Stallions Spotlight: DEON CAIN
Photo courtesy of Heather Jeffcoat
MARCH 10, 2025 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA
By Jesse Kelley
Our next Stallions Spotlight is with star wideout Deon Cain. A native of Tampa, Florida, Cain attended Tampa Bay Technical High School, where he played quarterback for most of his prep career. As a senior in 2014, the five-star recruit had 1,892 rushing yards, 19 touchdowns and five passing touchdowns. His standout senior season earned him the chance to be named a second-team All-American by USA Today and a member of the 7A first-team all-state in the talent-rich state of Florida. Coached by Jayson Roberts at TBT, Cain participated in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl, where he had a 54-yard passing touchdown and a 50-yard receiving score in the game. The consensus top-50 national player elected to spend his college years at Clemson University from 2015 to 2017. In Cain’s three years with Clemson, the Tigers totaled a record of 40-4, the 2016 National Championship and three ACC Championships. In his three seasons playing for Offensive Coordinator Jeff Scott, Cain logged playing time in 42 career games, hauled in 130 receptions for 2,040 yards and had 20 touchdowns.
Cain elected to forgo his senior season and entered his name in the 2018 NFL Draft. The Indianapolis Colts selected him with the 185th overall pick in the sixth draft round. Cain missed his rookie season due to an ACL injury in the Colts’ first preseason game and spent the rest of the year on the injured reserve. He would debut professionally the following season in Week 1 of 2019 against the Los Angeles Chargers. In his first-ever NFL game, Cain had a pair of receptions that went for 35 total yards. On November 9 of that same season, the Colts waived Cain, and he was later signed to the practice squad for the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he spent the rest of the 2019 and the entire 2020 season. Cain spent most of his time in the Steel City on the practice squad and played in six games for the Steelers, where he caught five total passes for 72 yards. Once his practice squad contract expired at the end of the season, fellow AFC North member, the Baltimore Ravens, agreed to a reserve/future contract with Cain. Still, he was released a few weeks before the start of the 2021 season after being placed on the team’s injured reserve.
Before signing with the Birmingham Stallions in March 2023, Cain spent most of the next two seasons off and on the practice squad for the Philadelphia Eagles. As far as his tenure in Birmingham goes, Cain has already impacted Stallions fans nationwide, mainly in his three-touchdown performance in the 2023 USFL Championship Game against the Pittsburgh Maulers. Cain took home MVP honors and had his contract terminated a few days later, on July 10, so an NFL team could have the option to sign him. After an additional brief stint with the Eagles, Cain re-signed with the Stallions on November 30, 2023. He was instrumental in the Stallions’ run to winning the inaugural UFL Championship a season ago. He played in all 12 games for the Stallions last season, hauling in 37 receptions for 461 yards and three touchdowns. Cain re-signed in early February with the Stallions after spending the 2024 NFL season on the practice squads for the Buffalo Bills and the Carolina Panthers. Now, learn a little bit more about Deon Cain.
What is the overall mentality for the offensive unit this season?
“We just want to go out and create our own. With the background of the Stallions, the past couple of years of winning multiple championships in a row, as we all know, this is a new year. This team right now hasn’t accomplished anything, so we want to create the belief that this group of guys can go out there and win another championship. We put ourselves out there and can execute more than our competitors every week.”
Where have you seen the most growth in your offseason training?
“I have been trying to focus on staying consistent. This is my third year of playing in this offense and every year; I try to work on different things that will make me better. Now that I am extremely comfortable with this offense, I want to be more consistent in how I play, block, and run my routes, and my talent will take care of everything else.”
The entire league will do whatever it takes to ensure the Stallions do not win another title this season. How do you develop and then maintain a chip on your shoulder after three seasons of so much success?
“Just going to work every single day. The only thing we can control is what we can control, and it goes back to going to practice every single day with our best foot forward and doing what we need to do to improve as an entire team. This is a complete team effort; we can’t accomplish what we need to accomplish with a bunch of individuals, and that’s the biggest thing Coach Holtz preaches to us, which is to become a team. Once we become one unit, we can play for each other, and once we can play for each other, we can go out there and execute and win.”
What will fans see when the 2025 version of the Stallions takes the field?
“You are surely going to see a lot of passion. From the two weeks I have been around the guys, I can see how much our team loves to play football. Our group is hungry for the opportunity to play for the Stallions with our winning culture, and we know that we are the alpha dogs of the league and will carry that chip on our shoulders all year. We want to go out there each week and put on a great show for our fans and our entire team.”
What needs to happen from the start of training camp to the first game on March 30 to get the team in the right mental and physical state?
“We just have to show up daily with a workmen-like attitude and control what we need to control. We know that we will not get everything done in one individual practice, and that is why we need to make sure that we come to work every day to get better and continue to push forward. This team has the talent; we must come to work every day and continue to put our best foot forward.”
What did you learn during your career at Clemson that you still hold with you today?
“I was truly blessed to be part of the Clemson program and learned how to work and compete with others. When you are on one of the best teams in the country, you will be competing against some of the best athletes and players day in and day out on the practice field. Playing there really showed me what kind of attitude to have every day at practice, and if you call yourself a competitor, then you better be ready when your name is called to go up against one of the best. Surrounding yourself in an environment with so much competition truly believe that it brings the best out of you, and when you have a coach who is so used to winning, he instills things that help you out on the football field and in life, too. That could be raising a family or anything like that. I hope to bring that same mindset to all that I do in my life.”
What’s your hope for this next year?
“I hope to win every game we play. We must take it one game at a time and continue that throughout the season.”
What is it like to be coached by Coach Mike Jones?
“Coach Jones is my guy. He is a calm, cool, collective competitor; he wants to see us win and maximize our potential. Undoubtedly, he will challenge you, but he is one of the best wide receiver coaches I have had the privilege of playing for. He has a great relationship with all his players and is a great teacher of the game and is always in constant communication with us. Coach Jones challenges us always to respond and always gives us the right amounts of positive and negative feedback.”
What is it like to be coached by Coach Skip Holtz?
“Coach Holtz is different, but he is a winner. He will constantly preach the tools and characteristics of a winning culture. Playing for him these past two seasons has been a tremendous blessing. To see how he can bring guys from all over the world together and get them to play as one is not an easy task, but Coach Holtz makes it look easy because of how he operates. It has been such a nice journey to play for him, and the numbers speak for themselves for his career record at the collegiate level and now coaching professionally. I am blessed to be a part of his teams.”