On Location: Hula Bowl Day 2 Recap
All Access Football is in Daytona Beach, Florida for the 80th Altrua HealthShare Hula Bowl to bring you the names you need to know for the 2026 NFL Draft!
On Location Hula Bowl Coverage Presented By Sports Management Worldwide Football Career Conference — Coming To Indianapolis During The NFL Scouting Combine — February 26-27, 2026. Two Days of Networking & Educational Panels, Featuring Guest Speakers Adam Schefter of ESPN, Brian Baldinger of NFL Network & Hundreds of Industry Professionals! Reserve Your Ticket Here.
2026 NFL DRAFT QUICK LINK REFERENCES
You can find sortable ranked prospects for every Power Four program below, along with rankings, all-star game trackers, latest mock drafts, videos, podcasts and more.
BIG BOARD: QB | RB | WR | TE | OT | OG | C | DT | ER | LB | CB | S
TRACKING: HOT 100 PROSPECTS | 2026 UNDERCLASSMEN TRACKER
ALL-STAR ROSTERS: SENIOR | SHRINE | AMERICAN | HULA | DREAM | FCS
AAF ON LOCATION: 80TH HULA BOWL — DAY 2 RECAP
Welcome to the January 8, 2026 edition of the All Access Football Newsletter.
In this edition of the All Access Football Newsletter, we bring you on location coverage from day two of the Altrua HealthShare Hula Bowl in Daytona Beach, Florida.
The second day of practice featured full pads, as Team Aina (head coach Jay Gruden) and Team Kai (head coach Jon Gruden) continue to install the playbook but a good portion of the session included one-on-one drills, so that NFL scouts can better evaluate prospects. Several CFL teams are also in attendance, as well as a handful of UFL representatives.
A spirited practice ensued and before we dive into the standouts from the second day of practice, we would like to share a few words on some of the behind the scenes inner-workings of the event and the all-star game circuit in general. There has been some negative publicity surrounding the Altrua HealthShare Hula Bowl on social media, primarily from individuals who are not in attendance. As a result, a handful of agents opted to pull their players from the game. It’s time to set the record straight.
ON LOCATION: HULA BOWL — JON GRUDEN RALLIES THE TROOPS
The execution of hosting an all-star game event is a costly and arduous task. Some of the pushback has been unfair in their assessment of what is transpiring on the ground. Like any all-star game, hiccups are expected. Having been involved with all-star game events and traveling the trails for the past two decades, best believe that they are not the first event to have equipment arrive late. The first day of practice was relegated to minimal contact drills as a result but the most valuable aspect of these events are for NFL scouts to meet and interview players.
It has been remarkable to see how quickly media and agents are to piggyback off the bad PR, with the term ‘money-grab’ being attached to the event. As an unbiased observer, this couldn’t be any further from the truth. For those folks, riddle me this … the Altrua HealthShare Hula Bowl covers all costs to fly participants in and takes care of their hotel accommodations for the week. Players are provided three catered meals per day and transportation, while getting to meet with NFL scouts. Where is the ‘money-grab?’
We have learned that a significant amount of players were pulled from the event, mainly by new and younger agents. This benefitted absolutely no one. In fact, everyone loses. Aspiring pro prospects were denied a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity due to a handful of bad apples who unrightfully smeared the event and several inexperienced agents who did their clients a major disservice. The main reason for speaking out on this topic is that so hopefully, everyone can learn and better understand for the future. To attend an all-star game is a privilege. Let’s start acting that way!
Now onto our observations …
ON LOCATION: HULA BOWL DAY 1 RECAP || OFFICIAL WEIGH-IN MESUREMENTS
ON LOCATION: 80TH HULA BOWL DAY TWO MONEY MAKERS
Several prospects have made quick work boosting their draft stock during the first two days of practice and have rapidly become in-demand for NFL team interviews.
