Chan Gailey was introduced as the first head coach of the Fire. 1991 season In February 1991, the WLAF held its inaugural draft, and unlike the NFL Draft, the WLAF version was carried out with individual positions being drafted over a period of several days. Offensive linemen were drafted on February 14; running backs, punters and placekickers on February 16; quarterbacks, wide receivers and tight ends on February 18; defensive linemen on February 20; linebackers on February 22; and defensive backs on February 24. The most notable player drafted by the Fire was the selection of Brent Pease with the first overall pick in the quarterbacks draft. Training camp started shortly thereafter, and in mid-March the Fire lost to San Antonio in a controlled scrimmage at San Marcos, Texas. The Fire played their first game on March 23 against the Montreal Machine at Legion Field. Although they lost 20–5, an attendance of over 53,000 resulted in the start of the game being delayed 21 minutes to allow fans into the stadium as only two gates were open at the time. The next week, the Fire won their first game against the Sacramento Surge. The 17–10 win only drew 16,000 spectators, but the featured a 99-yard interception return for a touchdown by John Miller. The team then alternated pairs of wins and losses over their remaining eight regular season games. The first pair of losses came on the road against Montreal and at home against the London Monarchs. In their first all-time road game, Birmingham lost to the Machine 23–10 before 27,766 fans at Olympic Stadium. One week later, they suffered their only shutout of the season in their 27–0 loss against eventual World Bowl champion London. Birmingham then rebounded with a 31–6 road win at the Orlando Thunder and a 16–12 with at home against San Antonio to even their overall record at 3–3. The Fire then lost both of the games played in Europe, and as a result their record dropped to 3–5. The first loss came against the Barcelona Dragons in an 11–6 defeat and against the Frankfurt Galaxy in their 10–3 loss at the Waldstadion. In their final home game of the season, Birmingham defeated the New York/New Jersey Knights 24–14 to put the team in contention for the last playoff spot as they entered the final week of the regular season. In their regular season finale