January 9, 2026
By Evan Lepler and Adam Ruffner
Sometimes you just gotta go for it all immediately. Sure, we appreciate careful consideration and nuance, but every once in a while, you have to huck and hope. Welcome to “The Quick Huck", a new back-and-forth column where Evan Lepler and Adam Ruffner of the "Swing Pass" podcast will ask questions, offer perspective, and debate what the future holds in the Ultimate Frisbee Association. (CLICK FOR PREVIOUS EDITION)
Today’s prompt: If they retain most of their 2025 roster (Jacob Fairfax, Allan Laviolette, etc.), can the return of Tobias Brooks put Carolina back on top of the South Division this year?
Ruffner’s response:
A little backstory.
After falling short of their second title in the 2024 UFA Championship Game, the Carolina Flyers missed their first postseason in franchise history in 2025, ending the longest playoff streak in league history. And despite having a roster that resembled that of a contender on paper, last year’s Flyers campaign was nearly doomed from the start following their 0-4 launch. Injuries and a lack of defensive depth made Carolina a lopsided threat: explosive on offense, but seldom capable of playing complementary defense against quality opponents; in seven games against playoff level competition, the Flyers averaged just over four break scores per game, or the equivalent of a bottom four defense.
There’s no questioning Brooks’ bonafides on offense. The 21-year-old is already one of the most certifiable producers as both a thrower and receiver, stuffing highlight reels and stat sheets with dominant performances. During his last stint with the Flyers in 2024, Brooks finished the season with eight straight starts with 200-plus receiving yards. Last season, Brooks led the league in throwing yards per game, and finished top six in virtually every major passing category. And with two 400-yard receiving games and three 600-yard passing games to his name already in his short career, Brooks’s dual threat ceiling seemingly has no bounds.
Throw Brooks and his talents back into a Flyers lineup that was already third in success rate last season—and features the best one-two combo in the league with Laviolette-to-Fairfax—and the 2026 offense could have the potential to be one of the best lines ever.
My question within the question is: Does adding more firepower to an already potent offense make the Flyers leapfrog Atlanta, Austin, or San Diego in the South Division standings? And I honestly don’t know! Colorado seemingly had one of the most tantalizing lineups of offensive playmakers last season with Brooks and company, and that just did not pan out. I am not saying that happens again for Carolina in 2026 (it won’t), but the blueprint for overloading talent on offense doesn’t bear particularly ripe fruit in the modern, defensively-minded UFA.
I think if the Brooks signing is accompanied by some kind of bolster to the defense, whether that be an additional free agent, a healthier lineup, or more playing time for returners like Trevor Lynch and Christian Belus, this will be a division altering move. Head Coach Michael Avila was dialed in during the team’s 7-1 finish during his first season at the helm, and could easily carry over the momentum in Year Two. Brooks won’t be available for the Flyers until after Memorial Day due to the college schedule, but could get injected into the lineup just in time for another deep playoff push like two years ago. Avoiding another slow start in 2026 will be paramount in getting the maximum out of this Brooks signing for the Flyers.
Lepler’s response:
Yes.
(Wait, did you want me to elaborate?)
Absolutely.
(Does that clear up the ambiguity from my previous response?)
I don’t mean to be short, but I still vividly remember watching Tobias Brooks and the Flyers compete at Championship Weekend just 17 months ago. They lost in the finals by a single goal after enduring the most excruciating drop-fest of a first quarter we’ve ever seen on that type of stage. After falling behind Minnesota 8-2 in the opening 15 minutes, Carolina rallied to tie the game at 15-all. The Wind Chill made the necessary plays late in the game to hang on, but if the UFA Commissioner had suddenly decided that games are five quarters long, another 12 minutes might have tipped the championship to Carolina.
Similarly, Carolina won seven of its final eight games in 2025 after an admittedly disappointing start to the season. But it’s not like the Flyers were losing to bottom feeders. Their only setbacks came against teams that won playoff games. When Carolina had nothing to play for except pride, the Flyers still dominated the Sol in Texas when Austin just needed to take care of business at home to earn the number one seed in the South. The Flyers could’ve folded, forced the Hustle and Growlers to tangle in the first round of the playoffs, and who knows what might have transpired in a steaming South Division Title Game in triple digit Texas heat?
All of this is to say that, even at 7-5 and on the outside of the playoffs in 2025, I don’t view the Flyers as being very far away from contending for another title. Their talent pipeline is well-established, and their veteran leaders have unbreakable helixes of championship DNA. History has shown Carolina can win playoff games on the road. Just ask the 2021 Breeze or the 2024 Hustle. This is important because the Flyers very well could take some time to become the best version of themselves in 2026, creating a tougher postseason path toward the promised land.
And I’m not guaranteeing anything here. The Hustle are still the favorites. The Growlers have shown no fear when facing the Flyers. Michael Avila, entering his second season after replacing Carolina Coaching legend Mike DeNardis, still has a lot to prove. The roster has also undergone a significant transition over the past half-decade, with just five players from the 2021 championship game playing in more than one game last season.
But despite these caveats, if I’m asked could I possibly envision the Carolina Flyers rising back into the top tier of the league in 2026? My answer is, emphatically, absolutely yes.
I would have felt this way even without re-signing Tobias Brooks. With him, even for just part of the season, Carolina flirts with being considered, in my mind, virtually a co-favorite alongside Atlanta in the silly competitive South Division horse-race.
