The Pioneer Football League (PFL) is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) as a football-only conference. It has member schools that range from New York, North Carolina, and Florida in the east to California in the west. It is headquartered in St. Louis, in the same complex that also contains the offices of the Missouri Valley Conference and Missouri Valley Football Conference. Unlike most other Division I FCS conferences, the Pioneer League consists of institutions that choose not to award athletic scholarships ("grants-in-aid") to football players.
The Boston Yanks were a National Football League team based in Boston, Massachusetts, that played from 1944 to 1948. The team played its home games at Fenway Park. Any games that conflicted with the Boston Red Sox baseball schedule in the American League were held at Braves Field of the cross-town National League team, the Boston Braves. Team owner Ted Collins, who managed singer and television show host Kate Smith (1907–1986) for thirty years, picked the name Yanks because he originally wanted to run a team that played at New York City's old Yankee Stadium. The Yanks managed only a 2–8 record during their first regular season.
The Dayton Triangles were an original franchise of the American Professional Football Association in 1920. The Triangles were based in Dayton, Ohio, and took their nickname from their home field, Triangle Park, which was located at the confluence of the Great Miami and Stillwater Rivers in north Dayton. They were the longest-lasting traveling team in the NFL (1920–1929), and the last such "road team" until the Dallas Texans in 1952, who, coincidentally, descended from the Dayton franchise.
Archie Mason Griffin is an American former football running back who played for seven seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes. The only two-time Heisman Trophy winner, he is considered one of the greatest college football players of all time. Griffin won four Big Ten Conference titles with the Buckeyes and was the first player ever to start in four Rose Bowls. He also played professionally for the Jacksonville Bulls of the United States Football League (USFL).
The Dayton Sharks were a professional indoor football team based in Dayton, Ohio. The team was a member of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). The franchise started as an expansion team in the CIFL during the 2013 season. The Sharks were the fifth indoor football team to be based in Dayton, the first being the Dayton Skyhawks of the original Indoor Football League. The Skyhawks were followed by the Dayton Warbirds, who later became the Dayton Bulldogs, of the National Indoor Football League the third being the Cincinnati Marshals who played their 2007 season in Dayton and the fourth being the Dayton Silverbacks who played from 2006 to 2012. The Owner of the Sharks was CA Sports Entertainment LLC. The Sharks played their home games at Hara Arena in nearby Trotwood, Ohio.
The Dayton Flyers men's basketball team is a college basketball program that competes in NCAA Division I and the Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) representing the University of Dayton in Ohio. The Flyers play their home games at University of Dayton Arena. The Flyers are coached by Anthony Grant who is in his fifth season. In March 2020, Dayton was ranked #3 in the AP Top 25 Poll, its highest ranking since the 1955–56 season when it was ranked #2. The Flyers have never been ranked #1, but Dayton did receive a lone first place vote in the final AP poll of the 2019–2020 season.
The Ohio League was an informal and loose association of American football clubs active between 1902 and 1919 that competed for the Ohio Independent Championship (OIC). As the name implied, its teams were mostly based in Ohio. It is the direct predecessor to the modern National Football League (NFL).
Alphonse Herman Mahrt was a professional football player and coach who played his entire career with the Dayton Triangles of the "Ohio League" and later the National Football League (NFL). He was an early proponent of the forward pass after the revolutionary play was added to an extensive list of regulations to college football in 1906. By 1911 when most of the pass restrictions were lifted, Mahrt debuted as regular back on St. Mary’s Institute’s varsity football team. Mahrt discovered that spinning the throw of the ball increased accuracy and distance, establishing an aerial offense against such teams as Xavier University and Otterbein College.
Dayton Dutch Lions is an American soccer team based in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 2009, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. From 2011 to 2014, the team played in the USL Professional Division.
The 2011 Dayton Flyers football team represented the University of Dayton in the 2011 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Flyers were led by fourth-year head coach Rick Chamberlin and played their home games at Welcome Stadium. They are a member of the Pioneer Football League. They finished the season 6–5, 4–4 in PFL play to finish in fifth place. The team was awarded White-Allen Most Valuable Player Trophy.
The Dayton Silverbacks were a professional indoor football team based in Dayton, Ohio. The team was a member of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). The franchise started as the Miami Valley Silverbacks and joined the CIFL in 2007 after playing their inaugural season as an expansion team in the American Indoor Football Association. The Silverbacks were the fourth indoor football team to be based in Dayton, the first being the Dayton Skyhawks of the original Indoor Football League. The Skyhawks were followed by the Dayton Warbirds, who later became the Dayton Bulldogs, of the National Indoor Football League and the third being the Cincinnati Marshals who played their 2007 season in Dayton. The Silverbacks played their home games at Hara Arena in nearby Trotwood, Ohio.
The 2013 Dayton Flyers football team represented the University of Dayton in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by sixth-year head coach Rick Chamberlin and played their home games at Welcome Stadium. They were a member of the Pioneer Football League. They finished the season 7–4, 5–3 in PFL play to finish in a tie for fourth place. The team was awarded White-Allen Most Valuable Player Trophy.
Dayton Dynamo were a soccer organization based in Dayton, Ohio. After taking off the 2018 season in the hopes of returning in 2019 in a more professional league, those ambitions never came into place and around midway through 2019, the team ceased operations. They last played in the National Premier Soccer League in the fourth tier of American soccer.
Louis "Foose" Clark was an American football player and coach at both the college and professional levels. He played for St. Mary's College—now known as the University of Dayton— from the 1908 through 1911 seasons before becoming their head coach. Clark was also the first head coach of the Dayton Triangles, an early professional football franchise that entered into the National Football League (NFL) after Clark's playing and coaching careers for the team were over.
James Stanley is an American gridiron football Linebackers Coach & Pass Game Analyst for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Stanley played professional indoor football from 2004 to 2007 for various teams in the Arena Football League (AFL), AF2, National Indoor Football League (NIFL) and American Indoor Football League (AIFL) and was the first overall pick in the AIFL draft in 2005. He has coached for several teams at the college and professional levels. Stanley was the linebackers coach for the Toronto Argonauts when won the 100th Grey Cup in 2012.
The Dayton Wolfpack were a professional indoor football team and a charter member of the National Arena League (NAL) in its inaugural 2017 season. Originally to be based in Dayton, Ohio, the Wolfpack had announced their home venue as the Nutter Center but apparently failed to reach a lease agreement. The Wolfpack were then listed as a traveling team by the NAL.
The 1925 Dayton Flyers football team was an American football team that represented the University of Dayton as an independent during the 1925 college football season. In its third season under head coach Harry Baujan, the team compiled a 7–2 record and shut out five of nine opponents. Louis Mahrt was the team captain. At the end of the season, the Dayton Daily News called the team "the best in the history of the school." The team played its home games at the newly built University of Dayton Stadium in Dayton, Ohio.
The 1926 Holy Cross Crusaders football team was an American football team that represented the College of the Holy Cross as an independent during the 1926 college football season. In its eighth season under head coach Cleo A. O'Donnell, the team compiled a 7–1–2 record. The team played its home games at Fitton Field in Worcester, Massachusetts.
The American Football Conference was a low-level American football minor league that operated between 1959 and 1961. The AFC was the first football league to operate teams in both the United States and Canada.
The Dayton–Drake football rivalry is an American college football rivalry between the Dayton Flyers and Drake Bulldogs. The rivalry began in 1952 and the teams have meet annually since 1987.
