J'MAR SMITH HAD a good routine going this spring. He would rise early in his Birmingham, Alabama, apartment and then head over to the local Dunkin'.
A former USFL championship quarterback with the Birmingham Stallions who retired from the UFL in March, Smith wasn't grabbing a quick bite. He worked at Dunkin' most days starting as early as 5 a.m. -- making coffee, serving doughnuts and ringing up customers -- so he could clear the rest of his day to work out with a private quarterback coach and continue online classes toward a master's degree.
Less than two months later, however, Smith found himself back in a Stallions uniform to help remedy a series of quarterback injuries. With no other healthy quarterbacks on the roster, Smith entered the starting lineup, led the team to a 3-1 regular-season finish and will start Sunday as the Stallions host the Michigan Panthers (3 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+) in the UFL playoffs.
His return to the field after 2 1/2 years was a surprise to all, given the direction his career took after guiding the Stallions to the 2022 USFL title. He missed all but one game in 2023 because of a torn ligament in his right hand and returned as a backup in 2024. Facing a similar role in 2025, his brief retirement ultimately was only a preamble to a remarkable comeback story.
"The things I was thinking and going through mentally before the season," Smith told ESPN, "I just had to figure it out. Figure out what was best for me, what was the next step, take a step back a little bit and just let things happen. It turned out in my favor, and I'm blessed and thankful for it."
SMITH HAD REUNITED with Stallions coach Skip Holtz, for whom he played at Louisiana Tech from 2016-19, in 2022 with intentions of launching a dynasty. That dynasty has taken form -- the Stallions won another USFL championship in 2023 and the UFL title (the league the resulted from the USFL/XFL merger) in 2024 -- but Smith's career hadn't followed, which ultimately led to his sudden retirement in March.
How unexpected was his decision to call it quits? Smith said he had begun the nearly 10-hour drive from Birmingham to the UFL's training camp in Arlington, Texas, in early March, when he began having second thoughts. At age 28, he said he couldn't imagine another season as a backup.
"I crossed into Ruston, Louisiana (roughly halfway to Arlington), and I just had a thought," Smith said. "I felt like I was forcing myself to do something I wasn't comfortable with, and it kept eating at me mentally. I had to take care of my mental (state). I felt like I was healthy mentally and didn't want to put anything in jeopardy by doing something that didn't feel right."
Finally, he pulled into a Buc-ee's travel center. He bought a sweet tea and paced the parking lot, speaking quietly to himself. A few minutes later, Smith jumped in his car and pointed it back toward Birmingham.
Smith had been one of the Stallions' background heroes in 2024, according to Holtz, with his energetic expressions of support for starting quarterbacks Adrian Martinez and Matt Corral as well as the entire team during games. Fans would tell Holtz that Smith was their favorite player, based purely on what they saw from him on the sidelines.
But remaining upbeat while being relegated to the bench for another season wasn't something Smith was interested in doing. If he wasn't going to start, he was ready to start on a career after football.
"He had just this incredible attitude in handling it all last year," Holtz said. "He's got this vocal, upbeat, strong personality. I was really looking forward to him coming back this season. And right before camp I think he just felt like he wasn't in a place that he could go back and be as positive and supportive. I understood that."
SMITH ESTIMATES HE applied for 10 jobs once he returned home from Ruston. He hadn't given up the idea of a return to the UFL, but he wanted to preserve his savings from previous seasons, he said, to support his son. He made clear in job interviews that he could leave at any point if an opportunity to play -- and not serve as a backup -- arose. That didn't land well.
"They told me they would love to have me if I was done playing football," Smith said. "But I had decided I wanted to continue football until the gas tank went empty."
The only offer he received was from Dunkin'. In addition to the early morning hours he preferred, it also included an opportunity to participate in management training.
"I looked at it as them giving me a great opportunity," he said. "It was great pay for what I was doing. You've got to pay bills. You know what I mean?"
Smith brought "incredible energy" to the early-morning shift and was a "genuinely dependable and uplifting presence," said Lola Zatarain, the store's manager who said a handful of the store's employees have made plans to attend Sunday's game.
On most days when his shift was over, Smith would meet Birmingham-based quarterback trainer Demetric Price at 4:30 p.m. They did their best to recreate the throwing workouts Smith would have participated in during training camp, putting a special emphasis on footwork in the pocket.
"He was working hard at it even though his mindset was all over the place," Price said. "It was like, 'Do I really want to do it? Do I really want to go back through this again?' Then we had this talk after a little while, and I was just basically telling him that I didn't know why I felt it, but I felt that his chance was coming. It seemed like that was going to happen."
Smith had intentionally tuned out from Stallions games, not wanting to get emotionally involved. He would usually head to the gym during their broadcasts. But Price and others had seen the beginnings of an unlikely domino effect. Birmingham starter Alex McGough suffered a shoulder injury in Week 2 and went on injured reserve. Corral replaced him, with Case Cookus moving up to No. 2. Holtz had heard that Smith was working out and reached out to him after McGough's injury, but the two didn't connect. Instead, the Stallions signed Andrew Peasley as their No. 3.
Corral then began dealing with a hip injury and was unavailable for a Week 5 game against the Memphis Showboats. Weeks after retiring in frustration with his backup role, Smith was needed. This time, Holtz got through via phone and convinced Smith to sign a one-week deal the day before the game. Smith met the team at Birmingham's Protective Stadium and served as the No. 3 quarterback in the Stallions' 24-20 loss.
Af first, he signed just as a favor to his former coach. But as injuries continued to beset the Birmingham QBs room, it became a real opportunity.
It was time to put the Dunkin' apron away.
"Sometimes, man, you have to take a step back to take two steps forward," Price said. "He really went through the storm and climbed through the storm."
HOLTZ FIRST MET Smith in 2015, during the recruiting process that would lead Smith to join Holtz at Louisiana Tech.
"He just had a huge arm," Holtz said. "I mean, he had this really big arm and could just throw it a mile. Then he had to learn to control it. It's not a punt, pass and kick competition. You have to learn to throw it, and that's what he did and continues to do."
Holtz's offensive scheme has remained largely unchanged over that period, and Smith didn't have much to catch up on when he signed his one-week contract.
At that point, Holtz thought Corral would be ready for Week 6. Smith remained in Birmingham while the rest of the team returned to the UFL's central practice facility in Arlington.
Corral, however, reinjured the hip in practice and went on injured reserve. Smith signed a second contract May 2 and again met the team in Birmingham for the Stallions' May 4 game against the San Antonio Brahmas in Week 6.
"So the first two games that he was in uniform," Holtz said, "the only chance I got to see him throw was during pregame warmups."
Smith briefly remained in Birmingham after the game with the Brahmas but soon decided to join the team in Arlington, driving overnight -- "the red-eye drive," he said -- to get there in time to practice for the Stallions' Week 7 game against the Houston Roughnecks. In that game, Cookus suffered a right elbow injury and Peasley was unavailable with a knee injury, so Smith replaced Cookus at the end of a 33-25 victory.
"J'Mar just became the healthiest quarterback I had," Holtz said. "That was really it."
Smith hasn't looked back since. He had some shaky throws in his first start, a 29-28 loss to the St. Louis Battlehawks, a playoff team, in Week 8, but finished the season with two victories in his three starts and a total of 758 passing yards and another 90 rushing, along with seven total touchdowns in parts of four games.
"J'mar and I go back since the '23 season ... and we just clicked right away," said wide receiver Deon Cain, the Stallions' leader in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. "He welcomed me with open arms to the team after them coming off of a championship year, trying to get acclimated to the playbook. ... And you know our relationship really just clicked really quick since then. ... for him to be back here now, to really see how he prepares himself each and every day coming to work, leading our team vocally, and through his play, has definitely been a great turnaround for him. I'm excited to see how he finishes out the season for us."
Holtz is happy to see where Smith is at as well.
"You're talking about a guy that really hadn't played football in 2½ years," Holtz said. "If you take that into account, and remember he was in the working world, you realize what a credit this is to him, just staying diligent with it. He didn't give up on it and just say, 'Well, forget it. It's over.' He's kept his own dream alive for this opportunity. What a great lesson for everybody."
Smith is realistic about where this run might, or might not, take him. He spent time in training camp with the New England Patriots (2020) and the CFL's Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2021) before finding a home in Birmingham. At the very least, grad school -- and the Dunkin' management training program -- will have to wait.
"I just love the game of football," Smith said. "I've had some shots, and I wish I knew back then what I know now. But as long as I can continue to play in this league, or in any league that wants to give me an opportunity to go spin it, I'm all about it."