San Antonio Brahmas: Navigating Early Season Challenges and Coaching Changes

If you thought the San Antonio Brahmas had questions after their week one performance, there is little doubt you feel there are even more questions that need to be answered after their week two loss to St. Louis. Adding to the team's chaotic season start, offensive coordinator AJ Smith has stepped away from the team. The official statement from Wade Phillips is that "AJ chose to move on from the team despite encouragement to remain with the team." (San Antonio Sports Star, n.d.) But since the team has only scored 9 points in each game this season, I can't help but speculate that the parting of ways may be more mutual than we are being led to believe.

Reports indicate an internal shift started in training camp, pushing the team to a more run-first offense. Greg Luca reported this week that "Phillips pushed for a switch to a run-first offense that leaned more heavily on tight ends rather than spreading the field with wide receivers" and that AJ was unsucessfull "in his bid to revert the heavy passing offense or give Jarrett Guarantano a shot at the starting quarterback job in place of Kellen Mond." (Luca, 2025)

Payton Pardee will assume the role of OC with AJ's departure. Pardee has an extensive football lineage; he is the grandson of former Houston Oilier head coach Jack Pardee, who was on the Staff of the Houston Gamblers in 1984 and 1985. Payton Pardee has been with Wade Phillips for both seasons as the Brahmas' wide receiver and special teams' coach. The connection between the Pardee and Phillips coaching tree goes back to when Wade's father, Bum Phillips, coached Jack Pardee at Texas A&M during the Paul "Bear Bryant" days. Time will tell whether or not the Brahmas' passing game can take a step forward under Pardee's leadership as the offensive coordinator.

Week three of the UFL's second season has the Brahmas traveling to Detroit, Michigan, to face the 1-1 Panthers. The Panthers beat the Memphis Showboats to start the season but took a step back in week two, falling to the Stallions. The Panthers are experiencing their controversy going into week three with the trade of their perceived WR 1 Marcus Simms to the Houston Roughnecks for offensive tackle Cam Carter and the loss of their best D-Line man, Breeland Speaks, who was placed on the injured reserve list. Speaks will miss at least five weeks of a ten-week season since that is the minimum game requirement once placed on the injured reserve list.

And if that is not enough controversy for UFL fans, Football Scope reported this week that Greg Williams has "left the D.C. Defenders to pursue his role as the Defensive coordinator for recently departed head coach Reggie Barlow at Tennessee State University. Greg Williams was initially slated to stay as D.C.'s Defensive coordinator through the remainder of the 2025 season, but the timeline was moved up." (Brice, 2025) For a league with only eight teams, controversy and coaching changes feel equivalent to those of a thirty-two-team NFL but without the billion-dollar budgets.

Moving on to the Brahmas' matchup with the Panthers, besides having a new offensive play-caller, one of the first problems the Brahmas defense will need to answer is how to pressure the quarterback. Perkins has accounted for a touchdown in each game to start the season and has shown the ability to scramble when the play breaks down. On the surface, one might think the Panthers have all the advantages on the offensive side of the ball, but Brahmas fans may be surprised to know the stats show their offense has outperformed the Panthers so far this season in some key areas. The Brahmas rushing attack ranked higher than the Panthers in total yards, rushing TD's and even more surprisingly the Brahmas lead the league in average yard per rush at 5.6 yards.

(The UFL, 2025)

With the expected new focus on the run game going into week three and the shift in play-calling duties at first glance, it would be easy to conclude that the Brahmas' running game will be more prolific. But in this case, the Brahmas run game versus the Panthers' run defense may be a strength-on-strength matchup because the Panthers give up a league-leading 2.8 yards per rush.

Regardless of the matchup, there is one undoubted stat: In a league with a ten-week season, a 0-3 start would severely impact the Brahmas' chances at a successful season. The team will need to improve their passing game and overall defense if they hope to be a .500 team when they finally get to play their first home game of the year against the Houston Roughnecks on April 27, 2025.

References:ferences

Brice, J. (2025, April 9). Retrieved from Footballscoop: https://footballscoop.com/2025/04/09/infamous-nfl-defensive-coordinator-begins-college-coaching-gig-gregg-williams

Luca, G. (2025, April 10). San Antonio Brahmas OC AJ Smith resigns due to disagreement about the offensive system. Retrieved from San Antonio Express News: https://www.expressnews.com/sports/article/san-antonio-brahmas-oc-aj-smith-resigns-20268051.php

San Antonio Sports Star. (n.d.). The Blitz With Jason & Joe. Retrieved from 94.1 San Antonio's Sports Star: https://www.sasportsstar.com/

The UFL. (2025). UFL. Retrieved from UFL: https://www.theufl.com/

References