The UFL’s inaugural season will see at least one former MAC players on six of the eight teams in play.
The United Football League, a merger between the second iterations of the XFL and the United States Football league, is set to see their inaugural season of play this upcoming weekend after a year of acquisition, contraction, dispersal and training camps.
Promising a “hard-nosed” approach to football and innovation in various rules, the UFL hopes to become the predominant spring league after years of start-ups kicking off and promptly folding.
Joining the party are 11 former players from MAC schools, some of which have several campaigns of NFL experience. A handful of players even have experience in the old XFL and USFL, getting re-selected in the UFL Dispersal Draft.
We’ll go through them team-by-team below so you can catch up just in time for kickoff on March 30:
Arlington Renegades
LB Tuzar Skipper (Toledo)
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Skipper, a transfer to Toledo via JUCO Monroe College [NY], was a former all-MAC third-team linebacker for the Rockets who finished his career in Blue and Gold with 86 tackles, 13 tackles-for-loss, 9.5 sacks, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries over three seasons. Skipper would go on to a four-year career in the NFL between five teams— including three stints with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Skipper went on to sign with the Seattle Sea Dragons of the 2023 version of the XFL, collecting 20 total tackles, including eight tackles-for-loss and six sacks in 10 games. Skipper would be dealt to the Arlington Renegades in advance of the 2024 XFL Rookie Draft, keeping his roster spot after the XFL-USFL merger.
Birmingham Stallions
SAF AJ Thomas (Western Michigan)
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Thomas was a five-year contributor for the Broncos, playing from 2017-2021 between cornerback, safety and linebacker. Over his career, Thomas finished with 221 tackles, 16 tackles-for-loss, three sacks, two interceptions, 16 passes defensed and two fumble recoveries.
He would be signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2022 before landing on their practice squad. Thomas made one appearance for the Bears in regular season action, collecting one tackle vs. Green Bay.
After another stint on the Bears practice squad in 2023, Thomas opted to sign with the Birmingham Stallions in 2024.
Houston Roughnecks
WR Justin Hall (Ball State)
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Hall was a steady presence in Muncie from 2017-2021, playing five seasons for the Cardinals— all of them as a starter. Hall caught at least reception in every game of his career, finishing his career as BSU’s all-time leading receiver in receptions (318) and yards (3,385). Hall also had the rare distinction of being a freshman All-American (2017) and a five-time all-MAC honoree, tabbed to the first team in 2019 and 2020, the second team in 2017 and 2021 and the third team in 2018.
Hall would land with the Las Vegas Raiders as an undrafted free agent in 2022, but didn’t stick, opting to sign with the Houston Gamblers of the USFL in 2023. Hall would have an all-USFL campaign that season, finishing with 47 receptions for 513 yards and four touchdowns in 10 contests. Hall was kept on the roster in 2024 after the USFL’s Gamblers and XFL’s Roughnecks essentially merged operations.
IOL Jack Kramer (Bowling Green)
Kramer started in 32 games and played in 42 games over four years for the Bowling Green Falcons, with starting experience at all three interior offensive line positions. Kramer won all-MAC third-team accolades in 2018 after a season where he moved form guard to center halfway through the season.
Kramer graduated in 2019, then after getting some CFL interest, latched on to The Spring League in 2021— aptly assigned to The Linemen— where he would anchor a starting spot on the team who won the title. That earned Kramer another shot at the pros in 2022, signing with the New Orleans Breakers, eventually starting all 10 games for the team in 2023 at the center position.
He was picked up this past January by Houston in the UFL Dispersal Draft.
Michigan Panthers
TE Gunnar Oakes (Eastern Michigan)
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Gunnar Oakes finished his EMU career with 56 receptions for 621 yards and two touchdowns, primarily acting as the team’s blocking tight end. His best campaign was his senior season in 2022, hauling in 27 catches for 279 yards. Over all five seasons, Oakes averaged over 10 yards per catch, making him a reliable target on deep shots.
Oakes was drafted by the USFL’s Michigan Panthers in 2023 as part of their amateur draft, but opted to join the Atlanta Falcons for an offseason mini-camp invitation. Oakes would eventually re-sign with the team for 2024.
P Kyle Kramer (Miami)
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Kramer left Miami as one of a duo of specialists which helped define the Redhawks’ 2019 MAC Championship run, booting 233 punts for 9,763 yards with 101 punts downed inside-the-20, 42 punts of 50+ yards and 72 fair catches forced. Kramer earned back-to-back all-MAC awards, earning a third-team placement in 2018 and a first-team placement in 2019 after averaging 43.4 yards per punt average.
The second-best punter in Miami history by career average yards per punt (42.0), Kramer would sign with the USFL’s Michigan Panthers in 2022, with 16 punts for 746 yards with just one touchback. Kramer returned in 2023, posting a 42.7 yards-per-punt averge on 39 boots with a long of 59 yards. He was retained for the 2024 season post-merger, and will return as one of the longest-tenured Panthers.
San Antonio Brahmas
QB Quinten Dormady (Central Michigan)
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Dormady has had one of the most intriguing careers out of all the MAC players to be featured in the UFL.
A former five-star prospect, Dormady originally committed to Tennessee out of Boerne, Texas, but couldn’t hold down the starting job over three seasons, eventually transferring to be closer to home in Houston. After taking a medical redshirt at Houston, Dormady transferred up to Central Michigan as one of Jim McElwain’s first recruits.
Dormady would split time with Tommy Lazzaro throughout the season, compiling 2,312 yards for 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions over 10 starts (missing four games due to injury) to help the Chippewas win the MAC West division.
Dormady begin his pro career in the CFL with the Montreal Alouettes as a training camp invitation before getting cut. From there, he would sign with the XFL’s Orlando Guardians and start the season as the team’s backup quarterback before seeing his debut in relief of then-starter Paxton Lynch. Soon after, Dormady was accused of game-fixing by giving away his team’s gameplans to opponents— but was ultimately cleared of wrongdoing and would go on to be the team’s starter over the rest of the season.
Dormady would finish 2023 with 1,507 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions on a 68.3 percent completion rating over seven games, with four additional rushing touchdowns. The Guardians folded as a result of the XFL-USFL merger, and Dormady was selected by the Brahmas with the first overall pick in the UFL Dispersal Draft.
DL/LB Tarell Basham (Ohio)
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Tarell Basham, older cousin to both New York Giants linebacker Boogie Basham and Minnesota Vikings running back Aaron Jones, got his start in football at Ohio University, manning both the defensive tackle and defensive end positions for the Bobcats from 2013-2016.
At Ohio, Basham put together one of the best careers by a Bobcat defender in program history, with 158 tackles— including 41.5 tackles for loss and a program-record 29.5 sacks— six passes defensed and five forced fumbles, earning MAC Defensive Player of the Year and all-MAC first-team honors in his senior season in 2016.
Basham was drafted 80th overall in the 2017 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts, converting to outside linebacker. Over the next six seasons, Basham would collect 128 tackles, 11 sacks, five forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and an interception between four teams.
Basham signed with the Brahmas as a free agent on March 11, but would land on the suspended list just 10 days later.
DB/KR Darius Phillips (Western Michigan)
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Darius Phillips was one of WMU’s most dynamic and versatile players in program history, contributing to the Broncos’ offense, defense and special teams from 2013-2017.
Phillips started his career in Kalamazoo as a wide receiver, with 32 receptions for 479 yards and three touchdowns in his true freshman campaign. He was converted to cornerback in his sophomore season and thrived at the position, picking up 127 tackles, 13 tackles-for-loss, two sacks, 12 interceptions, 44 passes defenses, four forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries over three years. Phillips was named a first-team all-MAC corner in both 2016 and 2017, with second-team honors in 2015.
Where Phillips excelled most was on special teams and takebacks, with five kickoffs and a punt returned for touchdowns over four years, as well as an additional five pick-sixes and a fumble return touchdown. Phillips was named a two-time MAC Special Teams Player of the Year for his efforts, with five all-MAC placements at kick and punt returner.
Phillips was drafted with the 170th overall pick by the Cincinnati Bengals and would enjoy a four-year career, primarily on special teams. He picked up 75 tackles, 23 passes defensed, five interceptions and three forced fumbles in that span, which was unfortunately hampered by three separate stints on injured reserve.
Phillips signed with the Brahmas in January 2024 after three separate stints on NFL offseason rosters in 2023.
St. Louis BattleHawks
LB/SAF Nico Bolden (Kent State)
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Nico Bolden was a two-year starter for the Golden Flashes after four seasons in service at New Mexico, ascending into a starting role fairly quickly upon his arrival in Kent, Ohio.
In his time with the Flashes, Bolden played between safety and linebacker by formation, finishing with 189 tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, a sack, two interceptions, three passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery.
Initially signing with the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent, Bolden was injured early on in camp and was waived with an injury designation. Bolden was selected in the XFL Rookie Draft thereafter in June 2023 and is set to make his pro debut in 2024.
The UFL season is set to kick off on March 30 with a double-header of games set to air on national TV, with FOX airing both games.
A matchup of the old XFL and USFL champions is set to be the kickoff game, as the Arlington Renegades are set to host the Birmingham Stallions at Chocktaw Stadium at 1 p.m. Eastern time.
The Michigan Panthers will host the St. Louis BattleHawks in a follow-up contest, with kickoff scheduled for 4 p.m. Eastern time from Ford Field in Detroit.