For St. Louis Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht, the 2024 UFL training camp in Arlington has presented him with a problem that every head coach would love to have: He has a plethora of talent in camp.
“It’s been great, you know, just a lot of competition,” Becht said.
Speaking specifically about receivers and running backs in the Battlehawks camp, Becht sketched out a scenario where the talent pool was impressing him every day.
“Stevie Mitchell’s having a good camp. Jamarcus Bradley… people forget he was one of our top draft picks last year, and he didn’t come on board as he went with the NFL through a futures deal. So, he’s actually back… guys are going out there and competing. I really feel good about where we are.”
“We got some young, talented running backs, and then we have a veteran who’s really good. So, you know, Kevon Latulas, Mataeo Durant, Jacob Saytors, and Wayne Gallman. These guys are getting the reps and are getting their opportunities,” Becht said.
Of course, one of the goals of training camp is to work out the players while also attempting to avoid injuries. But when the injury comes to one of your star receivers, the risk is real.
“We’re trying to get guys prepared for the season,” Becht explained. “We did have an injury, or a few injuries, but the major one was Jahcour Pearson.”
Becht revealed that Pearson had a knee injury and would go on the injured reserve list for at least six weeks, which was the maximum time as dictated by the UFL’s IR process. But Becht was not too bothered by the situation—something that he could put down as a routine occurrence.
“We’ll hope to get him back as soon as possible. I think the good thing about the receiver room, though, it’s very strong, we have a lot of good players,” Becht said. “He’s going to rehab, and he’ll get back with us as soon as he can.”
Becht was looking forward to a scrimmage with the Stallions at 10AM Central on Sunday, which would take place on the same day UFL teams were asked to cut down their training camp rosters from 75 to 58.
“We are having a scrimmage on Sunday versus the Birmingham Stallions,” Becht explained. “We’ll go somewhat through a game day operation from a first quarter standpoint, and then we’ll work some situational stuff throughout that practice.”
Becht also indicated they would use that practice to take final looks at some of the players they needed to cut as they shrank the roster by Sunday evening.
“A lot of tough calls to make,” Becht said. “You know it’s going to be tough to have some guys go back home, but they will be the first ones back if we ever need to call them back.”
As for the scrimmage with the Stallions, it allows Becht’s coaching staff to take a closer look at how the former USFL team operates. But how important is it for the Battlehawks to scout teams they never faced in 2023?
“Obviously, we have film from the last two seasons with their league, we do have access to that stuff,” Becht said. “There are some changes in coordinators on offense and defense for some of those teams. Once we get through some of this grinding of training camp, we’ll start diving into what those teams are doing.”
It is all part of putting together as many wins as possible in a short 10-game season where only the top two teams make it into the playoff round, something that still stings for the St. Louis squad after being left out last season. In the remaining training camp, Becht will focus on that point.
“We’ll have three full weeks with 58 players starting on Sunday night, and that’ll give us a chance to kind of hone in on what we’re trying to be from an identity standpoint on both sides of the ball,” Becht pointed out. “Who are our core players that we’re really going to lean on into the season? And then, okay, what does our game plan look like? So, we can start attacking week one and week two of the season.”
Clearly, Becht is being proactive, as he knows how important a fast start is to the team’s fortunes.
“We’ve got to start fast. I think that’s the biggest thing this year,” Becht said. “We started on the road last year. And, you know, it really didn’t start as fast as we wanted to. I think the goal right now is that when we come back home, we want to be in control of the game.”
In addition, head coach Anthony Becht is always thinking about the home fans, a boisterous group who, in the past, he has begged to come to The Dome and “fill it to the top.”
“Our goal is to win them all at home, and hopefully on the road as well. But we definitely want to make sure we do it in front of our fan base,” Becht said.
