Five former Salukis will be involved with Major League Football when it begins its inaugural season this year.

SIU’s five draftees leads the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Illinois State had four.

The eight-team league was founded in 2014 by Wes Chandler, who played in the NFL from 1978 to 1988. He was a four-time Pro Bowler and coached in the league for six years.

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Former Saluki linebacker Bryan Presume and defensive tackle/nose guard Kayon Swanson were drafted to former Dallas Cowboys’ head coach Dave Campo’s team in rounds 37 and 40 of the MLFB draft.

Presume graduated in 2013 and was a first-team All-MVFC player his senior season. He finished his SIU career with 205 tackles and 6.5 sacks in 34 games. Presume was signed as a free agent by the Atlanta Falcons in 2014, but never played in the NFL.

Swanson attended SIU from 2008 to 2012 and had 136 tackles in 45 career games. He was second-team All-Conference as a junior.

Campo coached the Cowboys from 2000 to 2002, finishing with a 15-33 record and the worst winning percentage, .313, in Cowboys’ history.

Former Saluki linebackers Stephen Franklin and Dinnus Harding were drafted to Charles Collins’ team, in rounds 59 and 69, respectively.

Franklin played with SIU from 2007 to 2010 and finished his career with 174 tackles, 12.5 tackles for a loss and 6.5 sacks in 50 games and was second-team All-MVFC as a senior. He played in five games with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2011 and recorded two tackles. Last year he played for the Colorado Crush of the Indoor Football League.

Harding played with the Salukis from 2011 to 2014 as a walk-on and finished with 12 tackles in 18 career games.

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Collins’ coaching career began at Santa Monica Community College where he coached Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson and Steve Smith in 1997. The duo have combined for 11 Pro Bowl selections, 24,991 yards and 143 touchdowns in the NFL.

In round 60, coach Chris Miller drafted former SIU running back Mulku Kalokoh.

Kalokoh played with the Salukis in 2011 and 2012, finishing his career with 717 all-purpose yards and one receiving touchdown. He was named the IFL special teams player of the year last season with the Bemidji Axemen and led the league with 991 kick return yards and five kick return touchdowns. Kalokoh finished second in the league with 1,550 all-purpose yards.

Miller played quarterback in the NFL from 1987 to 1999 after being selected 13th in the 1987 NFL Draft by the Falcons.

Brent Meske can be reached at [email protected] or at 536-3333