Alliance Birmingham: New league to build on geographic college affiliations

When Alliance Birmingham takes the field next February, it is sure to have several former Alabama football players, along with players from other colleges in the area.

The new football league, the Alliance of American Football, has what appears to be a sound structure. Alliance Birmingham and all the other teams are owned by a well-funded league. The league already has a TV deal and most of the eight head coaches are high-profile guys.

For future Alliance Birmingham fans, the GM may actually be better known than the head coach. The team has a respected head coach, with many seasons of NFL experience, in Tim Lewis. However, Lewis does not have the profile of previously being a head coach. The Alliance Birmingham’s recently announced GM, Joe Pendry is better known by football fans in Alabama. Pendry came to Tuscaloosa with Nick Saban and was the offensive line coach until 2011. He continued to work in Tide football administration until a few weeks ago.

Pendry spent 41 seasons coaching football and he knows how to build rosters. In a smart move, the new league has copied the regional player concept used by the USFL in the 1980’s. Each of the eight teams will have players allocated to them from colleges close to the team city.

Alliance Birmingham will have familiar players

All of the Alabama colleges, including Alabama and Auburn are assigned to Alliance Birmingham. Since the new league does not have east coast teams, Alliance Birmingham can also draw from former Maryland, North Carolina State and South Carolina players. To the west, Mississippi State, Lousiana Tech and Missouri players are allocated to Birmingham.

Alabama and Auburn football fans may have some difficulty rooting for former foes, but the allocation system will generate fan interest. The Birmingham team will compete against Atlanta, Memphis and Orlando teams that will be staffed by familiar players. The top allocation schools for Atlanta are Georgia, Georgia Tech and Clemson.  For Orlando, they are Florida, Florida State and Miami. Memphis has Tennessee, LSU and Ole Miss. Established college rivalries will drive fan excitement in the new league.

Player Allocation through NFL and CFL

Each team may also draw from players who have been affiliated with professional teams. Alliance Birmingham is assigned the Patriots, Bills, Browns and Steelers. along with CFL players from Montreal and Ottawa. If the new league’s 75-player rosters are not filled through the allocation process, other players can be added to rosters.

Player Compensation

The league will contract players for three years for a total base compensation of $250,000. There is a bonus structure for additional compensation. The contracts are not guaranteed but after playing a full season, players will be eligible for health insurance. The league will also provide scholarship funds after one season for players to return to college classes.

So next February, Alliance Birmingham could have Blake Sims or Jake Coker at QB, Trent Richardson at RB and a number of former Alabama football players who don’t survive this season’s NFL final roster cuts. Hopefully, the remaining roster will not be too tainted with former Auburn Tigers.

Next: NFL Training Camps to have 61 former Crimson Tiders

Uniform colors could be tricky for teams in the new league. Crimson, blue and orange are probably off the table for the Birmingham team.