The 2025 season is fully in the books, and we are now just weeks away from the 2026 NFL Draft.
Some people are filling the football void with basketball, some with baseball. Yet others fill it with more football. This spring marks the third consecutive season the UFL (in its current form) has gone on.
San Francisco 49ers fans who happen to watch UFL games this season might see some familiar faces on the sidelines.
Let's take a look at some former members of the Niners who are now coaching in the UFL.
Jeff Zgonina
Defensive tackle Jeff Zgonina played for 17 seasons in the NFL from 1993 to 2009. In that time, he played for seven different teams and even won Super Bowl XXXIV with the (then) St. Louis Rams.
Although Zgonina didn't actually play for San Francisco, he made a stop there during his coaching career.
He last played for the Houston Texans from 2007 to 2009 before retiring. He then joined the Texans coaching staff in 2013 as an assistant defensive line coach, spending one season there.
Zgonina then served in the same role with the New York Giants in 2016 before joining the 49ers in 2017 as their defensive line coach.
He would coach the Niners D-line for two seasons. After stops with the Washington Commanders and Dallas Cowboys, Zgonina joined the St. Louis Battlehawks in the 2026 season.
He returned to the same city in which he spent the majority of his playing days.
Larry Grant
Linebacker Larry Grant played in the NFL for six seasons from 2008 to 2013 after playing his college ball at Ohio State. He played for San Francisco in 2011 and 2012.
He appeared in all 16 games in each of those seasons, primarily on special teams. However, he did start in three games in 2011 when Hall of Fame linebacker Patrick Willis was injured.
Grant returned to Columbus, Ohio, in 2026, the city where he starred in college, to coach with the UFL's Columbus Aviators.
He's now serving as the linebackers coach in their inaugural season.
Ted Ginn Jr.
Another former Ohio State Buckeye also returned to Columbus to coach the Aviators.
The head coach of the Aviators is none other than former NFL wide receiver and return man Ted Ginn Jr.
He played 14 years in the league, spending 2010 to 2012 with the 49ers.
The most fond memory the Faithful have of Ginn Jr. is his Week 1 performance against the Seattle Seahawks in 2011.
In that game, he scored two touchdowns, on both a kick return and a punt return, in the 49ers' 33-17 victory.