Birmingham Stallions - 1983 Season

1983 Season

The Stallions scrambled to put a roster together after training camp and signed or claimed approximately 20 players via trades or waivers in the week prior to their first game. However, Dotsch managed to mold them into a fairly competitive team that finished 9-9.

Although the team made a splash in signing their first-round draft pick, quarterback Reggie Collier out of Southern Mississippi, the remainder of the Stallions consisted of mostly unsung former NFL reserves and college free agents.

One of the few the pro veterans signed center Tom Banks (a Birmingham native), who spent ten seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. Banks played 116 NFL games (starting 63) while with the Cardinals and was brought in by coach Rollie Dotsch to serve as a mentor to a very young club. Banks eventually retired after the 1984 Stallions' season and became an assistant coach on the Birmingham staff in 1985.

Other NFL veterans who signed with the Stallions included former Kansas City Chief RB Earl Gant (2 years, 20 games with the Chiefs), RB Ken Talton (1 year, 2 games with the Lions), WR/KR Kevin Miller (3 years, 20 games with the Vikings), TE Steve Stephens (1 year, 16 games with the Jets), OT Robert Woods (8 years, 99 games with the Jets and Saints), OG Buddy Aydelette (1 year, 9 games with the Packers), DE Mike Raines (7 years, 104 games with the CFL Ottawa Rough Riders), DE Reggie Lewis (2 years, 22 games with the Buccaneers), LB Dallas Hickman (6 years, 91 games with the Redskins), CB Mike Thomas (6 years, 77 games with the Redskins and Chargers) and SS Billy Cesare (5 years, 46 games with the Buccaneers, Dolphins and Lions),

The Stallions had some success in signing several of their 1983 draft picks to go along with Collier. Guard Pat Saindon (8th round, Vanderbilt), nose tackle Charles Martin (15th round, Livingston College) and reserve guard Mike Turner (16th round, Louisiana State). They also signed two key territorial draft selections in defensive end Jackie Cline from Alabama and offensive tackle Pat Phenix from Ole' Miss.

The Stallions also signed a rookie free agent named Scott Norwood who would later be infamous as the Buffalo Bills kicker who missed a field goal in the dying minutes of the Super Bowl in 1990.

After dropping their opening game on a Monday night (9-7, at home to the Michigan Panthers) the Stallions rebounded on the road the following week with a 20-14 overtime victory in Oakland against the Invaders to record their first franchise win.

However, the Stallions struggled out of the gate with a 2-5 record as Coach Rollie Dotsch and his staff put a patchwork, blue-collar, run-oriented club together.

Prior to the Stallions' sixth game of the season, former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Jim Smith (6 years, 73 games with the Steelers) was signed by Dotsch to add some punch to a listless receiving corps. Smith did not disappoint as his arrival helped the offense almost immediately. Dotsch was very familiar with Smith as they were members of two Super Bowl Championship clubs in the Steel City.

The turning point in the season, however, was during a home game in Week #8 (Sunday, April 24) against the Oakland Invaders when backup quarterback Bobby Lane took the reins of the Stallions offense from Collier, who struggled with injuries and inconsistency.

Lane's heroics won the game vs. Oakland and the Stallions went onto win four subsequent games that improved their record to a 7–5 mark. However, the club managed to only win two of their last six games to finish with a 9-9 mark and a fourth-place finish in the Central Division.

All four teams in the USFL Central Division in 1983 were at .500 or above (Michigan 12-6, Chicago 12-6 and Tampa Bay 11-7 all recorded strong campaigns).

The biggest game of the 1983 season for the Stallions came in Week #11 on a Saturday night (May 14, 1983) when they defeated the visiting Los Angeles Express, 35–20, in front of the largest crowd of the year at Legion Field (42,212). The crowd featured over 20,000 people from the families of local steel and Iron workers unions.

The following week, the Stallions went on the road and defeated the eventual USFL Champion Michigan Panthers, 23-20 at the Pontiac Silverdome. The game was highlighted by a disputed touchdown late in the game when a Michigan defender intercepted a ball in the end zone, spiked the ball and had it recovered by a Stallions' player before the play was blown dead.

Birmingham finished the season as the top rushing club in the USFL with 3,017 yards on 701 carries, however, the Stallions ranked 11th in the 12-team loop with 2,999 yards passing.

Late in the season, the club also announced the signing of former Buffalo Bills running back Joe Cribbs, who would join the club at the start of the 1984 season. Cribbs, who played his college ball locally for the Auburn Tigers, signed a three-year contract with the Stallions.