UFL parts ways with Daryl Johnston

As the UFL continues to make changes ahead of its 2026 season, the spring football league is parting ways with one of its most prominent executives.

According to Pro Football Newsroom’s James Larsen, the UFL has opted not to renew Daryl Johnston’s contract. The former Dallas Cowboys fullback had served as the league’s VP of Football Operations for the last two seasons after the USFL and XFL first merged to form the UFL ahead of its 2024 campaign.

Johnston had originally joined the USFL as the upstart league’s Executive Vice President of Football Operations in 2021. He previously worked as a team executive in spring football leagues, including the AAF (2019) and XFL (2020).

“The United Football League has decided not to renew Daryl Johnston’s contract,” the UFL said in a statement to Larsen. “We are grateful to Daryl for his passion, leadership, and unwavering dedication over the past four years.”

Despite his status as one of the league’s most important and famous executives, Johnston’s departure isn’t necessarily surprising. The news comes amid a period of transition for the spring football league, which billionaire investor Mike Repole took an ownership stake in earlier this year.

In the time since, Repole has laid out a vision for the league to expand from its current field of eight teams to 16 teams over the course of the next decade. The UFL has also relocated teams from Michigan, Memphis and San Antonio to Columbus, Louisville and Orlando, placing an emphasis on increasing the league’s attendance as it enters its third season post-merger.

According to Larsen, Johnston’s name hasn’t been mentioned in any press releases nor has he made any media appearances on behalf of the league since Repole took over its business operations in July. Meanwhile, it’s expected that UFL CEO and President Russ Brandon will take over football operations following Johnston’s departure.