The Birmingham Iron has the first opportunity among the Alliance of American Football's eight teams to sign former Alabama and Auburn players. But will having a pipeline to talent from two of the nation's top college football programs translate into a championship for the Iron?

Joe Pendry, the Iron's general manager, said it shouldn't work that way, but he likes the cards Birmingham is being dealt.

"The way the Alliance set it up, it should be equal throughout all eight teams," Pendry said, "because every team has the rights to enough players -- they've done numbers on how many have been drafted into the NFL -- so it should come out equal.

"Now we don't think that way. We think we're going to get some excellent players from those schools. Alabama, Auburn, Mississippi State, South Carolina, some of our schools that have a lot of guys going into the NFL, but they have a lot make it and stay on NFL rosters. But we will have several good players from those allocated schools of ours.

"Let me put it this way: I'm glad we've got them."

The Alliance of American Football is an eight-team football league that plans to begin play in February. In the first step of the AAF's player-distribution process, each of the league's teams has an assigned set of colleges from which it has the first choice of signing players.

The Iron controls players from Alabama and Auburn plus 11 other in-state schools -- UAB, South Alabama, Troy, Alabama A&M, Alabama State, Jacksonville State, Samford, Miles, North Alabama, Tuskegee and West Alabama -- as well as Louisiana Tech, Maryland, Mississippi State, Missouri, North Carolina State and South Carolina.

"The roster will continue to take shape over the next couple of months," Iron coach Tim Lewis said. "Coach Pendry and Trey (Brown, the executive vice president of football operations) have done a fantastic job of putting it together thus far, and the fans will see some familiar faces, including guys like Trent Richardson, who we just recently signed.

"We're committed to bringing home a championship. That's the goal of the coaching staff and our organization. That's what we're working toward. The fans can expect high-quality football being played at Legion Field in the spring. They better get their tickets, and they better get ready for a good show."

A former All-American and Doak Walker Award winner at Alabama, Richardson might have the highest-profile among the Iron's signees so far, but he's not the only player from the Iron Bowl rivalry to have joined Birmingham's roster.

The Iron also have signed wide receiver Chris Black, offensive tackle Dominick Jackson, quarterback Blake Sims and defensive back Bradley Sylve from Alabama and cornerback Chris Davis, long snapper Ike Powell and defensive back Ryan White from Auburn.

Other in-state signees for the Iron include tight end Brandon Barnes (a former Russell County High School standout) from Alabama State, wide receiver Josh Barge and quarterbacks Eli Jenkins and Max Shortell from Jacksonville State, guard Steven Rowzee, linebacker Jonathan Massaquoi and quarterback Brandon Silvers from Troy; wide receiver DeVozea Felton from Tuskegee and running back Marquell Beckwith, a former Lee-Montgomery prep standout who played at Troy and Alabama State.

Birmingham also has signed linebacker Beniquez Brown, a Florence High School standout who played at Mississippi State.

The league's allocation process also assigns players from unaffiliated colleges based on their most recent NFL or Canadian Football League team, with the Iron getting first crack at players coming off the rosters of the Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL and the Montreal Alouettes and Ottawa Redblacks in the CFL.

Birmingham's roster also includes centers Aaron Cox and Cory Tucker, defensive backs Christian Bryant, Jacob Hagen, Aarion Penton, Max Redfield and JaCorey Shepherd; defensive ends Nelson Adams, Allen Edwards, Jake Payne, Dante Sawyer and Nick Seither; defensive tackles Josh Boyd, Harold Brantley, Nick James and Casey Sayles; guards Sam Lee, Kitt O'Brien, Bret Pierkarski and Garrison Wright; kicker Nick Novak, linebackers Shane Johnson, Deontae Skinner and Matthew Wells; quarterback John Gibbs, offensive tackles Darrell Brown and Tyler Howell, running backs Marshaun Coprich and Ty Isaac and wide receivers Amir Carlisle and L'Damian Washington.

And the roster-building process isn't over.

"Trey and I are putting the roster together for Tim and his coaching staff," Pendry said. "So we're doing that part of it, so when we go to training camp in January, he's got a team to work with that has those same attributes that we've been talking about."

The Birmingham franchise revealed its nickname on Thursday, and Pendry said the team wants its players to be "hard-working, strong, dependable" -- a reflection of the Iron name.

AAF players sign non-guaranteed contracts worth $250,000 over three years. They'll have the opportunity to earn more through a variety of bonuses tied to performance, statistics and fan engagement. Players who complete one season in the league will earn an educational stipend.

"I think the love for the game of football in this city and state is unmatched, as we all know," Lewis said. "Once the fans see how hard we compete each and every week, they will quickly embrace us. ...

"The reception has already been so positive, I just think everyone's excited for more football, and they're going to love their Iron."

Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @AMarkG1.