Birmingham's New Football Team Names Head Coach

BIRMINGHAM, AL - Birmingham's Alliance of American Football team has a head coach, and he comes to the Magic City with an extensive NFL resume. Fomer NFL defensive back and longtime assistant coach Tim Lewis was named the AAF Birmingham franchise's first head coach Tuesday.

(For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Birmingham Patch morning newsletter.)

Lewis was a first round pick out of the University of Pittsburgh and 11th player chosen overall in the 1983 NFL Draft. He played for the Green Bay Packers from 1983-86 but his career was cut short by a neck injury he sustained in a Monday Night Football game against the Chicago Bears. He then began a coaching career that has spanned nearly three decades.

More on Birmingham's AAF franchise:

Pro Football Returns To Birmingham

Lewis coached defensive backs at Texas A&M, SMU and Pittsburgh before joining the NFL ranks as a defensive coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1995. Lewis then coached on staffs with the Carolina Panthers, Seattle Seahawks, Atlanta Falcons and most recently with the San Francisco 49ers.

Lewis is the latest addition to a start-studded roster of AAF head coaches, including Steve Spurrier at Orlando, Dennis Erickson at Salt Lake City, Brad Childress in Atlanta and Mike Singletary in Memphis.

Birmingham joins Atlanta, Memphis, Orlando, Phoenix, San Diego and Salt Lake City as AAF locations. The league will kick off its 12-game season February 9 and the currently unnamed Birmingham team will play its home games at Legion Field before moving to the new downtown stadium upon its completion.

Image courtesy of AAF

Like the Birmingham Patch Facebook page for more local news.