Where Every 2026 UFL Star Played in College, Who’s Headlining Every Roster

It’s more than likely that at some point this UFL season you’ve watched a game and asked yourself, “He looks familiar, how do I know him?” Don’t worry because I am here to help you. There are a ton of familiar faces in the UFL this season, and it seemed like the perfect time to take a look back at where each UFL player went to college. With that in mind, I’ve rounded up the school that every active UFL player went to and highlighted two stars from each team that you’re sure to remember most from their college days. Let’s go! Birmingham Stallions Matt Corral (#2, QB) – Ole Miss Corral is exceptional when he puts his feet down and shoots. This was evident throughout his college career. In 2022, Corral led Ole Miss to the Sugar Bowl in his final season with the Rebels, and he was instrumental in Ole Miss’ successful 10-2 record that helped catapult the program into one that would be in the College Football Playoff for the first time in 2025. At Ole Miss, he was a gifted playmaker with great ability to throw to open receivers. He possessed a unique skill set that allowed him to control the line of scrimmage – to get in and out of any play he wanted. A third-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Corral was forced to miss his rookie season with the Carolina Panthers due to a Lisfranc fracture in his foot and never got the chance to play professional football in any meaningful way until signing with the Stallions. Justyn Ross (#13, WR) – Clemson Ross, starting as a true freshman, was excellent at Clemson, totaling over 1,000 yards on just 46 catches in his first season with the Tigers. His elite size (6-foot-4, 210 pounds) and strong route-running ability made him an easy target for any quarterback. After a strong sophomore season, he was diagnosed with Klippel-Feil syndrome, a rare congenital condition that required surgery to correct the fusion of some bones in his back and neck. After redshirting a medical year in 2020, he returned to Clemson in 2021 before going undrafted in 2022. Still, Ross got a chance with the Kansas City Chiefs and became a member of two Super Bowl winning teams. He is one of the few players to hold a CFP national championship (2019) and two Super Bowl rings (2022, 2023). Columbus Aviators Jalan McClendon (#8, QB) – Baylor McClendon is the reason NFL star Jakobi Meyers plays wide receiver. After McClendon redshirted behind NFL veteran Jacoby Brissett at NC State, a three-way quarterback battle ensued between him, Meyers and Ryan Finley in 2016. Finley ultimately won the starting job, but McClendon parted ways with Meyers so definitively that Meyers moved to playing wide receiver full time. McClendon still found his way onto the field in 10 games for the Wolfpack that season. As a graduate transfer, he entered the portal and moved on to Baylor, where he shared playing time with signal-caller Charlie Brewer. Now, McClendon and his tantalizing arm talent make him the best dual-threat QB in the UFL. Antwane Wells (#6, WR) – Ole Miss “Juice” Wells is an absolute hammer with a build and determination honed at Fork Union Military Academy. He spent days digging through 20-pound ammo boxes for two hours in full military gear before arriving in South Carolina – just like Eddie George, Vinny Testaverde, Michael Thomas, Plaxico Burress and Cardale Jones. Wells left Fork Union – an institution that produced 14 first-round NFL draft picks – with a tattoo of Psalm 23:4 inked on his arm, fearing no harm. Wells, a prototypical possession receiver, has the ability to avoid opposing corners and make contested catches against tight coverage. Two years with James Madison left Wells 3rd all-time in school history in receiving touchdowns (21) and top 10 in career receiving yards (1,853) and catches (116). In 2021, he caught 83 passes for a JMU record 1,250 yards with 15 touchdowns. He was an FCS All-American before getting a chance to play at the Power 4 level with South Carolina. He became a first-time All-SEC selection in 2022 and finished his collegiate career at Ole Miss. Dallas Renegades Austin Reed (#16, QB) – Western Kentucky In his first year as a full-time starter, Reed led Western Florida to a victory in the 2019 NCAA Division II Championship Game with a season consisting of 4,084 passing yards, 40 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions. With the advent of NIL (name, image and likeness), he was transferred to Western Kentucky, where he began cooking FBS tusks like Wagyu on a charcoal grill – smoking them. In his first season as a starter for the Hilltoppers, he threw for more yards (4,744) than any other FBS quarterback. At WKU, Reed threw for 8,084 yards and 71 touchdowns with 22 interceptions and also rushed for 324 yards and 12 touchdowns. He’s a field general who throws guns, who attacks from the air, who sees, who reads, who sends for six and who has a pocket gift. If Reed runs your offense, you’re going to score. That’s why he leads the UFL in passing yards and rushing scores. Tyler Vaughns (#1, WR) – USC Vaughns proved to be a complete receiver in college football between 2017 and 2019 when he caught at least 57 passes for at least 674 yards with at least six touchdowns in those three years. His career is exceptional. His ability to read coverage before and after the snap is as good as any quarterback he’s played with. Vaughns is a perfectionist of the route tree who will find open space in the secondary, become a big target for his quarterback and recover any ball in his radius. That’s why he leads the UFL in receiving yards and scores after three weeks. DC Defenders Jordan Ta’amu (#10, QB) – Ole Miss Ta’amu turned heads in 2017 after becoming Ole Miss’ starter with five games remaining following an injury to Shea Patterson. When Ta’amu finished those five games with 1,682 passing yards, 15 total touchdowns, just four interceptions and a display of mobility that made some defenders look foolish, Patterson opted to transfer to Michigan. In 2018, Ta’amu racked up 4,260 total yards with 25 scores and just six picks for the Rebels. Simply put, Ta’amu is a dual-threat, read-and-react signal caller. He finished that season second in passing yards (3,918) behind Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa, who played three more games than Ta’amu and led the Crimson Tide to a national championship victory. Gareon Conley (#0, CB) – Ohio State Conley earned a starting job as a redshirt freshman at Ohio State, playing in all 15 games for the Buckeyes’ 2014 national title team. After two years, he was so good that he elected to enter the NFL draft early and was rewarded as a first-round selection by the Oakland Raiders in 2017. The first interception of his professional career was a pick of 36 yards from Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield. Every ball you throw near Conley — a pure ball hawk with a 4.44 40-yard dash speed — is a 50-50 ball, and there’s a good chance he’ll get his hands on it for the deflection or interception. Houston Gamblers Taulia Tagovailoa (#7, QB) – Maryland No one has thrown for more yards in Maryland or Big Ten history than Tagovailoa, the younger brother of NFL veteran Tua Tagovailoa. He led the Terrapins to their first winning season since 2014 and their first bowl berth since 2016, while breaking school records for completions (328), passing yards (3,860) and passing touchdowns (26) in a single season. In all, Taulia left Maryland with 32 academic records. He has proven himself in a pattern that matches his greatest ability: precise and accurate passing. Rashard Lawrence (#90, DE) – LSU Lawrence is a former All-SEC selection and was a mainstay on the 2019 LSU National Team defensive line. During the 2018 season, he made 54 tackles and four sacks, en route to earning Fiesta Bowl MVP honors for his two-sack performance. Remember the 6-foot-2, 300-plus pound “Uncle Phil” lookalike who scaled another 300-pound man, then swallowed and sacked a boa constrictor Lamar Jackson during Jackson’s 2016 Heisman season? It’s Lawrence. That’s what he does. Louisville Kings Benny Snell (#26, RB) – Kentucky At Kentucky, Snell finished every season he played with at least 1,091 rushing yards, 13 scores and 186 carries. He averaged 5.3 yards per carry his entire career – and he could break you a little sumtin-sumtin with long runs. A returning bell cow, the running game follows Snell. If the O-line blocked it, Snell ran through it and made the linebackers and secondary players feel too small, too light and too slow. Jason Bean (#5, QB) – Kansas In 2021, Bean threw six touchdowns for a Big 12 playoff record – along with 449 yards – in a raucous 49-36 victory for Kansas against UNLV. He had elite moments like that throughout his college career, but never played in more than 10 games, never completed more than 64 percent of his passes, and never threw for more than 2,130 yards and 18 touchdowns in a single season. However, when he’s accurate, he throws one of the purest deep balls I’ve ever seen. His ability to get inside and miss sacks is one of the main reasons why he’s a guy you want behind center. Orlando Storm Jack Plummer (#13, QB) – Louisville Plummer was a late bloomer. After three years at Purdue, he transferred to Cal, where he had his first great season with over 3,100 passing yards, 21 touchdowns and just nine interceptions. Those numbers were good enough for him to reunite with his former head coach, Jeff Brohm, at Louisville, where he had the best season of his career. With the Cardinals, Plummer threw for 3,204 yards, 21 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, leading Louisville to a 10-2 record and an appearance in the 2023 ACC Championship Game. A skilled operator in a pass-heavy scheme, Plummer excels when allowed to play fast and dictate terms to the defense. KJ Hamler (#3, WR) – Penn State As a redshirt freshman at Penn State, Hamler announced his presence in college football by returning from a torn ACL in 2018 by returning a kickoff 52 yards to the house – while making three catches for 67 yards with a receiving score – against Appalachian State. He averaged 18.0 yards per catch that year. In 2019, he stepped up his game even further with 56 catches for 904 yards with 18 touchdowns. That was enough for him to enter the NFL draft that year, when the Denver Broncos took him in the second round. When you absolutely and absolutely need to take over the defense, dial the “9” – a go-ball, a fly route, a straight line to the end zone – and ask for Hamler. St. Louis Battlehawks Hakeem Butler (#88, WR) – Iowa State The year Butler became one of the best receivers Iowa State has ever produced – 60 catches for 1,318 yards ( 22.0 yards per catch) and nine touchdowns – I realized he was an inch taller and more productive in his senior year than Calvin Johnson, aka Megatron, was in his senior year at Georgia Tech (2006) with fewer catches (76 receptions for 1,202 yards). How many 6-foot-6, 240-pound men do you know who run 4.48 in the 40-yard dash with hands the size of couch cushions? I will wait. If Megatron is Johnson personified, that makes Butler pro football’s storm of the spring, because, like all Decepticons, he’s just not fair. Good luck, UFL! Pita Taumoepenu (#7, OLB) – Utah Ten years ago, not everyone was paying attention to Utah, and Taumoepenu wasn’t one of those players you should have known about before November 10, 2016. That day, he sacked Arizona State’s quarterback three times and made four tackles for loss. That was enough for me to believe that Taumoepenu could have a future as a dominant edge rusher in the right scheme as a pro. After all, he recorded at least 5.5 sacks in each of his three seasons for the Utes. The fact that he proved to be a terror in the UFL just means I was wrong about the professional league in which he would make his presence most felt. If you ever get asked who is the best defensive player in professional spring ball, he is the only right answer. Taumoepenu is an elite passer who demands that you guard against slides – have the running back help the O-line block – or risk him crashing your quarterback like John Henry did a railroad spike.