- Snow College has spent generations moving junior-college football players into FBS and FCS programs, and the 2025 Badgers roster is the next cohort of that pipeline on the record.
- Snow College Badgers Football connect back to Snow College and the wider football picture.
- The story is backed by 5 sources and a visible last-verified date.
April 12, 2026
April 1, 2026
4 min / 833 words
5 official links
Snow College Football in Ephraim is one of the most productive junior-college football programs in the country, and the numbers behind its 2026 signing class show exactly why it is Utah's shortest path from JUCO to Division I.
The 2026 signing class was built around Utah talent
Snow's February 4, 2026 release on its National Signing Class put the program's identity in numbers: the Badgers brought in 48 players, including six Division I transfers, 11 all-state selections from Utah, and a class that was 39-for-48 in-state by origin. That is a roster built deliberately around Utah talent and Division I experience, not a collection of unknowns passing through.
Head coach Zac Erekson leads the Badgers with a staff that includes defensive coordinator Mark Wilson, offensive-line assistant Trever McFalls, running-backs coach Matt Beecher, and defensive-line coach Stevie Tu'ikolovatu. The staff detail matters because most JUCO coverage treats Utah's NJCAA programs as a single blur. Snow is a specific shop with a specific roster-building identity.
The Division I destinations are on the record
The pipeline runs in both directions, and Snow's own records show where its players go. One Badgers signing group sent twelve players to the four-year level: Tayson Reid to the University of Utah, TJ Hudson and Gabe Ofisa to SUU, Teni Worthen and Seth Rigtrup to Weber State, Sekope Wallace to UTSA, Martin Alisandro to Tarleton State, Kime Fangupo to San Diego State, Myles Peters to Central Michigan, Colby Williams to South Alabama, Kannin Boswell to Southwest Oklahoma, and Jay Summers into professional Australian Rules football.
That is six of the state's four-year football programs plus three out-of-state destinations, sourced from a single Snow signing class. Transfer tracking at Utah State Football, SUU, and BYU regularly traces back through Ephraim — and covering that movement at the Snow level means the Badgers chapter of each story is already on the record before the receiving school's signing graphic goes out.
The NFL alumni thread gives Snow national reach
The professional destination is rare for a Utah JUCO program, but Snow has it on record. The school's April 29, 2024 release confirmed wide receiver Tejhuan Palmer went to the Arizona Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2024 NFL Draft (pick No. 191) after a UAB career that followed his 2020 Snow season — eight games, 32 receptions, 697 yards, and 11 touchdowns, plus a four-catch, 131-yard, one-touchdown NJCAA Championship game against Hutchinson.
The same release covered Nathan Latu, a Salt Lake City native and defensive end who signed with the New Orleans Saints as an undrafted free agent after three years at Oklahoma State. His Snow foundation, built in the 2019 season, included 21 total tackles, 4.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles in six games. One drafted, one a UDFA contract — together they give Snow a credible claim that the pipeline reaches the professional level.
Why the in-state recruiting number matters
The 39-of-48 in-state figure from the 2026 class is the detail that separates Snow from a generic junior-college program. The Badgers compete in the Scenic West Athletic Conference inside NJCAA Region 18, a level where many rosters are stocked with out-of-state recruits chasing a second chance. Snow instead leans on Utah high schools, which makes the pipeline a closed loop: Utah players develop in Ephraim and feed back into Utah's four-year programs.
That loop is why the Badgers belong in statewide coverage rather than national JUCO roundups. When Utah, SUU, Weber State, or Utah State adds a Snow transfer, the player frequently came out of a Utah high school in the first place — Springville, Spanish Fork, and similar Wasatch Front and central-Utah towns. The four-year signing is the visible moment, but the development happened an hour or two down the road.
For families and high school coaches, that changes how Snow reads. It is not a place Utah players leave the state to reach. It is a second in-state runway: a recruit who is missed, injured, or a step behind in the first cycle can stay close, play immediately, and rebuild a Division I profile without disappearing from the Utah map.
Key facts: Snow College Badgers football
- Program: Snow College, Ephraim, Utah
- Level: NJCAA, Scenic West Athletic Conference (SWAC), Region 18
- Head coach: Zac Erekson
- 2026 signing class: 48 players — six Division I transfers, 11 Utah all-state selections, 39-of-48 in-state
- Recent Division I destinations: Utah, SUU, Weber State, UTSA, San Diego State, Central Michigan, and more from one signing group
- NFL alumni: Tejhuan Palmer (Arizona Cardinals, 2024 sixth round) and Nathan Latu (New Orleans Saints)
What to watch next
Snow's 2026 class listed six Division I transfers already in the room. Those names will appear on the fall roster, and that is the next Badgers-to-Division-I cycle forming in public. The strongest future profiles will come from players with verified offers, published honors, or confirmed transfer movement — each one connecting the official Snow record to the receiving school, the player's hometown, and the football reason the move makes sense.