Stallions Finalize 2025 Roster Heading Into Season Opener At DC Defenders

MARCH 22, 2025 - BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

By Steve Irvine

The Birmingham Stallions have officially transitioned out of training camp and into preparation for the season opening game on the road against the DC Defenders on March 30. With that, comes the often painstaking of making final cuts necessary to trim down to the 50-man roster.

On Thursday morning, Stallions head coach Skip Holtz and his staff made final decisions on who will begin the UFL season working toward a fourth spring football championship in a row.

“Today kind of culminates about three weeks of camp and what these players have been going through, really for the last three weeks, just meetings, practice, walkthroughs, trying to get everything installed,” Holtz said during a media teleconference on Thursday morning. “We had to make some really hard decisions this morning. Some tough decisions with some really good football players. And I think decisions become tough when you have to make a decision between a couple of players that are good enough to help us win. I think we have a very, very talented roster. Honestly, I think that's a huge tribute to (former general manager) Zach Potter and the job that he did during the off season right before he left us. But we had some really hard decisions to make.”

Fourteen players were placed on waivers, including tight end Marcus Baugh, linebacker Elijah Sullivan, cornerback Nevelle Clarke and safety JuJu Hughes, who were on last year’s roster. As Holtz said, the decision wasn’t easy.

“This is one where I don't sleep real well and there's two reasons for that,” Holt said. “One is the personal relationship you build with these players. That's one because you want to help get them there and achieve their dreams. But, two, especially with some of the decisions we're making right now is the hope that we make the right one. You'll never really know until we find out what this season holds. I mean, it'll be easy maybe at the end (of the season) to go, well, probably should have kept him and not him. But with what you have with limited practices and the decision you gotta make, you have to make them and you have to live with them. But it is difficult. I mean, it's part of professional football, it’s part of what you do. But again, it's not a day that I look forward to. It's a day that has to happen because we've gotta go from 64 to 50. Then we've gotta put our team together and we gotta get ready to play.”

With that being said, Holtz is extremely pleased with the roster that he’ll move forward with. It includes a solid core of Stallions veterans, some who have been part of all three championship teams, and talented newcomers. Of course, at the forefront of it all, at least from outside the organization, is a quarterback battle that includes Alex McGough, Matt Corral and Case Cookus. McGough was key part of the two USFL championship teams and was the USFL Player of the Year in 2023. Corral was the backup on last season’s UFL champions.

Holtz was asked on Saturday if he decided on a quarterback starter.

“I have not at this point,” Holtz said. “I mean I have been rolling both Matt and Alex very evenly when you look at their numbers. They both had the same number of reps. We have a six-play rack, I may roll them every three. Then as Case began to pick it up, I'm starting to include him a little bit. I think the unfortunate thing for Case is he got into a 100 yard race and they've got a 50-yard head start. I think it's just difficult because he came in a little bit later after all the installation.”

The running back position is the only position that is filled entirely with returning players. The Stallions begin the season with CJ Marable, Ricky Person and Larry Rountree in the running back rotation.

“We love the three we have,” Holtz said. “They're good enough to win with. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. Obviously, with the success we've had, we've had players that were good enough to win with. And so I'm not looking to just get rid of them all to bring in a bunch of new guys that I don't know if they're good enough to win with or not. What's their chemistry going to be like? I guess my college background, I'm a big culture fan. With what we're trying to develop and how we're trying to do things. And so here are three guys that are good enough to win with. Obviously, CJ has been a huge part of our success. Ricky Person has been a huge part. He was in Seattle's camp last year and then came back. And, you know, Tree was a guy that when we stayed relatively healthy, got very few reps. But I made this comment earlier, you're seeing the growth of players. You get to see their talent year one, year two, and three. You get to see them really grow in your system. That's what I was really excited about.”

Holtz said his team is healthy coming out of camp, other than losing cornerback Ike Brown, who will begin the season on injured reserve after a training camp injury.

“I hate it,” Holtz said. “You know, every one of these players has a story. They train, they work, they spend the whole off season for this day to get here to try and have the opportunity to showcase their talent. It’s eight months of work to get to this point from when the season ended last year. And it’s just an unfortunate situation that happened about a week ago and really probably didn't know how severe it was. He was continually trying to push through it. And then when we got all the medical reports back, it was worse than anybody wanted it to be. He is going to rehab and train and do what he's got to do to get back. I know what type of competitor he is and I feel certain that he'll be back.”

2025 BIRMINGHAM STALLIONS

2 Matt Corral QB Mississippi*

3 Amari Rodgers WR Clemson*

4 JoJo Tillery S Wofford*

5 Shyheim Carter CB Alabama

6 Case Cookus QB Northern Arizona

7 Ronnie Perkins DE Oklahoma

8 Deon Cain WR Clemson*

9 Kenny Robinson Jr S West Virginia*

10 Alex McGough QB Florida International

11 CJ Marable RB Coastal Carolina*

12 Jace Sternberger TE Texas A&M*

13 Davion Davis WR Sam Houston State

15 Colby Wadman P California-Davis*

16 Mario Goodrich CB Clemson

17 Marlon Williams WR Central Florida*

18 Harrison Mevis K Missouri

19 Daniel Isom CB Washington State*

20 Tae Crowder MLB Georgia

21 Tre Norwood CB Oklahoma

22 Steven Gilmore CB Marshall

23 Ricky Person Jr RB North Carolina State*

25 Rachad Wildgoose CB Wisconsin

26 Faion Hicks CB Wisconsin

27 Ryan Langan LS Georgia Southern

29 Ike Brown (IR) CB Florida International*

30 Chapelle Russell MLB Temple

31 Kyahva Tezino OLB San Diego State*

32 A.J. Thomas S Western Michigan*

34 Larry Roundtree III RB Missouri*

36 Madre Harper CB Southern Illinois*

41 Myjai Sanders DE Cincinnati

54 D.J. Coleman DE Missouri

56 Cole Schneider G Central Florida*

58 Marvin Wilson DT Florida State*

65 Deonte Brown G Alabama*

69 Barry Wesley T Colorado State

70 Lachavious Simmons G Tennessee State

73 Armani Taylor-Prioleau T South Carolina State*

74 Christian DiLauro T Illinois*

77 Jarren Jones T Notre Dame

78 Keaton Sutherland G Texas A&M

80 La’Michael Pettway TE Iowa State*

81 Jordan Thomas TE Mississippi State*

84 Jalen Camp WR Georgia Tech

87 Austin Watkins Jr. WR UAB

88 Cade Johnson WR South Dakota State

90 Bradlee Anae DE Utah

96 Carlos Davis NT Nebraska*

97 Willie Yarbary DT Wake Forest*

98 Perrion Winfrey DT Oklahoma

*-Returning players from 2024

PLAYERS PUT ON WAIVERS

Alex Akingbulu T Fresno State

Marcus Baugh TE Ohio State

Nevelle Clarke CB Central Florida

JoJo Domann LB Nebraska

Matt Farniok G Nebraska

JuJu Hughes S Fresno State

Tyron Johnson WR Oklahoma State

Qwuantrezz Knight S UCLA

Grant Miller G Baylor

Joseph Ngata WR Clemson

Kyle Phillips DE Tennessee

Joshua Pryor DE Bowie State

Elijah Sullivan LB Kansas State

Demetrius Taylor DT Appalachian State