There isn’t a head coach in the UFL who has shown more passion for the league than St. Louis Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht has in the past two years.
Becht spoke on Iowa Everywhere’s show “The CW Pod” on Tuesday and discussed his experience in the UFL, noting that his passion doesn’t match what other coaches feel in the league.
“I’m the one guy that’s probably out of all of the head coaches in our league who is striving for greatness and trying to excel in this platform,” Becht said. “Because, you know Stoops, great mentor to me, great friend to me and he’s helping me, but he’s done, right? Like Ken Whisenhunt has been brought on, he’s done like he’s doing his thing. Wade Phillips, he’s done.”
“I am emotionally attached to this personnel-wise. I’m on it,” he continued. “Like every day, me and my GM, we don’t do anything without each other full on it. Stoops and these guys aren’t looking at personal. Go make our team I’ll show up and coach. Like I’m trying to win now, and I gotta be a part of that because if I’m not a part if it and I lean on somebody else that’s doing it and we lose, then I’m gonna have regrets. If I lose and I fail it’s because of me and I’m a part of it, I can live with that.”
“I’m emotionally attached to this personnel-wise, I’m on it. Me and my GM we don’t do anything without each other”
St Louis Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht talks about how personally invested he is in building this Battlehawks team.
(🎥 Via @IowaEverywhere /YT) pic.twitter.com/EdUh6uQWlU
— United Football Media (@The_UFM) October 22, 2024
Becht’s journey into spring football is well known as he reached out to everyone from the original and 2.0 XFL to get his foot in the door. He eventually landed the St. Louis Battlehawks job, receiving praise for his first year as the head coach with a 7-3 overall record in 2023.
After narrowly missing the playoffs, no one had doubts that Becht and the Battlehawks would survive the merger and become a part of the UFL. His team once again finished 7-3 and won the XFL Conference regular-season title before losing to the San Antonio Brahmas in the playoffs.
Stability has been key to the success of the team. Becht and his general manager Dave Boller have done a great job finding and retaining talent. Having veteran players like quarterback A.J. McCarron and wide receiver Hakeem Butler has kept the ship afloat for two seasons.
The point of Becht’s argument is that coaches like Stoops, Phillips and Whisenhunt have won on the biggest stage. For Becht, it’s about giving him his moment to win it all. That’s the kind of passion and competitiveness the league is looking for in its coaches.
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