Guide to the UFL: Logos, coaches, stadiums and players to watch for all eight teams
Credit to Author: ESPN staff| Date: Fri, 1 Mar 2024 07:00:01 EST
Danny Garcia and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson announce the UFL’s new conferences. (2:16)
We’re less than a month away from the debut of the United Football League, which is the product of a merger between the XFL and USFL. Starting with the March 30 matchup between the Arlington Renegades and Birmingham Stallions, eight teams will play a 10-game season that culminates in a championship contest June 16.
Before we get to that, here’s a handy cheat sheet on the UFL basics, complete with the logos, stadiums, coaches, quarterbacks and other key players to watch in the league. The UFL has a two-time national championship winning quarterback (who has also started an NFL playoff game) in AJ McCarron and the youngest brother of a Super Bowl MVP, but we’ll start things off with the defending XFL champions and their College Football Hall of Fame coach.
Stadium: Choctaw Stadium
Coach: Bob Stoops
Quarterbacks: Holton Ahlers, Luis Perez, Drew Plitt, Lindsey Scott
The Renegades come into the UFL fresh off the 2023 XFL championship. They are led once again by Stoops, who won 191 games and the 2000 BCS national championship in 18 seasons at the University of Oklahoma.
As far as the quarterbacks, Perez is a spring football icon, as he quarterbacked Arlington to last year’s XFL title. He has also played in the Alliance of American Football, the 2020 version of the XFL and the USFL. Ahlers threw for 13,933 yards and 97 touchdown passes at East Carolina, while Scott is a dual-threat QB who passed for 11,934 yards and 127 touchdowns at Incarnate Word while adding 2,988 yards and 32 touchdowns rushing.
Other players to watch: Vic Beasley, OLB (Clemson, former first-team All-Pro with the Atlanta Falcons); Marquette King, P (Fort Valley State, second-team All-Pro with the Oakland Raiders); Marquel Lee, LB (Wake Forest, played four seasons with Raiders)
Stadium: Protective Stadium
Coach: Skip Holtz
Quarterbacks: Matt Corral, Adrian Martinez, Jalen Morton, J’Mar Smith
Holtz, the son of College Football Hall of Fame coach Lou Holtz, has excelled in spring football, leading the Stallions to a 21-3 record (including playoffs) and consecutive USFL titles. Prior to Birmingham, Holtz won 152 games over 22 seasons of college football.
The quarterbacks are led by Corral, who was a third-round draft pick by the Carolina Panthers in 2022, and Martinez, who started five seasons at Nebraska and Kansas State. Smith, who was the starting quarterback on Birmingham’s 2022 USFL championship team, will also be a factor, while Morton has spent time in the Canadian Football League.
Other players to watch: Travin Howard, LB (TCU, Super Bowl champion with Los Angeles Rams); Gary Jennings, WR (West Virginia, fourth-round pick of Seattle Seahawks in 2019); Amari Rodgers, WR (Clemson, third-round pick of Green Bay Packers in 2021)
Stadium: Audi Field
Coach: Reggie Barlow
Quarterbacks: Deondre Francois, Jalan McClendon, Jordan Ta’amu
Barlow returns to the Defenders after leading them to the XFL championship game a year ago. Prior to D.C., Barlow compiled an 83-58 record as a coach at Alabama State and Virginia State over 13 seasons. He also played eight NFL seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Ta’amu was the primary quarterback for the Defenders last season and has played three professional football seasons in the 2020 and 2023 versions of the XFL along with the USFL in 2022. Francois was on the XFL’s Orlando Guardians last year, while McClendon also played in the XFL for the Vegas Vipers.
Other players to watch: Gareon Conley, DB (Ohio State, first-round pick of Raiders in 2017); D.J. Swearinger, DB (South Carolina, eight-year NFL veteran); Preston Williams, WR (Colorado State, four-year NFL veteran, primarily with Miami Dolphins)
Stadium: Rice Stadium
Coach: Curtis Johnson
Quarterbacks: Jarrett Guarantano, Nolan Henderson, Reid Sinnett
Johnson is in his second year of coaching spring football, as he led the USFL’s Houston Gamblers to a 5-5 mark last season. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Tulane for four seasons and a longtime assistant at the college and NFL levels, spending 11 seasons with the New Orleans Saints under Sean Payton.
Sinnett is the only quarterback to have professional playing experience, seeing time with the San Antonio Brahmas last season. He also had brief stint on the active rosters of the Miami Dolphins and Cincinnati Bengals. Guarantano was briefly on the Denver Broncos‘ active roster in 2022, while Henderson had a brief offseason stint with the Baltimore Ravens.
Other players to watch: Reuben Foster, LB (Alabama, first-round pick of San Francisco 49ers in 2017); Ryan Izzo, TE (Florida State, played three seasons with New England Patriots); Ethan Westbrooks, DE (West Texas A&M, played five seasons with Rams)
Stadium: Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium
Coach: John DeFilippo
Quarterbacks: Case Cookus, Cole Kelley, Troy Williams
DeFilippo is in his second season of coaching spring football, serving as the head man for the USFL’s New Orleans Breakers last season. Prior to that, he spent more than two decades as a college and NFL assistant, mostly as a quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator.
Cookus is playing his third season of spring football, spending the previous two years with USFL’s Philadelphia Stars, where he combined to throw for 3,629 yards and 27 touchdown passes. He’ll compete with Kelley, who threw for 1,534 yards and seven touchdown passes for Memphis last season, and Williams, who threw for 1,414 yards and six touchdown passes for the USFL’s Pittsburgh Maulers.
Other players to watch: Daylon Mack, DT (Texas A&M, No. 6 player in 2015 ESPN 300); Dylan Moses, LB (Alabama, No. 5 player in 2017 ESPN 300); Vinny Papale, WR (Delaware, son of former Philadelphia Eagles WR Vince Papale, the inspiration for the 2006 film “Invincible”)
Stadium: Ford Field
Coach: Mike Nolan
Quarterbacks: Davis Cheek, Danny Etling, Brian Lewerke, E.J. Perry
Nolan brings more than four decades of coaching experience, the most recent being a 4-6 record with the Panthers in the USFL last year. Nolan also spent three-plus seasons as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and served as a defensive coordinator for eight NFL teams.
Etling was a seventh-round pick of the New England Patriots and has been on the practice squad of seven NFL teams. Lewerke had a brief stint on the New York Giants‘ active roster in 2021. Perry has bounced between the USFL and NFL the past few seasons, while Cheek played one game for the USFL’s Breakers last year.
Other players to watch: Kai Nacua, S (BYU, five-year NFL veteran and oldest brother of Rams WR Puka Nacua); Samson Nacua, WR (BYU, older brother of Puka Nacua); Breeland Speaks, DE (Ole Miss, second-round pick of Kansas City Chiefs in 2018)
Stadium: The Alamodome
Coach: Wade Phillips
Quarterbacks: Quinten Dormady, Tom Flacco, Chase Garbers
Phillips moves to the Brahmas after a successful stint with the Roughnecks in the XFL last season in which he led them to a Western Division championship. The 76-year-old was an NFL fixture for nearly 50 years as a defensive coordinator and head coach, compiling a 90-73 record (including playoffs) in nine-plus seasons as a head coach.
The headliner among the QBs is Flacco, the younger brother of longtime NFL signal-caller Joe Flacco. Dormady was the primary starter for the XFL’s Orlando Guardians last season, throwing for 1,507 yards and 10 touchdown passes. Garbers was on the Las Vegas Raiders‘ active roster for the final two games of the 2022 season.
Other players to watch: Donald De La Haye, K (UCF, YouTube account (@Deestroying) has 5.77 million subscribers); Teez Tabor, DB (Florida, second-round draft pick of Detroit Lions in 2017); Kade Warner, WR (Kansas State, son of NFL Hall of Famer Kurt Warner)
Stadium: The Dome at America’s Center
Coach: Anthony Becht
Quarterbacks: AJ McCarron, Brandon Silvers, Manny Wilkins
Becht returns for his second season coaching the Battlehawks after leading St. Louis to a 7-3 record in the XFL last year. He spent 11 seasons as a tight end in the NFL with five teams after being selected by the New York Jets in the first round of the 2000 NFL draft.
Along with winning two national titles at Alabama, McCarron has spent nine seasons in the NFL, most recently with the Bengals in 2023. McCarron threw for 2,150 yards and 24 touchdown passes for the Battlehawks last season. Silvers was the primary starter for the Roughnecks last year, throwing for 1,551 yards and 13 touchdown passes, while Wilkins returns after serving as St. Louis’ backup last season.
Other players to watch: Hakeem Butler, WR (Iowa State, fourth-round pick by Arizona Cardinals in 2019); Wayne Gallman, RB (Clemson, six-year NFL veteran, primarily with New York Giants); Jahcour Pearson, WR (Ole Miss, XFL’s leading receiver in 2023)