The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cavaliers of the National Basketball Association and the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. The franchise was originally based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and then later in Las Vegas, Nevada, before relocating to Cleveland for the 2008 AFL season. The Gladiators qualified for the playoffs eight times in their history, reaching the ArenaBowl in 2014.
James Foster is the inventor of the game of Arena Football,, the founder and first commissioner of the Arena Football League (AFL). He is also a former National Football League (NFL) and United States Football League (USFL) executive and was later the Managing Owner of both the Iowa Barnstormers and the AF2's Quad City Steamwheelers.
Jerome Monahan Burns was an American college and professional football coach. He played in college for the Michigan Wolverines before becoming a coach. He was the head coach for the Iowa Hawkeyes from 1961 to 1965, compiling a record of 16–27–2, and for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL) from 1986 to 1991, tallying a mark of 52–43 in the regular season, and 3–3 in the postseason. Between his head coaching stints Burns was a defensive assistant (1965–1967) for the Green Bay Packers, helping the team win Super Bowls I and II, and Offensive Coordinator (1968–1985) for the Minnesota Vikings, where he coached the team to four Super Bowl appearances.
The Quad City Steamwheelers were a professional arena football team. They were a charter member of the AF2 and played their home games at iWireless Center in Moline, Illinois.
The Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings were an Arena Football League team based in Bossier City, Louisiana. They played at the CenturyTel Center in Bossier City and took their name from the metropolitan area that consists of Bossier City and neighboring city Shreveport in the Ark-La-Tex corridor. Playing in the defunct af2 from their inception in 2001 until the league's folding in 2009, the team had its best seasons in 2002, 2007, 2008, and 2009 having clinched division titles in the latter two years. They were also the only seasons in which the team had more wins than losses. In 2007, the Battle Wings clinched their first-ever playoff berth, beating the Arkansas Twisters and Rio Grande Valley Dorados before being beaten by the eventual Arena Cup champion Tulsa Talons. Despite having little success in their earlier days, the Battle Wings turned out some players who went on to appear in both the Canadian Football League and for other teams the Arena Football League, in which the team itself played for a single season after the AFL emerged from bankruptcy and resumed operations. Following the 2010 season, the team moved to New Orleans, Louisiana for the 2011 AFL season and became a successor to the New Orleans VooDoo.
The Iowa Barnstormers are a professional indoor football team based in Des Moines, Iowa. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). They play their home games at Wells Fargo Arena, known in indoor football circles as "The Well".
Michael Joseph Stoops is an American football coach and former player, who is the inside linebackers coach at the University of Kentucky. Stoops also served as the head football coach at the University of Arizona from 2003 until his firing during the 2011 season. He previously served as an assistant football coach at the University of Iowa, Kansas State University, and University of Oklahoma. He is the younger brother of Bob Stoops, the former head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners football program, and the older brother of Mark Stoops, head coach of the Kentucky Wildcats football program. He returned to Oklahoma as the defensive coordinator in 2012. He served in the position until he was fired on October 7, 2018. After spending time at the University of Alabama as an analyst, he spent one season as the defensive coordinator of the Florida Atlantic Owls in 2021.
Michael Louis Hohensee is a former professional football quarterback who played in the United States Football League, Canadian Football League, National Football League and Arena Football League. He most recently the head coach of the AFL's Portland Thunder. He played college football at the University of Minnesota, and was in the AFL for two seasons, from 1987 to 1988. Hohensee has been a head coach since 1990, beginning at the Washington Commandos. He has served as head coach of eight different arena football franchises, winning ArenaBowl XX with the Chicago Rush in 2006.
Kahlil Rafiq Carter, is a former professional gridiron football player who currently serves as the head coach of the Cologne Centurions of the European League of Football.
John Gregory was an American football head coach. He coached college football and at the professional level in the Canadian Football League (CFL), Arena Football League (AFL), and Indoor Football League (IFL).
Ray Jauch is an American former gridiron football player and coach. He was head coach in the Canadian Football League (CFL), the United States Football League (USFL), and the Arena Football League. He won 127 regular season games in the CFL, the sixth highest win total by a head coach in the league's history.
Joseph Lawrence "Lary" Kuharich Jr. was an American football coach who was most recently the offensive coordinator of the Arena Football League's Columbus Destroyers. He was the son of former Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Philadelphia Eagles head football coach Joe Kuharich and the brother of former New Orleans Saints General Manager Bill Kuharich.
Rickey Foggie is a former gridiron football quarterback. Foggie was the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Golden Gophers for four seasons, before going on to play professionally in the Canadian Football League and Arena Football League. Foggie is currently a head football coach in high school football in Red Wing, Minnesota.
Kevin Guy is an arena football coach and former wide receiver and defensive back who is the head coach for the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League (IFL). He played his college football at the University of West Alabama, and was an AFL wide receiver and defensive back from 1996 to 1999. He has been a football coach since 2000, and first served as a head coach in 2000 as the interim head coach for the New Jersey Red Dogs. After being the defensive coordinator for the San Jose SaberCats from 2006 to 2007, he became the Rattlers head coach in 2008. In 2018, his wife Cathy became co-owner of a new Tucson-based IFL franchise, called the Tucson Sugar Skulls, set to play in 2019.
Rob Keefe is a former arena football defensive specialist and coach. Keefe has five championship victories and is the only person in arena football history to win ArenaCup (af2) and ArenaBowl (AFL) titles as both a player and a coach. As of the 2022 season, he is an assistant head coach and defensive coordinator with the Northern Arizona Wranglers in the Indoor Football League.
Les Moss is an American football coach and current head coach of the Northern Arizona Wranglers in the Indoor Football League (IFL). He was the head coach of the Jacksonville Sharks of the Arena Football League (AFL) from 2010 to 2016 and the assistant head coach of the Albany Empire of the AFL from 2018 to 2019. He was the head coach of the IFL's Iowa Barnstormers for the 2021 season. He is the son of former NFL, AFL, CFL and NCAA head football coach Perry Moss, who is enshrined in the AFL Hall of Fame.
Lee Johnson is an arena football coach and former offensive lineman and defensive lineman. He played his college football at the University of Missouri, and was an AFL offensive lineman and defensive lineman from 1995 to 1996. He has been a football coach since 1997. After being the defensive coordinator for the Orlando Predators from 2010 to 2011, he became the San Antonio Talons head coach in 2011.
Ronald R. Selesky, Jr. is a former American football center and arena football coach. He played college football at North Central College and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He has a daughter named Erin Selesky (19). He also served as the Director of Football Operations for the Birmingham Iron of the Alliance of American Football (AAF), and held the same position with the Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL in 2020 prior to the league folding.
Pete Costanza is a professional Canadian football coach who is the pass game coordinator and receivers coach for the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Arthur T. Haege was an American football player and coach. He played college football at St. Ambrose and later had short stints in the American Football League (AFL) with the Boston Patriots, the United Football League (UFL) with the Chicago Bulls, and the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. During his time in professional football, he began a coaching career. Haege later coached various teams at the high school, college, and professional arena football levels.
