The United Football League (UFL) concluded its third season on Saturday with its championship game entitled “The United Bowl.” The game pitted the #3 seed Louisville Kings against the reigning league champion and this year’s #4 seed DC Defenders. In the end, the Kings erased a halftime deficit to win 27-20. It was Louisville’s first year in the league.
Former Cardinals kicker Matt McCrane went 1-1 on PATs and 4-4 in field goals, including nailing a 60-yarder for four points, his second of the playoffs
and fourth on the year.
The league made some leaps and bounds this year, but even though TV ratings increased by 3% with 631,000 viewers per game, the overall live attendance dropped by 20.2%.
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Last week, the league announced its “All-UFL Team,” which highlighted its biggest stars for 2026 on offense, defense, and special teams. On the eve of the championship game held at Audi Stadium in Washington, D.C., the UFL revealed its most important players and coaches.
The “UFL Coach of the Year” award was given to former Arizona Cardinals tight end Anthony Becht, head coach of the Orlando Storm.
Becht’s squad finished 8-2-0 and garnered the #1 seed in the playoffs, only to lose to the Defenders in the semifinals 28-22. The Storm finished second in the league in total offense with 297.9 yards per game average and the third-highest points scored (232). They ranked #1 in passing yards with 2,084. On defense, Orlando was #1 in fewest points allowed (186) and #1 in fewest average points per game allowed (18.6).
After a stellar career at West Virginia, Becht was taken in Round 1 (27th) by the New York Jets in the 2000 NFL draft. He had a 40 time of 4.69, which is blazing speed for a tight end. He was chosen for the NFL All-Rookie Team. He played five years in New York before signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency and then the St. Louis Rams for a season.
In 2009, he signed with the Cardinals and played under head coach Ken Whisenhunt for two seasons. For the 2011 season, he finished out his career with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Becht then worked six years for ESPN and Westwood One radio as a college football analyst. He then became an internal contributor covering the Jets and Buccaneers. He was also a host on the Home Shopping Network for a show entitled “The NFL Football Fan Shop.”
He went into coaching when he was named the tight end coach of the San Diego Fleet of the short-lived AAF.
In 2023, he accepted the head coaching position of the St. Louis Battlehawks of the XFL while keeping his Jets gig during the NFL season, which held games in the fall. The XFL offered a spring season. The following season, the XFL and USFL merged into one league that was now called the United Football League that continued the spring format. Becht was retained to coach the Battlehawks, who went 7-3-0 and finished first in their conference, then was 8-2-0 in 2025.
His coaching record while in St. Louis was 22-8-0 with two playoff appearances. Coupled with his Orlando stint, Becht’s coaching record is an astounding 30-10-0. The blemish is that his teams do extremely well in the regular season, and then lose their first contest in the playoffs.
Other UFL awards include:
League MVP: QB Jack Plummer – Orlando
Sportsman of the Year: WR Cornell Powell – DC
Offensive Player of the Year: WR Hakeem Butler – St. Louis
Defensive Player of the Year: DE Cam Gill – Louisville
Special Teams Player of the Year: K Tanner Brown – Louisville
Assistant Coach of the Year: DC Corey Chamblin – St. Louis
