With training camp only a few weeks away, head coach Anthony Becht and the St. Louis Battlehawks will have to pivot quickly to find a new offensive coordinator. Bruce Gradkowski, who was set to enter his third year as the play-caller in St. Louis, was hired for a position on the staff of the Detroit Lions last week. The following are some available names Becht should consider in replacing Gradkowski.
Phil McGeoghan/Kyle Caskey
This would be the “promote from within” option, and given how little time there is between now and training camp, this might be the most practical solution. Both McGeoghan (wide receivers coach) and Caskey (running backs coach) have experience as position coaches at the NFL level and both are in their second season with the Battlehawks. Already having coached a year in Gradkowski’s system, they’d be the most equipped to continue that offense if that’s what Becht has in mind.
A complication with promoting Caskey is that he is also the special teams coordinator, so that would have to be reassigned to someone else on staff. Promoting from within would also allow Becht to hire another coach at a different position. They are currently without a quarterbacks coach, so that may be a spot to be filled if Caskey or McGeoghan get the job (assuming they continue in their position coach roles as well).
Keith Carter
Oftentimes in spring football, connections and who you know play a big part in assistants getting work. That would be the case here. Carter comes off a two-year stint as the offensive line coach and run game coordinator of the New York Jets. Becht, a former Jets first-round draft pick, remains close to the organization as a radio color commentator for their games. That familiarity would be especially important as Becht needs to hustle to get this hire in place by the time players report to training camp at the end of the month.
In addition to his time with the Jets, Carter has been an offensive line coach, tight ends coach, and running backs coach in college and the NFL. That range of responsibilities would serve him well as coordinator. This would be his first time calling plays.
Noah Pauley
To continue the “it’s who you know” theme, Pauley, the wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator at Iowa State, just happens to coach Becht’s son, Rocco, who is the quarterback for the Cyclones. Pauley interviewed for a position on the staff of the San Francisco 49ers, so it appears he may soon become a hot name in coaching circles. He’s also the only coach on this list currently employed with an NFL or major college team. Those facts make it unlikely he’d jump to the UFL. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t hurt for Becht to send feelers out to someone else with whom he may be familiar.
Dino Babers
Once a top coaching prospect, Babers led Syracuse to just two bowl games in eight seasons as its head coach. After being dismissed following the 2023 season, Babers landed at the University of Arizona, where he was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Arizona’s offense was 115th in the nation, which led Babers to not be invited back for a second year. This despite the Wildcats having one of the most dynamic offensive weapons in the country in WR Tetairoa McMillan, an expected first round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. So why is Babers here? He could look to rehab his coaching image in what should be a strong offensive team in St. Louis. As for connections: Battlehawks general manager Dave Boller was director of player personnel at Syracuse while Babers was head coach there.
Chad Hall
Hall would fit Becht’s preference for recent former NFL players joining him on the sidelines. Entering the league as an undrafted free agent, he spent time with four NFL teams before eventually transitioning to coaching. He began in Buffalo with the Bills, where he was a very popular figure on the staff of Sean McDermott, working with a talented group that helped make Josh Allen one of the top quarterbacks in the league.
Hall made the lateral move to Jacksonville in 2023. In 2024, first-round pick Brian Thomas, Jr. had the best rookie receiver season in franchise history under Hall’s tutelage. He was not asked to return when Pederson was fired by the Jaguars. Pederson runs a scheme based in West Coast principles, something that was a hallmark of Gradkowski’s offensive philosophy as well, so the offense wouldn’t have to change much. Hall could find work as an assistant receivers coach on a staff somewhere (or hold out hope he gets hired by Kellen Moore in New Orleans), but this would give him the opportunity to call plays for the first time.
Anthony Becht
Becht has made no secret of his desire to eventually work his way up the coaching ladder to the college or NFL ranks. While his head coach tenure has been as more of a CEO-type, Becht could get further into the weeds by calling plays. Who knows more about the system he helped Gradkowski craft than Becht himself? If Becht wants to keep that playbook in full, he’d bet the best guy to run it.
This would also aid in making Becht more attractive to potential suitors for his services. Adding play-calling duties will help pad out a coaching resume that is thin outside of his stint with the Battlehawks. This may not be a likely scenario, but I also wouldn’t rule it out.
2 Comments
by Mike Fields
What about AJ Maccarron?
by Ken Granito
Hi Greg, So glad to see you back in action and you have provided many good ideas with excellent deep drilling.
I look at this hire like I do buying a greeting card. When I buy a greeting card, I look at who am I buying the card for. I ask is it a really good card for exactly the right reason. Fun when it needs to be or deep when it’s a card with a deeper sentiment. When I find the right one, I just stop. So here is my concern. It is very clear to me, that I want to look at who am I buying the card for. I want to buy it for they city that is the best fan support with regards to the UFL. The city that provides a home field advantage. The city that has over 30k fans each game. To me that means I go for the best opportunity. This is not something that should be taken for granted or squeezed into a handful of coaches, because the team is more familiar with the verbiage. If you have a coach you know you want to move up, then you do that. If that were the case it would have been done by now. If you don’t then you get the best available. Please remember that this will be Anthony Becht’s 3rd season with the Battlehawks, but he only has 3 seasons experience coaching. He was hired with almost NO experience with coaching. To me you hire an offensive coordinator that knows how to run the ball and knows how to get playmakers that make plays. Someone that has the experience that Becht today lacks. Becht knows football and how it is supposed to be played. He knows what he wants to do when the a certain situation arises. However, he needs to be taught how to build an offense. You need to bring in someone who already has that down. Also you need to bring in someone that is adaptable to what you have around you and is a damn good teacher to teach the players as well as the coaching staff what it needs to do. It is also best that he brings in a coach with a lot of experience so he can pass that information to Becht. He needs to do all this. Bring in a REAL and TOUGH football team, but also needs to recognize what players give him an edge to use that to his advantage while playcalling. To me this guy is Mike Riley. The Battlehawks will be fun and a winner under Mike Riley. He will make all the players on the team better just by his coaching. He will help the younger quarterbacks get the ball into the teams playmakers taking quite a bit of stress off of them. That stated I would still let him sign a QB that he would like to. Remember he drafted Adrian Martinez with his first pick. If he did it with his 8th pick that would tell he was lucky, but when you do it with your top pick it tells me you see something no one else sees. Remember they had to relinquish a first round pick and he picked the LAST pick of the second round. That means every team had a chance to pick him twice and missed it. That is how good Mike Riley is. He will find one that works. Just trying to help the league with a no-brainer and save the best location the UFL has going for it. The league is excellent and we deserve the best we can get. Don’t explain to the fans of St. Louis they don’t deserve this, because they do.