SAN ANTONIO – A football coach known for a legendary concept is set to call San Antonio home once again.
Hal Mumme, a coaching pioneer through his “Air Raid” offense, was formally introduced this week as the new head coach for San Antonio’s new International Football Alliance franchise.
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The IFA will be an eight-team league made up of five teams in the United States (San Antonio, Dallas, Las Vegas, Tampa Bay and Huntsville, Alabama) and three more teams in Mexico (Cancun, Chihuahua and Guadalajara), the league said on its website.
The goal of the “Air Raid” is to stretch out the defense and provide ample space for big plays on offense. Instead of lining up behind the center, the quarterback would take the snap in the shotgun formation and hand it off to a running back standing next to them or fling short, split-second passes to one of four wide receivers — or the running back — expected to turn up field quickly and eat up huge chunks of yards.
Though he has never coached in San Antonio before, Mumme considers the Alamo City his hometown. When Mumme, 72, began implementing the offense inspired by LaVell Edwards’ BYU teams at Copperas Cove High School, his teams improved. He then moved up to the college ranks to lead Iowa Wesleyan in 1989. There, he linked up with perhaps his most infamous “Air Raid” evangelizer: Mike Leach.
Mumme and Leach formed powerful offenses at IWU and Division II Valdosta State before Mumme was plucked from obscurity to be the new head coach at Kentucky in 1997. Leach joined Mumme as his offensive coordinator in Lexington. The 1997 Wildcats, with eventual Heisman Trophy finalist Tim Couch at quarterback, became the first Kentucky team to beat Alabama football in 75 seasons. Mumme was fired after a 2-9 season in 2000, his fourth and final Kentucky season.
In 2003, Mumme began a two-season tenure as Southeastern Louisiana’s coach before jumping to New Mexico State. The Aggies went 0-12 in Mumme’s first season and didn’t do much more winning while he was in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Additionally, in 2006, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Mumme and NMSU after four Muslim football players on the team accused Mumme of dismissing them for religious reasons. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court, the university paid a sum to the former players and, as a result, neither Mumme nor the university admitted to any wrongdoing.
Mumme was fired in 2008 after a 3-9 regular season.
Since New Mexico State, Mumme has taken on a number of lower-level college (NCAA Division III McMurry from 2009-2012; NAIA Belhaven from 2014-2017, Jackson State offensive coordinator in 2018) and semi-professional coaching positions in spring leagues (Alliance of American Football’s Memphis Express; XFL’s Dallas Renegades; The Spring League’s Linemen). Sandwiched in between these stops is a one-year stint as SMU’s passing game coordinator in 2013.
A mascot has yet to be named for any of the IFA’s eight clubs. League competition will kick off in 2025.