Birmingham Thunderbolts

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Birmingham Thunderbolts
Birmingham thunderbolts logo.png
Established2001
Folded2001;24 years ago (2001)
Based in Birmingham, Alabama
Home stadium Legion Field
Head coach Gerry DiNardo
General managerTim Berryman
Owner(s) World Wrestling Federation
League XFL
DivisionEastern
ColorsPurple, yellow, silver [1]
   
Nickname(s)Bolts
League titles0
Division titles0

The Birmingham Thunderbolts were a short-lived springtime American football team based in Birmingham, Alabama. This team was part of the failed XFL begun by Vince McMahon of World Wrestling Entertainment and by NBC, a major television network in the United States.

Contents

Opening Season

The Thunderbolts played in the Eastern Division, with the Chicago Enforcers, Orlando Rage and the New York/New Jersey Hitmen. They finished the only year of XFL play  2001  in last place with the worst record in the league, at 2-8.

The Thunderbolts played their home games at Birmingham's legendary Legion Field. They were coached by Brooklyn-native Gerry DiNardo , a former star player at the University of Notre Dame, and previously head coach at Vanderbilt University and Louisiana State University. Following the collapse of the XFL, he went on to coach at Indiana University. One of DiNardo's assistants with the Thunderbolts was his predecessor at LSU, Curley Hallman, who was Brett Favre's head coach for three seasons at the University of Southern Mississippi. Hallman also coached at Legion Field with the Alabama Crimson Tide during two stints as an assistant under Bear Bryant, Gene Stallings and Mike DuBose.

The team's colors were purple, yellow, and white. Their logo was a stylized 'B' with six lightning bolts extending from it. On the teams helmets, the logo was placed at the front, instead of the customary position on each side, with only the upper three lightning bolts visible. The team was frequently referred to by fans and the media as simply the Bolts. Team merchandise almost always used the shortened Bolts moniker.

Allegedly, the league had originally planned to name the team the Blast; the XFL had named all of its teams with references to insanity and criminal activity, and the name "Birmingham Blast" likewise invoked images of the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church and of Eric Rudolph's 1998 bombing of a local abortion clinic, two tragic events in Birmingham history. As the league soon realized that such a name would have been in extremely poor taste, at the last minute the league changed it to "Thunderbolts," or "Bolts" for short. The team's logo is said to be the same one originally designed for the Blast. The Thunderbolts were unusual in that their nickname was benign.

While XFL players were encouraged to use nicknames instead of their last names on the backs of their jerseys, DiNardo, who earned a reputation as a strict disciplinarian during his college coaching stops, banned Thunderbolts players from doing so.

After losing the opening game to the Memphis Maniax, the Thunderbolts posted wins over the Chicago Enforcers and the New York/New Jersey Hitmen. These would ultimately become the only victories the Thunderbolts would ever see. The Bolts would finish with a 2-8 record.

Birmingham went through all 3 quarterbacks during the season. Former Florida State quarterback Casey Weldon was signed as the starter. Former University of Alabama quarterback Jay Barker was signed as the backup, despite the crowds (averaging only 17,000 fans a game, second-lowest in the league) chanting his name during the home games. Barker (who became much more famous when he married country singing star Sara Evans in 2007) would become the starter after Weldon injured his shoulder. Barker suffered a concussion in Chicago when he collided with Enforcers' cornerback Ray Austin while attempting a bootleg run on a broken play. He was replaced by third string QB Graham Leigh.

NBC dropped the XFL after the first (2001) season due to dismal ratings, and the league was disbanded shortly thereafter.

Season-by-season

Season records
SeasonWLTFinishPlayoff results
20012804th EasternOut of playoffs

Schedule

Regular season

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenue
1February 4 Memphis Maniax L 20–220–1 Legion Field
2February 11at New York/New Jersey Hitmen W 19–121–1 Giants Stadium
3February 18 Chicago Enforcers W 14–32–1Legion Field
4February 24at Orlando Rage L 6–302–2 Florida Citrus Bowl
5March 3at San Francisco Demons L 10–392–3 Pacific Bell Park
6March 11 Los Angeles Xtreme L 26–352–4Legion Field
7March 17at Las Vegas Outlaws L 12–342–5 Sam Boyd Stadium
8March 25at Chicago EnforcersL 0–132–6 Soldier Field
9March 31Orlando RageL 24–292–7Legion Field
10April 8New York/New Jersey HitmenL 0–222–8Legion Field

Personnel

Staff

2001 Birmingham Thunderbolts staff
Front office
  • Vice president/general manager – Tim Berryman
  • Director of player personnel – Bob Gates

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches
  • Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs – Curley Hallman
  • Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line – Don Wnek
  • Linebackers – Paul Arslanian
  • Personal Coach John Guimond
  • Defensive assistant – Woodrow Lowe, Jr.

[2]

Roster

2001 Birmingham Thunderbolts roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

  • 90 Jarett Loggins DT
  • 98 Cedric Pittman DE
  • 58 Charles Preston DE
  • 95 Quinton Reese DE
Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
, 5 practice squad

Standings

Eastern Division
TeamWLTPCTPFPASTK
Orlando Rage 820.800207162L1
Chicago Enforcers 550.500163178W1
New York/New Jersey Hitmen 460.400110145W1
Birmingham Thunderbolts 280.200131217L7

[3]

Birmingham Thunderbolts players

Post-XFL developments

After the league folded, head coach Gerry DiNardo joined the staff of Birmingham sports talk radio station WJOX 690, as did Jay Barker, who also did sports commentary on local CBS TV affiliate WIAT channel 42. Barker currently hosts "The Opening Drive" on WJOX 94.5 in Birmingham with Tony Kurre and former NFL kicker Al Del Greco.

DiNardo returned to his college football coaching roots in 2002 as the head coach of the Indiana Hoosiers football team. The team was sometimes jokingly nicknamed "The Fighting DiNardos" in his honor. He was fired at the end of the 2004 season. He is currently a studio analyst for the Big Ten Network.

The Thunderbolts were the last playing stop for defensive back Anthony Blevins, after the team folded, Blevins went into coaching at first the high school, then college and NFL levels. In 2023, Blevins was named the head coach of the Vegas Vipers of the re-established XFL becoming one of the only links between the new XFL and the original one.

Team leaders

Legend
Led the league

Passing

Passing statistics
NAMEGPGSRecordCmpAttPctYdsTDIntRtg
Casey Weldon 662–410216462.21,2287586.6
Graham Leigh 320–2449745.44991639.0
Jay Barker 320–2376556.94251549.8
Joe Douglass 11100.02210158.3
Totals 10102–818432756.32,174101666.5

Rushing

Rushing statistics
NAMEAttYdsAvgLngTD
James Bostic 1535363.5562
Casey Weldon 20301.5160
Curtis Alexander 18814.5190
Jay Barker 5265.2170
Graham Leigh 2147.0120
Steve Smith 11313.0130
Joe Douglass 1-5-5.0-50
Totals 2006953.5562

Receiving

Receiving statistics
NAMERecYdsAvgLngTD
Stepfret Williams 5182816.292t2
Quincy Jackson 4553111.836t6
Ed Smith 251957.8161
Kaipo McGuire 231817.9230
James Bostic 1217214.3500
Joe Douglass 1011411.4270
Steve Smith 8546.8150
Reggie Johnson 3155.080
Damon Gourdine23115.5161
Kevin Drake22914.5270
Curtis Alexander 2157.5120
Nicky Savoie 199.090
Totals 1842,17411.89210

Scoring

8-17 (47.1)% on extra point conversion attempts [4]

Total Scoring
NAMERushRecReturnXPMFGMPTS
Quincy Jackson 0600036
Brad Palazzo 0000721
Stepfret Williams 0212020
James Bostic 2001013
Eric Sloan0020012
Ed Smith 010208
Duane Butler 001006
Keith Franklin 001006
Damon Gourdine010006
Curtis Alexander 000101
Kaipo McGuire 000101
Steve Smith 000101
Totals 210587131

References

  1. "Birmingham Thunderbolts Logo Sheet". SSUR.org. Archived from the original on November 28, 2010.
  2. 2001 Birmingham Thunderbolts Media Guide. XFL. pp. 4–11.
  3. "XFL Standings". USA Today . May 12, 2001. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
  4. "2001 Bolts Final Regular Season Stats".