St. Louis Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht recognizes the juice in his squad

St. Louis Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht’s immediate concern is finalizing roster cuts to get down to 50 players.

“We’ll get into our final cuts here tomorrow (Friday) morning to get our roster down to 50,” Becht said. “I feel really good about what we have right now – relatively healthy across the board. We have some new faces that we’re really excited about for this team.”

Becht was positive about his squad, remarking on the “juice level” in training camp.

“I’m very NFL centric as far as how we run training camp, but I’m also aware of how can I keep the juice and energy with my team every day during camp,” Becht explained. “The biggest thing is understanding the difference between when you need to push your guys and when they need to push through… I don’t want to run 30 seven on seven pass routes and now every DB and wide receiver has sore hamstrings the next day.”

“The one thing that I’ve seen this year is we have a lot of juice every day in practice,” Becht said. “To me that’s a good happy balance, but when we work, we work… Guys feel good, guys feel energized. I mean, I was really excited about how the juice was every day in practice.”

After cuts, Becht and his other coaches will begin to look at details to prepare for their first game against the Michigan Panthers.

“They play hard on defense, and that’s their mentality. We respect that,” Becht said. “We look across the league and when we see some of these newer teams and what they’re built on, there’s a lot of toughness and physicality in the trenches. That being said, we take a lot of pride on what we do in the trenches as well. So it’s an excellent matchup for us.”

“Anytime you’re on the road in an opener, as we had to do last year when we had a slow start against San Antonio… you want those things to come together a little quicker on the road against an opponent,” Becht said.

Becht remarked on the new UFL rules and mainly pointed out how he is good with this years rule book. Becht admitted when he joined the XFL he was not immediately in favor of the kickoff, but he grew to appreciate the fact there was a zone where guys weren’t colliding. With the UFL adopting a more traditional kickoff, Becht felt it was the right decision.

“I do understand why the league may want the traditional way just because the NFL still does it. They want to keep it close,” Becht said.

However, Becht went on to explain that he had some suggestions for the rulebook in the future, such as the coach receiving another challenge if their initial challenge is effective, and a receiver only requiring one foot inbounds on a reception, instead of two.

“I’m totally for the explanation that ‘the NFL does it,’ and this is where our guys want to be. But, I look at it a little differently. I think about the entertainment value, I think about what the fans want to see if my guy can make a one handed catch in the back of the endzone and he taps one toe down,” Becht said. “I mean, hell, let’s make that a touchdown.”

The St. Louis Battlehawks travel to Detroit to meet the Michigan Panthers on Saturday, March 30, 2024, at 4:00 PM (ET) FOX.