BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS ANNOUNCE 2025 COACHING STAFF
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FEBRUARY 13, 2025 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
By Jesse Kelley
The Birmingham Stallions announced last Thursday that General Manager Paul Roell, Defensive Line Coach Ron Burton and Assistant Defensive Backs Coach Wes Smith will be the final additions to the coaching staff for the 2025 season. One of the more notable hires of the offseason is new GM Paul Roell, who will become the franchise’s third general manager. Roell will replace Zach Potter who held the position for the last two seasons while Skip Holtz assumed general manager duties during the inaugural season in 2022.
Roell will oversee the day-to-day operations, transactions and signings of the entire organization as the quest for four-straight league titles and back-to-back UFL Championships will begin on March 30 against the D.C. Defenders. Roell comes to the Magic City after most recently serving as a member of the college scouting staff of the USFL before the league’s merger with the XFL prior to the start of the 2024 season. Before Roell’s transition into spring football, he served as a member of the scouting staff for the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile. Prior to his tenure with the Senior Bowl, Roell served as the Assistant Director for college scouting for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2013-2020. During that span, the Jags claimed the 2017 AFC South title and made an AFC Championship Game appearance during that same campaign. Before that, Roell spent seven seasons (2006-2012) in Minneapolis as a regional scout for the Minnesota Vikings that saw the organization reach the playoffs on three separate occasions, including back-to-back NFC North titles in 2008 and 2009 and a trip to the NFC Championship Game. Roell’s longest stop in the NFL came from 1991-2005 as an area scout for the Indianapolis Colts. During Roell’s tenure in Indy, the Colts claimed four division championships and eight playoff appearances. Roell was a member of the Colts’ organization in 1998 when the franchise selected Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning with the first overall pick in the NFL Draft.
The remainder of the coaching staff will return from last season, with Corey Chamblin (DC/DB), Mike Jones (WR), Dave DeGuglielmo (OL), Chris Bonoi (ST), Daric Riley (LB) and Philip Montgomery (Co-OC/RB/TE) all being retained to the staff for the upcoming season.
“We’re stronger than ever,” said head coach of the Birmingham Stallions Skip Holtz. “We have new faces with strong backgrounds and passion that will add value to our already seasoned staff. We have our sights set on a very productive pre-season as we look toward building toward that first game on Sunday, March 30 in D.C.”
One of the new faces on the defensive side of the ball is Ron Burton. Burton will lead the defensive line for the Stallions and brings over 30 years of coaching experience to the table. Burton’s most previous coaching stop was as defensive line coach for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane of the American Athletic Conference. Other prior coaching experience include time at Grand Valley State, Air Force, Michigan State and Miami (OH). During his playing days, Burton was a stand-out linebacker at North Carolina in the 1980s, which led him to becoming a four-year NFL veteran for the Dallas Cowboys, Phoenix Cardinals and the Los Angeles Raiders. Once his NFL career came to a close, Burton made the return to Chapel Hill as a graduate assistant in 1992, which led to his first full-time coaching position at Morehead State in 1994. Burton’s two other coaching opportunities came at Eastern Michigan and Indiana, as the linebackers coach for both the Eagles and Hoosiers.
Rounding out the new hires is Wes Smith, who will serve as the assistant defensive backs coach for the Stallions this season. Smith spent time as a student-athlete on both the baseball and football teams while enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His first coaching position coming out of college was as a graduate assistant at Missouri Baptist University. While at MBU, Smith served as the team’s defensive line coach and assisted in recruiting and video operations. After a brief stint coaching in Boone, N.C. at Appalachian State, Smith returned to his alma mater to coach for two seasons with the Charlotte 49ers. The state of Alabama and the city of Birmingham will be no stranger to Smith and his family, as he was an assistant coach for Bill Clark and the UAB Blazers in 2020 and 2021. His two prior stops before making the return to Birmingham in 2025 include Wake Forest and Albany State, where he worked with the safeties and the defensive line, respectively.