The college football season has kicked off across the country and in seemingly every corner of the game, a Baldwin County native is there.

From the SEC to the Mountain West Conference and plenty more in between at various levels, familiar faces will look to have an impact on the 2024 season which will be the first with an expanded playoff system.

Gulf Coast Media compiled a non-comprehensive list of college football rosters that feature players with high school experience in Baldwin County. To report additional players to be included on the list, email sports@gulfcoastmedia.com.

Fairhope leads the way with Daphne, Foley not far behind

Out of the 90 players on this non-comprehensive list, the Fairhope Pirates led the way with 17 alumni on college rosters to start the 2024 season.

Both the Daphne Trojans and Foley Lions were next with 13 alumni apiece. They were followed by 12 Gulf Shores Dolphins, 11 Spanish Fort Toros, 10 St. Michael Cardinals, 5 Orange Beach Makos, 3 Baldwin County Tigers and 2 Robertsdale Golden Bears, Elberta Warriors and Bayside Academy Admirals each.

Leonard, Wilson named to more watch lists

Entering their final seasons on the college stage, a pair of former Eastern Shore standouts have garnered preseason recognition once again and will serve as team captains in 2024.

Spanish Fort alum Brady Wilson was named to his second-consecutive Rimington Trophy Watch List, which is presented to the nation’s top center, after he started all 12 games for the UAB Blazers last season and helped set a program record for yards per game at 450. Wilson was the team’s top-graded lineman in 2023 according to Pro Football Focus with an 81.6 pass blocking grade after he allowed only 2 sacks across 485 pass blocking snaps.

Former Fairhope Pirate quarterback Riley Leonard made a splash in the transfer portal after a big junior season with the Duke Blue Devils and represented the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on five different watch lists heading into this year.

After an ankle injury cooled off his hot streak at the end of last season, Leonard is one of 89 student-athletes tabbed as a potential Comeback Player of the Year. Similarly for a second-straight season, he was named to the watch lists for the Maxwell Award (best player), Davey O’Brien Award (best quarterback) and Johnny Unitas Golden Arm (top upperclassman quarterback). Leonard was also included in the Walter Camp Award Watch List which is awarded to the country’s most outstanding player in college football.

ULM, West Alabama most popular colleges

As far as colleges go, 14% of the Baldwin County alumni on this non-comprehensive list were set to play for either Louisiana-Monroe or West Alabama in 2024.

Seven student-athletes who played at local high schools will suit up for the Warhawks in the first year under Bryant Vincent, a state championship-winning coach at Spanish Fort. They are followed closely by the Tigers who feature six familiar faces gearing up to kickoff for West Alabama’s winningest head coach Brett Gilliland.

South Alabama, Huntingdon and Belhaven all have rosters that include five former local players with Mississippi College (4), Alabama (3) and Samford (3) right behind.

Eight different schools will feature two Baldwin County alumni on their rosters, including Alabama A&M, Arkansas State, Delta State, Jacksonville State, Jones College, North Alabama, Tuskegee and West Florida.

Below is a selection of local players featured on college football rosters for the 2024 season broken up by school.

FAIRHOPE: Ameyr Adams – ULM; Barrett Cain – Mississippi College; Blayne Myrick – South Alabama; Caden Creel – Jacksonville State; Clayton Noblitt – Mississippi College; Dallas Booth – Huntingdon; Eli Webb – South Alabama; Glenn Patrick – Coast Guard; Lashavion Brown – Hutchinson; Luke Freer – Air Force; Mickey Herrick – Independence; Owen Vander Wal – West Alabama; Owen Williams – Hampden-Sydney; Preston Godfrey – Mississippi College; Riley Leonard – Notre Dame; Ronnie Mageo – Baylor; Sanders Daniell – Harvard

DAPHNE: Al Woodard – Tuskegee; Elijah Stevens – Alabama A&M; Hayden McLaurin – Austin Peay; James Quinnelly – Penn; John Davis – Belhaven; Malik McClain – Arizona State; Midnight Steward – Samford; Nick Clark – Delta State; Stacey Boykins Jr. – South Alabama; Trent Battle – TCU; Tyler Bradley – Navy; Tyler Durant – Samford; Veontai Williams – West Florida

FOLEY: AJ Prim – Pearl River; Arnez Jones – Savannah State; Cameron Schultz – Jones; Danarius Yearling – West Alabama; EJ Thomas – Faulkner; Forrest Taylor – Samford; Harrison Knight – Jones; Kolton Nero – Alabama A&M; Logan Joellenbeck – South Alabama; Perry Thompson – Auburn; Peyton Nero – Bethune-Cookman; Tyler Hamby – West Alabama; Zander Bonifay – Huntingdon

GULF SHORES: Bobby Noel – Tulane; Braden Jackson – Arkansas State; Brax Duncan – Belhaven; Brendon Byrd – West Alabama; Cameron Cooper – Huntingdon; Charlie Hollis – Huntingdon; Chase Jennings – Sewanee; J.R. Gardner – Alabama; Kingston Lowe – North Alabama; Otto Brewer – Southeastern Louisiana; RJ Taylor – Kennesaw State; Ronnie Royal – NC State

SPANISH FORT: Brady Wilson – UAB; Bree Blackmon – Tusculum; Carl Fauntroy Jr. – ULM; Carlos Johnson – South Alabama; Cole McConathy – Miami; Jacob Godfrey – ULM; Johnny Morris – Tuskegee; Josiah Hixon – North Alabama; Markell Kyer – ULM; Micah Gaffney – Virginia; Sterling Dixon – Alabama

ST. MICHAEL CATHOLIC: Austin Maloney – Belhaven; Carson Maloney – Belhaven; Clay Barr – Delta State; Ezra Sexton – Eastern Tennessee State; Justin Helper – Nicholls State; Luke Edmiston – Belhaven; Martin Corte – Mississippi College; Tyler Cella – Benedictine; Trevor Helper – Millsaps; Zach Taylor – Bryant

ORANGE BEACH: Cash Turner – West Florida; Chandler Wilson – ULM; Chris Pearson – Arkansas State; John Wallace Holladay – ULM; LaMarr Nelson – West Alabama

BALDWIN COUNTY: Antonio Williams – West Alabama; Ky McNulty – Troy; Tiaquelin Mims – Southern Miss

ROBERTSDALE: Jacob Bullard – Elmhurst; Taven Curry – ULM

ELBERTA: Jaedon Hill – Jacksonville State; Nicholas Thrift – Huntingdon

BAYSIDE ACADEMY: Graham Uter – SMU; Jay Loper – Alabama