It saved me,” said the eldest Holland. “Just imagine, whatever sport you’re in — mine happens to be football — and you just put everything into it through high school and into college.

“At some point, we all realize that the game catches up with us and we don’t get to move on, but just imagine if you put everything in and as you’re going through it, you’re realizing that you’re being overlooked, that there’s more in you but no one can hear you, no one can see you.

...

In his first game with B.C. after being activated off the practice roster, he picked off Ottawa’s Damon Allen — only to have general manager Joe Kapp admonish him for not returning it for a touchdown after stepping out-of-bounds.

Neither Kapp nor head coach Lary Kuharich lasted long that season, with both getting the axe by management. But Holland remembers the legendary Jim Young coming in — Dirty 30 himself — and being in disbelief that the guy in Vans, dirty shorts and a loud Hawaiian shirt was the new coach.

There was the time at training camp, with newcomer Doug Flutie on guitar and Holland providing the off-key vocals and dancing, the two giving an impromptu concert, before Holland ordered pizza — using the team credit card.

...

He (later) joined the Lions as a strength and conditioning coach, an extension of a business he had already started: Holland Fitness & Performance. He trained CFLers and elite athletes of all sports, and takes credit for starting the focused training and seven-a-side leagues for kids in B.C.

When he left B.C. for Pleasanton in 2008, he left all his equipment to others who would assume the mantle; trainers like former CFLers Adam Braidwood, Will Loftus and Tommy Europe.

The coaching has never stopped with Jevon, nor his eldest son Jamirr and daughter Jada, both of whom are elite athletes in their own right. 

...

Holland has coached Jevon in football since age six, and can count potential impact draftees like Edmonton’s Chuba Hubbard, Ohio State quarterback Justin Fields and South Carolina cornerback Jaycee Horn among his clientele.

“Everybody’s journey is different,” said Robert. “I had a nice long professional career. I didn’t turn out to be a millionaire, the way these kids are nowadays, but I learned so much about playing, and then learned so much about being a coach, and then being a teacher.

The coaching appears to have paid off for Jevon. He was drafted 36th overall and was the first safety selected in the 2021.

Malachi Holt-Bennett Comes Home to Play for UAB

Catching up a bit on news from around the holidays. I've had plenty of fun reliving and/or learning about the pro football teams in the Birmingham but am becoming more and more of a fan of the university teams around the state in general and the city in particular. 

With that in mind, I need and want to learn more about some of the young men from Birmingham playing college ball, but am more interested in those doing so around town. We'll start today with Malachi Holt-Bennett returning home to play for UAB after transferring from Indiana.

Fairfield's Malachi Bennett (Dennis Victory | preps@al.com) from an August 8th, 2020, al.com article.

The following information is from a Crimson Quarry article following Holt-Bennett's decision to enter the transfer portal in early December.

Malachi Holt-Bennett joined Indiana in 2021 as a three-star recruit out of Fairfield, Alabama. He was the third highest-rated player in Tom Allen’s class of 2021, behind only Donaven McCulley and Jaquez Smith.

Holt-Bennett saw limited action in his first season with Indiana, but made that time count. His only reception of the season was a 29-yard touchdown catch in Indiana’s 35-14 loss to Minnesota.

In 2022, Holt-Bennett finished with six receptions for 90 yards, but did not find the end zone. He was seventh among wide receivers in yards this season, with five of the six players ahead of him currently set to return to Indiana next year.

Here's a detailed article from the February 4th, 2021, South Bend Tribune about Holt-Bennett's recruiting. I've trimmed some off but you can read the full version at this link. 

BLOOMINGTON — When Fairfield (Alabama) Prep coach Keon Handley outlines what Indiana is getting in the last piece of its 2021 recruiting class, receiver Malachi Bennett, he can’t help but think of what he’s giving up.

“This is a kid that, honestly, as a coach, if I didn’t have to share him with the world, I’d keep him until I retired,” Handley said.

Obviously, Bennett is talented. At 6-foot-2, nearly 190 pounds, he’s considered a four-star prospect by recruiting services. He’s so talented, Bennett took snaps with Fairfield High when he was in eighth grade. He was a receiver, but Handley moved him to quarterback as a freshman, just to get the ball in his hands more.

For sure, a versatile, long, athletic receiver with ball skills just committed to the Hoosiers on Tuesday, and he made things official Wednesday during national signing day. But Handley’s pride in Bennett goes beyond playmaking. Competing for an Alabama town that was ravaged by a tornado in 2017, Bennett has been a quintessential model citizen, becoming one of those beacons of light for a community in need of some positivity.

...

It’s been a long recruiting journey for Bennett. Again, he was anything but under the radar, and UAB — just an eight-minute drive from Fairfield’s campus — offered Bennett when he was a freshman. In August, Bennett shocked some prognosticators by initially choosing his hometown school over finalists that included Georgia, South Carolina, Louisville, and Ole Miss.

When Bennett decided to open things back up in November, the Hoosiers were able to make another pitch.

...

This is the Hoosiers continuing to build off their successes in 2020, which certainly affected Bennett’s decision-making process. IU has been on Handley’s radar, at least, since Jordan Howard transferred from UAB to the Hoosiers and made his way to the NFL. This past season just upped the program’s reputation.

Bennett, in return, brings an intriguing athletic background to the Hoosiers. His uncle is Earl Bennett, a former Vanderbilt receiver who played for the Chicago Bears from 2008-13. Along with his snaps under center and out wide, Bennett has also made plays as a defensive back for Fairfield. He had 29 tackles and two interceptions as a senior.

He has also starred on the hardwood for Fairfield. Bennett averaged better than 11 points and six rebounds per game for a state title team in 2020.

He is long, athletic, and fast. He has won with speed and in jump-ball situations. He is not necessarily a talker, but he will respond when shots are taken. He will block his chattiest adversaries until the whistle blows.

“He’s going to give you that million-dollar smile and laugh at you and let you know it’s going to be a long night,” Handley said. “If you really start talking to him, he’ll look back at you every time he catches the ball. He’ll let you know ‘You shouldn’t have woke me up. You shouldn’t have started this, because I’m going to finish it.’”

That combination of talent and character has made Bennett a foundational piece for Fairfield, beginning with those snaps at quarterback in 2017. He was slowed by a foot injury as a sophomore, but then he exploded for 45 catches, 821 yards and nine scores as a junior.

The pandemic set in during the spring, limiting Bennett’s ability to take official visits. But he still had his options, and Bennett initially picked UAB because of its family feel. Handley knows that kind of atmosphere was a priority for Bennett when his recruitment opened again in November.

And on December 21st, Malachi made it official on Twitter!

Cool stuff. Look forward to seeing him do his thing in the fall.