Chris Redman is bringing a Ravens-heavy coaching staff to the Louisville Kings, with four former teammates from the Super Bowl XXXV-winning era—aiming for a championship against the defending-champion D.C. Defenders Saturday at 3 p.m. at Audi Field.
The first thing Chris Redman talks about isn’t the stakes. It’s the feeling.
“We are having a ball, man. It feels like I’m back in the locker room again,” Redman said on “The Lounge” podcast.
This Saturday. that locker-room comfort will be on display in a different uniform—one made for game plans instead of football pads. Redman. now the head coach of the United Football League’s Louisville Kings. will lead his team into the UFL Championship Game against the defending-champion D.C. Defenders at 3 p.m. at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. The game will be broadcast on ESPN/ABC.
The Kings didn’t just stumble into this moment. After starting 0-3, Louisville won six of their last seven regular-season games. They also beat the Defenders twice during the regular season.
Last week, the momentum moved from the regular season to the postseason. The Kings defeated the St. Louis Battlehawks 29-20 in the playoff semifinals.
And behind the sideline energy, there’s a deliberate choice: a staff built from the Ravens’ past.
Redman assembled a coaching group with Ravens-heavy roots—four former teammates who were on the Super Bowl XXXV-winning team. “The band is back together,” the former quarterback said, describing the trust that comes from shared history.
Former Ravens linebacker Jamie Sharper is the defensive coordinator. Former Ravens cornerback Chris McAlister is the defensive backs coach. Former Ravens quarterback Tony Banks is the wide receivers coach. Former Ravens linebacker Brad Jackson is the linebackers coach.
Once you play and bleed and sweat with somebody, Redman said, you trust them. “They’re doing an incredible job.”
The championship isn’t just another stop for Redman. It’s home.
He spent four years in Baltimore from 2000 to 2003, and he knows what it means to be forged by a franchise. But Louisville is where the newest chapter began. The UFL announced it was launching an expansion team in Louisville last October and gave Redman a ring. He was hired last December.
For Redman, taking the Kings’ job wasn’t a distant dream. It was an opening in his own city. “This opportunity came up to coach for a professional team in my home city of Louisville. I was like, ‘Absolutely, man,’” he said.
He described the year as both hard and rewarding—building a franchise from scratch isn’t easy, he said, but it has been worth it.
“This opportunity came up to coach for a professional team in my home city of Louisville. I was like, ‘Absolutely, man,’” Redman continued. “It’s kind of my calling. I knew I would like [coaching]. I didn’t know I would like it this much. It has been an incredible year.”
Long before professional headsets, coaching started with teenagers and small deadlines. Redman said his coaching career began hot with his son’s high school team at Louisville Christian Academy, where he led the team to three state titles in four years.
After eight seasons as an NFL quarterback, Redman retired in 2011. His Baltimore years included being a backup to Elvis Grbac, winning the starting job for the first six games of 2002, and then backing up first-round pick Kyle Boller in 2003.
His playing days left more than statistics behind. Redman once lit up the Cleveland Browns in a 26-21 victory. and he gained fan adoration for defying NFL uniform rules by wearing Johnny Unitas-inspired black high-top cleats to honor the Baltimore Colts legend days after his passing. Redman was originally fined $5,000 for those cleats.
Both Redman and Unitas played for the University of Louisville’s football team, and Redman won the Johnny Unitas Award after his senior college season. He said he and Unitas shared a close relationship.
“That was something I’ll never forget,” Redman said of wearing the cleats. “That’s a guy (Unitas) that I do want to be like. He was a special human being that I’ll never forget.”
Before the UFL championship, Redman spent time away from Baltimore. After his years ended there, he bounced around for a couple years, then latched on with the Atlanta Falcons and extended his NFL career for another five years.
He said he played some of his best ball in Atlanta, in a system that fit him better. Redman said he was accustomed to a shotgun-heavy offense coming out of college, and the Ravens rarely ran that during his time in Baltimore.
“Timing is everything in the NFL,” Redman said. “I was blessed to play until I was 35 years old. That’s a long time in the NFL. I had an incredible career. It’s never the exact career for most guys that you really hoped it would be.”
Even so, he didn’t downplay what Baltimore gave him. “But Baltimore was a very fun time,” he said. “I enjoyed the city and enjoyed everything about it. Being part of the Super Bowl was amazing and I’ll never forget it.”
Now the question is whether that memory can translate into a new kind of victory.
With the Louisville Kings set to face the D.C. Defenders Saturday at 3 p.m. at Audi Field—after turning around a 0-3 start. winning six of their last seven regular-season games. taking two wins over their opponent. and defeating the St. Louis Battlehawks 29-20 in the playoff semifinals—Redman’s Ravens reunion takes its shot for another title run.
This time, the helmets are off. The band is intact.
Chris Redman Louisville Kings UFL Championship Game D.C. Defenders Audi Field Jamie Sharper Chris McAlister Tony Banks Brad Jackson Ravens legends ESPN/ABC
So are the Ravens like literally moving to Louisville now or is this just coaching stuff? Either way sounds kinda unfair lol.
I saw ESPN/ABC and thought it was gonna be the regular NFL playoffs, my bad. But if the Kings were 0-3 and then somehow got here, that’s actually crazy.
Bro “Audi Field” and “Ravens-heavy coaching staff” like… isn’t this mostly the same people that were always on defense? I’m guessing the Defenders coach is gonna get fired after anyway, that’s usually how these title games go.
Jamie Sharper and McAlister coaching?? Okay that’s kind of a flex. Still, I don’t get why it matters what uniforms look like if they’re game planning anyway, like football is football right. Also D.C. Defenders beating them twice during the year? I feel like that part got mixed up in my head.