Salt Lake Screaming Eagles

Salt Lake Screaming Eagles
Established 2016
Folded 2017
Played in Maverik Center
in West Valley City, Utah
SaltLakeScreamingEagles.com
HelmetLogo
League/conference affiliations

Indoor Football League (2017)

  • Intense Conference (2017)
Team colors Navy blue, red, white
              
Personnel
Owner(s) Project FANchise
President Thom Carter
Head coach Matthew Sauk
Team history
  • Salt Lake Screaming Eagles (2017)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Home arena(s)

The Salt Lake Screaming Eagles were a professional indoor football team based in West Valley City, Utah, near Salt Lake City. The Screaming Eagles started as an expansion team in the Indoor Football League (IFL) and began play in 2017 with home games at the Maverik Center. The team folded when ownership left the IFL to start their own league.

History

The team was announced in April 2016 by a group called Project FANchise with the intent on creating an entirely fan operated indoor football team.[1] The project announced that fans would vote on every aspect of the team including the name of the team, signing players, and calling plays. On June 6, the name of the team was announced as the Screaming Eagles after the 101st Airborne Division.[2] The name was picked over the more controversial choices of "Teamy McTeamface," "Sandtroopers,"[3] and "Stormin' Mormons."[4] William McCarthy was voted in as the first head coach in franchise history.

The team made their debut at home against the Nebraska Danger on February 16, 2017. They lost 78–47 in a game which featured the fans storming the field after the Eagles scored the first fan-called touchdown in franchise history. Also, the team introduced their part-owner, Norm Macdonald, who helped call part of the game streamed live on SI.com (Sports Illustrated) and YouTube.[5] The team won their first game the next week defeating the Colorado Crush 42–41 on February 26. On March 1, the team then fired head coach William McCarthy due to philosophical differences[6] and then hired Matthew Sauk as its new head coach without using the fan vote system. However, the FANchise vote system made national news once again when their fans voted against signing former NFL player Greg Hardy on March 30, 2017.[7]

On April 20, 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported that Project FANchise was planning on launching a new league called the "Interactive Football League". Project FANchise CEO Sohrob Farudi confirmed that the Screaming Eagles would finish the 2017 Indoor Football League season[8] and would be leaving the league afterwards.[9] The league was later re-branded as the "Electronic Football League" (eFL) in October 2017 and then as the "Fan Controlled Football League" (FCFL) in November 2017.[10] The new league is planned to play all of its games in only one city with eight new teams and the Screaming Eagles do not appear to be among the considerations.

Notable players

Final roster

2017 Salt Lake Screaming Eagles roster
Quarterbacks
  •  1 Verlon Reed

Running backs

  • 17 Bubba Poole
  • 16 Lucien Walker

Wide receivers

  • 14 Dorian Buford
  • 21 Juwan Dotson
  •  8 Delric Ellington
  •  7 Chris Robinson
  • 10 Dontrelle Sanford
  • 11 Tanqueray Towns
 Offensive linemen
  • 92 Siaosi Aiono
  • 99 Zach Fondal
  • 52 Royce Roxas

Defensive linemen

  • 75 Quinton Bradley
  • 97 Viliseni Fauonuku
  • 53 Sisale Hautau
  • 52 Michael Ward
 Linebackers
  • 25 Jerome McElroy
  •  9 Gionni Paul

Defensive backs

  •  6 Ed Burns
  • 11 James Calhoun
  • 12 Rashard Greene
  • 14 Kelvin Lee

Special teams

  • 13 Scott Thomsen
 Reserve lists
  •  2 Breon Allen RB (IR)
  • 10 Trent Andrus K (IR)
  • 99 David Gilbert DL (IR)
  • 52 Ofa Hautau DL (IR)
  • 51 Alex Land OL (Exempt.)
  • 10 Derwyn Lauderdale WR (IR)
  • -- Lene Maiava OL (Exempt.)
  • 15 Gianni Olivas DB (IR)
  •  9 Devon Price WR (IR)
  •  5 Jesse Scroggins QB (IR)
  • 13 Cy Strahm WR (IR)
  • Rookies in italics
  • Roster updated June 13, 2017
  • 25 Active, 12 Inactive

→ More rosters

All-League selections

Individual awards

Staff

Salt Lake Screaming Eagles staff
Front Office
  • Majority Owner – Project FANchise
  • President – Thom Carter
  

Head Coach

Offensive Coaches

  • Offensive Coordinator – The Fans
  • Offensive line coach – Jaren Skinner

Defensive Coaches

  • co-Defensive Coordinator – Sergio Gilliam
  • co-Defensive Coordinator – Kevin Bello

Statistics and records

Season-by-season results

League Champions Conference Champions Division Champions Playoff Berth League Leader
Season Team League Conference Division Regular season Postseason results
FinishWinsLosses
2017 2017IFLIntense 4th511
Totals 511All-time record

Head coach records

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2017 Indoor Football League season.

Name Term Regular season Playoffs Awards
WLWin%WL
William McCarthy201711.50000
Matthew Sauk2017410.28600

References

  1. ↑ "Project FANchise Launches First-Ever Fan-Run Pro Sports Team". OurSports Central. April 21, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Fans Have Spoken: Team Name is "Screaming Eagles"". OurSports Central". June 7, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Teamy McTeamfaces losing ground in naming contest for Utah's Indoor Football team". KSTU. June 1, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Stormin' Mormons and Teamy McTeamFace lead fan vote to name Utah pro football franchise". Salt Lake Tribune. May 24, 2016.
  5. ↑ Joe Coles (February 16, 2017). "Fans rush the field, but Screaming Eagles fall to Nebraska Danger in inaugural game, 78-47". Deseret News.
  6. ↑ "Screaming Eagles Make Coaching Change". IFL. March 1, 2017.
  7. ↑ Shalise Manza Young (March 30, 2017). "Fans of Indoor Football League team vote no to adding Greg Hardy to roster". Yahoo Sports.
  8. ↑ "How Can Football Video Games Get More Realistic? Real Humans". The Wall Street Journal. April 20, 2017.
  9. ↑ "WEEKLY SPORTS LEAGUE & FRANCHISE REPORT". OurSports Central. April 24, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Hello World – Introducing the eFL and the FAN Token". Electronic Football League. October 11, 2017.
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