McReynolds Brings Plenty of History Into ULM Reunion
By Steve Irvine
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - September 8, 2026
Bam McReynolds leaves no doubt that he loved his year in the Louisiana-Monroe football program.
“Just being at ULM, it gave me a chance to really show who I am on my own,” said McReynolds, a Mobile native, who spent his first three college seasons at South Alabama. “It allowed me to showcase my talents and my abilities and it allowed me to link up with a bunch of coaches that cared for me. I feel like that was a big piece of where I am now.”
It also allowed him to play for running back Hindley Brigham – or Coach Brig as his players call him – for the first time and also get coaching from Jermaine ‘Skull’ Brown, who grew up near McReynolds.
On Saturday afternoon, they will be back in the same stadium but his time they are not all on the same team. Brigham has returned to UAB and McReynolds joined him after entering the transfer portal. Brown, who, obviously, is one of the best running backs in UAB history, remains in his role at ULM under former UAB offensive coordinator and interim head coach Bryant Vincent.
McReynolds is looking forward to the reunion with not only Brown and Vincent but also his other former teammates and the assistant coaches.
“Like I said, I mean, I got love for ULM,” said McReynolds, whose given name is Braylon. “They're (an instrumental) piece of my success. I really couldn't ask for anything else, you know, just being able to play against guys that I was with last year. Being with the team now that I love and playing against a team that I still have love for.”
McReynolds said he’s talked with several former ULM teammates recently. The conversations have been cordial and friendly, just friends checking on each other. On Saturday, the talk will continue but, at least for a few hours, the tone will change.
“I'm definitely gonna talk some trash on the field,” McReynolds said. “Just being honest, that's who I am. It's not a lot of times where I really don't (talk trash). But I keep it to a moderate amount so that I’m still locked into the game.”
Saturday won’t be the first time he talks trash on the field and honestly it didn’t start once he got into college. That approach began when he was a youngster playing in Mobile. Brown grew up on those same fields a few years earlier than McReynolds. Brown went on to a standout career at St. Lukes High and at UAB, where he is the career leader in all-purpose yards with 5,026. McReynolds starred at McGill-Toolen High, twice earning All-State honors like Brown, and played in 25 games over three seasons at South Alabama.
They linked up at ULM, where McReynolds had a career-best 637 rushing yards and scored four touchdowns.
“I've been watching Skull play since park ball, so I always kind of emulated his game,” McReynolds said. “We kind of have a similar style as far as our ability to be elusive and versatile and just do whatever coach asks from us. Probably a big piece, that I can find similar, I think is our fire. I think we got the same fire. Sometimes he had more fire than me going into the games (last season). It just allowed me to build up my confidence to be more outspoken.”
Brigham also played a big role in McReynolds taking a step forward.
“He's one of those people that if you do bad, he's gonna tell you that you're doing bad and if you do good, he's gonna tell you how you can do better,” said McReynolds, who had a team-best 81 all-purpose yards in a season-opening loss at Illinois. “I really enjoy it. Sometimes you might not wanna hear it, sometimes it might get on your nerves. But you know it's coming from a sincere place in his heart and he only wants the best for you.”
The decision to follow Brigham to Birmingham says a lot about their relationship this past season. But his choice to finish his college career at UAB went deeper than that relationship.
“I love the state of Alabama,” McReynolds said during fall camp. “I'm from Alabama, an Alabama guy myself. Just getting the opportunity to come back and put on for the state, it is amazing. I've been on a team that has this certain mindset that we wanna change the program, turn it around. I've been on that type of team before and I feel the same energy that I did when we were successful. So that was a part of it, too. Coach Brig is very smart. He's a guru and I've seen my game change for the better when I was with him. It definitely affected my decision on coming here, but there's a lot more to it. I love the city of Birmingham, so coming here was a no-brainer for real.”