One Question for Each UFL Team as Training Camp Begins

Training camp is set to begin for all eight UFL teams this week, the second season these teams will all be under the same league umbrella. Based on last year’s results, and this year’s off-season moves, here is one question each team will have to answer in order to be successful in 2025.

Arlington Renegades: Has the team done enough to address the defensive deficiencies that played a big part in Arlington’s 2024 downfall?

You know it had to rankle a longtime defensive coach like Bob Stoops that Arlington finished next-to-last in rushing yards allowed, passing yards allowed, and points allowed in 2024. Meanwhile, QB Luis Perez led the league in passing. If the Arlington defense had even been average, the Renegades may have found themselves in the playoffs. Changes were made to the defensive coaching staff; defensive coordinator Jay Hayes is now the defensive run game coordinator, paired with defensive pass game coordinator (and DBs coach) Marvin Sanders. It’s unclear who will call plays, as they no longer have a singular defensive coordinator. Linebackers coach Bill Sheridan is now a senior defensive assistant with the Jacksonville Jaguars. To replace him, Stoops brought back Chris Woods, who was the Renegades’ defensive coordinator in 2020. That familiarity with Stoops and Sanders, who was also on the 2020 staff, should help.

As for the roster, just two of the nine defensive linemen currently on the roster were on the team in 2024. Many of the linebackers are back, though they did acquire a versatile piece in Jabril Cox. NFL experience was added on the back end in CBs Chris Claybrooks and Vincent Gray, along with 11-game NFL vet Brady Breeze at safety. Clearly, the defensive line was the focus of improvement. We’ll see if that, and the adjustments to the responsibilities on the coaching staff, will be enough to improve from the doldrums of 2024.

Birmingham Stallions: Can the Stallions win a fourth championship by turning back the clock at the QB position?

It’s hard to win a championship in any sport. It’s even more difficult to win a second the next year. Third in three years? Almost impossible. Yet, the Stallions have done all this and now seek their fourth spring football title in as many seasons. And they’re doing it with two quarterbacks on the roster representing their last two championship seasons: Alex McGough in 2023, and Matt Corral, at least early on, in 2024. Until he decided to retire, they had a third representing their first championship in 2022, J’Mar Smith. There will be a competition for the opening day starter – and as shown last year, the player that starts the season isn’t necessarily the one that will finish it – but it’s notable that Birmingham didn’t replace UFL MVP Adrian Martinez, who moved on to the NFL and the New York Jets, with a QB from outside the organization. They could go this route to replace Smith.

The familiarity each player has with Skip Holtz and his offense can definitely be seen as a plus. It also means each team in the UFL has tape available to study on each of these QBs playing for Holtz. That lack of tape played a role in Martinez’s success last year. As with every season, there is roster turnover to some degree at every position. Bringing back McGough to pair with 2024 holdover Corral will allow the offense to develop more quickly in camp, but all bets are off when the first game kicks off.

D.C. Defenders: Will Abram Smith’s return from injury get this offense back to its 2023 heights?

D.C. was one of the more disappointing teams last year, going from a 9-1 record and an appearance in the XFL Championship game in 2023 to a 4-6 record and finding themselves outside the playoff picture when the post-season began. The straw that stirred the offense in ’23, RB Abram Smith, was lost for the season in training camp with a torn ACL. D.C.’s offense suffered as no back was able to replicate Smith’s production in his stead.

The first question that must be answered: Can Smith himself return to form? This was the second ACL injury of Smith’s career, the first coming while a sophomore at Baylor. Knee injuries like this can affect running backs differently than players at other positions. And if Smith is able to recover the traits that made him special two years ago, will that be enough to add more bite to the Defenders’ offense than they had last year? The offense wasn’t the sole reason D.C. didn’t make the playoffs – breakdowns on defense played a big part as well – but the addition of Smith, provided he’s 100%, should at least make D.C.’s offense more multiple, taking some of the pressure off QB Jordan Ta’amu, who tried to do too much to carry the load with Smith out.

Houston Roughnecks: Did Houston’s extensive off-season roster retooling actually make them better?

Despite winning one game in 2024, UFL management opted not to make a head coaching change in Houston, returning Curtis Johnson to the position in 2025. Very few alterations were made to the rest of the staff. There is a new general manager in Will Lewis, formerly of the XFL San Antonio Brahmas in 2023. He signed several players with Brahmas ties. Houston locked up more of their UFL College Draft class than any other team, though largely because they drafted players who did not sign with teams after the NFL Draft. That gives them bodies, but of what quality?

The Roughnecks offensive line was a weak link in 2024 and they bring back just four players from that unit. Their additions, on paper, don’t appear to substantially improve that position. Houston’s defense kept them in several games, yet they moved on from their leader in sacks (Chris Odom) and their leader in tackles (Donald Rutledge, Jr.), as well as veteran LB Reuben Foster. At the most important position – quarterback – multi-dimensional Nolan Henderson returns, and they acquired Jalan McClendon from the Defenders, adding Anthony Brown as a free agent. If that spot is better than last year, that could go a long way in masking some of the other inadequacies that may remain.

Memphis Showboats: How quickly can Ken Whisenhunt produce positive on-field results in Memphis?

The only team to experience a head coaching change in the off-season, Memphis’s situation was complicated by the fact that they also needed a new general manager. That paused their summer process somewhat as the team had to wait until the new head coach and his assistants were in place to really start acquiring players that would be schematic fits. Under John DeFilippo, the Showboats ended last year on a high note, earning the number one UFL College Draft pick by defeating the equally futile Houston Roughnecks in the final week.

There’s not a lot of buzz for the Showboats in Memphis, even with a new leader that has NFL head coach experience. No roster has seen as much upheaval as Memphis’s heading into camp. That puts the team immediately behind the eight-ball with a limited practice schedule upcoming before kickoff weekend. In just a 10-game regular season, and with no preseason, there’s no time to waste: Whisenhunt and company will need to work hard to get this group all rowing in the same direction as quickly as possible if the team wants to erase the memories of last season.

Michigan Panthers: How does a change at kicker affect Michigan’s chances to make the playoffs again?

The biggest star in the UFL last season may have been Panthers kicker Jake Bates, who parlayed his play in the spring into a contract with the Detroit Lions, where he had a successful 2024. Bates burst onto the UFL scene with his big leg in week one, hitting a walk-off 64-yard field goal to beat the St. Louis Battlehawks. He would go on to make two other 60-yard kicks and in all, 13 of his 17 made field goals in the UFL came from beyond 40 yards (with six from over 50 yards). While other teams would choose to punt or go for a risky fourth down near midfield, head coach Mike Nolan had the confidence to trot Bates out for three points, and more often than not, he delivered.

Now, that safety blanket isn’t there anymore. To replace Bates, the team signed B.T. Potter out of Clemson. Potter’s long in college was 52 yards, so it remains to be seen if he has the range that approaches what the Panthers could count on from Bates. Bates played a big role in a handful of Panthers victories; without him, would they have gotten to where they did last season? Can Potter be trusted in similar situations that Nolan would trust Bates? The answer to that question may play a big role in determining the Panthers’ fate in 2025, especially if Memphis and Houston improve significantly.

San Antonio Brahmas: Will there be a championship loss hangover in San Antonio?

The San Antonio Brahmas had every right to be confident heading into the UFL Championship in June: They had already beaten the Birmingham Stallions during the regular season and appeared to have the secret sauce to contain Birmingham’s electric offense. Instead, the Brahmas were out-played in every facet on their way to getting shut out, 25-0. The failures were exemplified by QB Chase Garbers seemingly protecting himself at the expense of the team and the desire to win the league title.

Games like that have a way of lingering into the following season; it will be incumbent upon head coach Wade Phillips and the returning veteran leaders to make sure that doesn’t happen. There isn’t a scenario the 77-year old Phillips hasn’t experienced during his coaching career, so he should be able to help his players erase the memories of the last time they stepped on the field. A new quarterback in Kellen Mond should also provide an offensive spark that was often missing last year. His leadership could go a long way in getting San Antonio to turn the page on 2024’s finish.

St. Louis Battlehawks: Will fans continue to turn out to watch the post-McCarron Battlehawks?

The Battleahwks and QB A.J. McCarron went through a bitter divorce in the off-season, with St. Louis leadership opting to go younger at the position. McCarron was as tethered to the community in which he played as perhaps any UFL player. The combination of his name value and production was a factor in turning out league-leading attendance in St. Louis the past two seasons (though not the only reason – the team also produced high attendance numbers in 2020 without McCarron).

According to reports, tickets sales across the UFL are lagging one month out from the season. Per Pro Football Newsroom’s James Larsen, even St. Louis isn’t immune from this struggle – he recently noted that Battlehawks season ticket renewals are “well under 40%.” That can’t be entirely blamed on McCarron’s departure, but the raucous crowds were a real home-field advantage: St. Louis was 8-2 at The Dome at America’s Center the last two seasons. More pressing than the effect substantially smaller crowds in the Lou could have on the Battleahwks is the effect it could have on the perception of the UFL: No matter how small crowds were elsewhere around the league, UFL leadership could point to the Battlehawks as an example of the league working. Without that, it’ll be open season for critics of the UFL.