Philadelphia Stars | |
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Established 2021 Folded 2023 Played in Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan | |
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League/conference affiliations | |
United States Football League (2022–2023)
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Current uniform | |
Team colors | Red, orange, gold, white |
Mascot | Blob |
Personnel | |
Owner(s) | National Spring Football League Enterprises Co, LLC, (Fox Sports) |
Head coach | Bart Andrus (2022-2023) |
Team history | |
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Championships | |
League championships (0) | |
Conference championships (0) | |
Division championships (0) | |
Playoff appearances (1) | |
2022 | |
Home stadium(s) | |
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The Philadelphia Stars were a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Stars competed in the United States Football League (USFL) as a member club of the league's North division. The team played its home games at Protective Stadium and Legion Field, both in Alabama, in 2022, and Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan in 2023. Ultimately, the team would never play a game in Philadelphia. The Stars appeared in the playoffs once, won the division championship game once, and appeared in one USFL Championship Game.
On December 19, 2023, the USFL informed its players union that the Stars would be among four USFL teams to be contracted as part of the league's upcoming merger with the XFL. [1]
The Philadelphia Stars were one of eight teams that were officially announced as a USFL franchise on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on November 22, 2021. [2] On January 6, 2022, It was announced on The Herd with Colin Cowherd that former CFL Head coach Bart Andrus was named the Head coach and General manager of the Stars. [3] Andrus later announced most of his staff on January 28, 2022, on the Dan Sileo Show. [4]
During the 2022 USFL draft, the Stars selected quarterback Bryan Scott with the 3rd overall pick, [5] and selected highly touted cornberback, Channing Stribling. [6]
After training camp, Scott was officially named the Stars' starting quarterback for the 2022 season by head coach Andrus. After starting the season 2–3, the Stars went 4–1 in their last five games, clinching a playoff berth in week 8 after a victory over the Michigan Panthers. [7] They went on to beat the New Jersey Generals 19–14 in the North Division Championship game, earning them their first USFL Championship Game appearance. [8] However, despite erasing a halftime 11-point deficit, they ultimately lost on a late touchdown to the Birmingham Stallions, 33–30. [9]
On December 19, 2023, the USFL informed its players union that the Stars would be among four USFL teams to be contracted as part of the league's upcoming merger with the XFL. [1]
USFL Season | Pos | Name | NFL Team |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | WR | Maurice Alexander | Detroit Lions |
2022 | OT | Alex Akingbulu | Washington Commanders |
2023 | DT | LaBryan Ray | Carolina Panthers |
USFL Season | Pos | Name | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2023 | WR | Corey Coleman | Former Cleveland Browns Wide Receiver, 2016 1st Round Pick |
2023 | TE | Ryan Izzo | Former New England Patriots Tight End, 2018 7th Round Pick |
# | Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | ||||
Philadelphia Stars | ||||||||||
1 | Bart Andrus | 2022-2023 | 20 | 10 | 10 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
*Andrus also served as the team Offensive Coordinator
# | Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
GC | W | L | Win % | GC | W | L | ||||
Philadelphia Stars | ||||||||||
1 | Brad Miller | 2022-2023 | 20 | 10 | 10 | .500 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Season | Coach | Location | Opponent | Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Bart Andrus | Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium (Canton, Ohio) | New Jersey Generals | 19–14 | |
Total North Division Championships won: 1 |
All-time Stars leaders | ||||
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Leader | Player | Record | Years with Stars | |
Passing Yards | Case Cookus | 3,628 passing yards | 2022-2023 | |
Passing Touchdowns | Case Cookus | 27 passing touchdowns | 2022-2023 | |
Rushing Yards | Matt Colburn | 721 rushing yards | 2022-2023 | |
Rushing Touchdowns | Matt Colburn | 12 touchdowns | 2022-2023 | |
Receiving Yards | Devin Gray | 715 receiving yards | 2022-2023 | |
Receiving Touchdowns | Diondre Overton | 5 receiving touchdowns | 2022-2023 | |
Receptions | Devin Gray | 76 receptions | 2022-2023 | |
Tackles | Cody Brown | 118 tackles | 2022-2023 | |
Sacks | Adam Rodriguez | 15.0 sacks | 2022-2023 | |
Interceptions | Channing Stribling | 8 interceptions | 2022-2023 | |
Coaching wins | Bart Andrus | 10 wins | 2022-2023 |
Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play.
USFL champions† | Division champions^ | Wild Card berth# |
Season | Team | League | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | Awards | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct | ||||||||
2022 | 2022 | USFL | North | 2nd# | 6 | 4 | 0 | .600 | Won Division finals (Generals) 19–14 Lost USFL Championship Game (Stallions) 30–33 | Maurice Alexander (ND MVP) | ||
2023 | 2023 | USFL | North | 3rd | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 | – | – | ||
Totals | 10 | 10 | 0 | .500 | (2022–2023, regular season) | |||||||
1 | 1 | — | .500 | (2022–2023, playoffs) | ||||||||
11 | 11 | 0 | .500 | (2022–2023, regular season and playoffs) |
On April 11, 2022, the Stars unveiled their mascot, a monstrous red creature that drew comparisons to other Philadelphia sports mascots Gritty and the Phillie Phanatic. [10] [11] The Stars then held a Twitter poll asking fans whether the mascot should be named "Astro", "Cosmo", or "Blob". [12] "Blob" took 65 percent of the vote, and the name was confirmed on April 15. [13] The Stars have offered few details about Blob besides describing him as "out of this world" and noting that he enjoys dancing. [14]
Bart Andrus is an American football coach and a former collegiate player. He has served as head coach for the Amsterdam Admirals of the NFL Europe League (NFLEL) from 2001 to 2007, the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League (CFL) in 2009, and the Omaha Nighthawks of the United Football League (UFL) in 2012 compiling a career record of 40 wins and 54 losses. Andrus also was the head football coach at Rocky Mountain College in 1996, posting a mark of 6–4. He also served as head coach of the Generals of The Spring League and the Philadelphia Stars.
Marcel Bellefeuille is a Canadian football coach who is the head coach of the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees and offensive coordinator for the Michigan Panthers. He originally began his coaching career with Ottawa in 1995 and won the program's second Vanier Cup championship in 2000. He then spent 16 years coaching in the Canadian Football League (CFL), including a stint as the head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 2008 to 2011. Bellefeuille returned as head coach of the Gee-Gees in 2020.
John Eugene DeFilippo is an American football coach for the Memphis Showboats of the United Football League (UFL). He played college football as a quarterback at James Madison University, and has served as offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings, and Jacksonville Jaguars.
Channing Michael-de Stribling is an American football cornerback who is a free agent. He played college football at Michigan and went undrafted in the 2017 NFL Draft.
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The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football minor league that began play on April 16, 2022. It is now one of the two-component conferences of the United Football League (UFL), along with the XFL.
The 2022 USFL season was the inaugural season of the United States Football League, and the first season of a league using that name since 1985. The season began on April 16 and concluded on July 3. The league's eight teams represent various geographical locales and associated team names that were part of the 1984 season of the original USFL. For 2022, all regular-season games were played in Birmingham, Alabama, at Protective Stadium and at Legion Field.
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