“Really?? So other teams can poach my players?” That’s what St. Louis Battlehawks head coach Anthony Becht said about another team stealing away one of his players, ionically a fellow Mountaineer.
WVU product wide receiver Gary Jennings is leaving the Battlehawks to join the back-to-back defending USFL champion Birmingham Stallions. This obviously did not sit well with Becht as he appears to be blindsided by the move.
It’s a situation that stems from the XFL and USFL merger, which has resulted in franchises signing players that technically played in another league last season.
After initially just being an XFL team, the Battlehawks are part of the new combined league. The USFL and XFL officially announced the merger of the two leagues earlier this month. Becht led the Battlehawks to a 7-3 record in the XFL in 2023.
Regardless of how Becht feels, Jennings will now continue his professional career with the Stallions. Jennings’ time under Becht in St. Louis during the 2023 XFL season did earn him a training camp tryout with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers.
The WVU product caught 11 balls for 149 yards and scored three touchdowns in eight games for the St. Louis Battlehawks. One of his touchdowns came off a fake punt.
WVSN’s Mike Asti spoke to Jennings about his XFL season and mindset for the future.
Jennings was drafted in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft, but spent most of his NFL journey bouncing around the league on practice squads. He was a second-team All-Big 12 player for WVU in 2017.
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