Former New York Giants assistant Anthony Blevins is back on a football sideline, joining the coaching staff of the UFL’s Birmingham Stallions.
Blevins’ hire comes after defensive coordinator John Chavis left the team due to an illness.
“Talking to Skip (Holtz), talking to Corey (Chamblin), they were like, ‘Something might come up here in a week, few weeks. Don’t want to expand on it right now, but we may have a spot open,'” Blevins told The Banner. “They pretty much asked if I would be interested if something became available. I was like, ‘Yeah, just call me. As long as the league is okay with it, I’m all for it.’ I’m still on the payroll from the league. They’re still paying me from when I signed my contract. It was an easy transition in that way. I’m locally here in Dallas, so it was really kind of easy. It was kind of a plug-and-play type deal.”
Blevins was previously hired as head coach of the XFL’s Vegas Vipers but the team was disbanded following a merger between the XFL and USFL.
“It definitely makes it exciting, just being able to get back on the grass again,” Blevins said. “I haven’t coached in a football game in over a year. It’s motivating, it’s fun. Any time you get a chance to chase a championship it’s fun. Some of the most exciting times when I coached in the (NFL) was the years we went to the playoffs. Those are great opportunities. When you do it with great people that makes it that much more special. To put it in perspective, there are guys who played in the (NFL) 10 years that don’t even get to the playoffs. When you get a chance to play for the championship, it makes it special. Then try to help bring another championship to my home city, it’s pretty special in itself.”
The Stallions will host the Michigan Panthers in the USFL Conference Championship on Saturday.
Then-Giants head coach Pat Shurmur hired the 47-year-old Blevins to be the team’s assistant special teams coach in 2018, a position he held for two seasons.
In 2020, under head coach Joe Judge, Blevins was shifted over to the defensive side of the ball as the assistant defensive backs coach. The next year, he was given the added responsibility as the assistant special team coordinator.
When Brian Daboll took over the reins as head coach, he kept Blevins on as the special teams assistant but also made him an assistant linebackers coach until Blevins departed in July of 2023.
Before coming to the Giants, Blevins, who is nicknamed “Doc Blev,” coached five seasons for the Arizona Cardinals as their assistant special teams coordinator.
