Mike Singletary named the new head coach of Memphis Alliance

Jason Munz | Memphis Commercial Appeal

Memphis’ yet-to-be-named Alliance of American Football team has begun building its roster in earnest.

The league, which will open its inaugural season in February 2019, announced the first 100 signings Monday. Alliance Memphis, which signed a handful of players last week, has officially inked 28 players.

Included among them are a pair of former Memphis Tigers: defensive backs Jonathan Cook and Jahmahl Pardner. Cook led Memphis in tackles as a junior in 2016, while Pardner collected 9 tackles in 2016 (his only season with the Tigers).

Jim Weber/The Commercial Appeal

Cook and Pardner join defensive back Darrius Sims, offensive lineman Christian Morris and punter Josh Jasper as roster members with connections to the Bluff City. Sims was a star at Whitehaven before suiting up for Vanderbilt from 2013-16.

Jasper, 30, played football and soccer at Ridgeway High in Memphis before signing with LSU.

Morris signed with UCLA out of East High, but he did not enroll. He joined Ole Miss for three seasons, appearing in eight games. Morris spent last season at Tennessee State.

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Tight end Brett Thompson, who played for UT-Martin, also has local ties. He played for Lake Cormorant in DeSoto County.

The league announced Memphis has signed three quarterbacks: Tyler Ferguson, Alejandro Bennifield and Jess Hosket, who prepped at French Camp (Mississippi) before playing at East Central Community College, then Southeast Missouri.

Shelley Mays / tennessean.com

Here are the rest of the signings that were released Monday: defensive back Jordan Bowman (California University of Pennsylvania), linebacker Dwayne Eugene (Arkansas), defensive back Tyler Foreman (Portland State), tight end Damon Gibson (Minnesota State-Moorhead), defensive back Brett Harrington (WKU), running back Josh Hicks (Rutgers), wide receiver Reece Horn (Indianapolis), linebacker Andrew Jackson (WKU), tight end Colin Jeter (LSU), defensive back Blake McClain (Kentucky), defensive tackle Pat McNeil (Middle Tennessee), defensive back Darion Monroe (Tulane), tight end Richard Murphy (Charlotte), center Oni Omoile (Iowa State), wide receiver Jordan Reid (Ohio), wide receiver Xavier Rush (Tulane), wide receiver Trevon Smith (Arkansas-Monticello), linebacker Xavier Thigpen (Southern Miss), wide receiver Ryan Timmons (Kentucky), and defensive end Jamichael Winston (Arkansas).

HELEN COMER/DNJ

The Commercial Appeal previously reported Alliance Memphis has signed offensive lineman Cole Mosier (Kentucky), defensive lineman Corey Vereen (Tennessee), and defensive back Ryan McKinley (Montana).

Sims — an all-purpose threat on offense and special teams — suited up at Vanderbilt from 2013-16, where he established a new school record for kickoff return yardage (2,496). His 28.0 yards per kickoff return average during his senior season was the highest by a Commodore since 1957.

Sims, who was named the defensive MVP of Whitehaven's Class 6A State Championship victory over Maryville in 2012, signed with the Tennessee Titans in August 2017 as an undrafted free agent. He attended rookie mini camp and was with the team during the preseason before being cut. Most recently, Sims suited up for the Green Bay Blizzard of the Indoor Football League. From his defensive back position, he made 53 tackles and had one interception in the team's 14-game season which ended in June.

McKinley, who played cornerback at Montana where he was third-team All-Big Sky as a senior in 2017, signed with the Titans as an undrafted free agent in April. He was cut less than three weeks later.

Listed at 6-foot-6, 335 pounds as a senior prior to the 2017 season, Mosier has not played in a game since 2016. He suffered a knee injury during a preseason scrimmage and was lost for the year.

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Mosier — who was part of a Wildcats unit (in 2016) that was a semifinalist for the Joe Moore Award, which is handed out annually to college football’s best offensive line — told The Commercial Appeal Wednesday he had no reservations becoming a part of a startup venture like the AAF.

"The high school I went to (Walton-Verona) didn't even have a football team when I was coming up," he said. "I was about to try to transfer somewhere else, but they decided to start (a football program) right before my freshman year. I walked on at Kentucky and earned a scholarship after my redshirt freshman year.

"So I'm not nervous at all. More excited for the opportunity to show what I've got."

Vereen signed as an undrafted free agent with the New England Patriots after his senior season (2016) with the Vols.

Vereen was listed at 6-2, 249 during his senior season. He collected seven sacks and 11 ½ tackles for loss in 2016.

Michael Patrick /News Sentinel

Memphis was awarded the pro franchise in May and it will be coached by former San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Singletary. The AAF was created by TV and film producer Charlie Ebersol and former NFL executive Bill Polian.

The AAF was announced on March 20 as an eight-team league. Each team will have 50-man rosters with players selected from those who don't make the NFL or are playing in the Arena League or CFL. Teams will also be able to draft players who played in their local market in college.

Colleges in Alliance Memphis' available footprint include Memphis, Tennessee, LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee, Austin Peay, UT-Chattanooga, East Tennessee State, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech, UT-Marti, Carson-Newman, Tusculum and Lane. Players with professional experience that have played for either the Titans, New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts, Cincinnati Bengals or the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers are also eligible to sign with Alliance Memphis. If a player's college is outside the Alliance allocation's footprint and he did not play for an NFL/CFL team, he is eligible to be tendered a contract by any AAF team.

The opening game will be shown on CBS on Feb. 9, the week after the Super Bowl, and will feature a 10-game regular season schedule. The playoffs will be two rounds culminating with the championship on the weekend of April 26-28.