Weylan Harding (born January 5, 1972 in Houston, Texas) is the former head coach of the New York Dragons of the Arena Football League.
Harding attended Klein High School in Spring, Texas and was a student and a letterman in football. In football, he was an All-Conference selection and an All-Greater Houston selection. He attended Iowa State University, where he played defense on the school's football team. He majored in English.
In his playing career, he was a defensive specialist for the Iowa Barnstormers (now the Dragons), the former Nashville Kats (now the Georgia Force), the now-defunct Portland Forest Dragons, and the Buffalo Destroyers (now the Columbus Destroyers). He retired as a player in 2000.
At the start of the 2005 season, Harding's first year leading the Dragons, he was 33 years old, making him the second youngest head coach in the history of the league. He had previously worked in the Buffalo Destroyers organization starting in 2000. After the Destroyers moved to Columbus, Ohio he became the team's defensive coordinator in 2002 and returned in 2004.
The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in 1999 as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in 2004. They folded along with the original incarnation of the AFL following the 2008 season, after a total of ten seasons of play.
The New York Dragons were a professional arena football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Dragons participated in the Arena Football League's (AFL) National Conference as a member of the Eastern Division. The team was founded in 1995 as the original iteration of the Iowa Barnstormers, and relocated to New York in 2001. They played in New York until 2008, when the league folded. They played in the Eastern Division of the National Conference, and played their home games at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Their last coach was Weylan Harding.
Patrick DeAndrea Pass is an American football coach and former fullback, who was the director of football personnel development for the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League (IFL) until he was suspended from the IFL indefinitely. He was drafted by the New England Patriots in the seventh round of the 2000 NFL draft. He played college football at Georgia. He has also been a member of the New York Giants and the Houston Texans.
Aaron Devone Glenn is an American professional football coach and former cornerback who is the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive backs coach for the New Orleans Saints from 2016 to 2020 and also served as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Browns.
Derrick Lee Strait is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for three seasons in the National Football League (NFL) during the early 2000s. He played college football for the Oklahoma Sooners, earning unanimous All-American honors in 2003. The New York Jets chose him in the third round of the 2004 NFL draft, and he also played professionally for the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers of the NFL.
Samuel Cowart III is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Florida State Seminoles, earning consensus All-American honors. A second-round pick in the 1998 NFL draft, he played professionally for the Buffalo Bills, New York Jets, and Minnesota Vikings of the NFL. Cowart was a Pro Bowl selection in 2000.
Doug Kay is a retired American football coach who was most recently assistant head coach for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League (AFL), which league ceased operations after the 2017 season. He has more than 55 years of football experience, including 12 seasons in the AFL. He was the head coach of the Charlotte Rage, Carolina Cobras and Columbus Destroyers. He was also the head football coach at Olivet College from 1971 to 1975.
Travares Arastius Tillman is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive backs coach for Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. He played professionally as a safety in the National Football League (NFL).
Donovan Morgan is an American former professional arena football wide receiver.
Matthew Nagy is an American football coach and former quarterback, who is the offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He was the head coach of the Chicago Bears from 2018 to 2021.
Earle Bruce was an American football player and coach. He served as the head coach at the University of Tampa (1972), Iowa State University (1973–1978), Ohio State University (1979–1987), the University of Northern Iowa (1988), and Colorado State University (1989–1992), compiling a career college football record of 154–90–2. At Ohio State, Bruce succeeded the legendary Woody Hayes and won four Big Ten Conference titles. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame as a coach in 2002. Bruce returned to coaching in 2001 to helm the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League for a season and also later guided the Columbus Destroyers.
Pat Thomas is an American former professional football player who was a cornerback for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He also played at running back and placekicker.
Cecil Doggette is a former Arena Football League (AFL) defensive specialist. He played college football at Hudson Valley Community College and West Virginia.
Delbert Ray Cowsette is an American former professional football defensive tackle who played in the National Football League (NFL) and Arena Football League (AFL). He is currently the defensive line coach for the Howard Bison.
The East Division was a division of the Arena Football League's American Conference. It was first formed in 1995 as part of the National Conference when expansion led to the creation of divisions.
William Wallace Kollar is an American football coach and former player. Kollar played as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1974 to 1976, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1977 to 1981. Kollar has 34 years of coaching experience, including the last 28 seasons coaching defensive linemen in the NFL. Before coming to Denver in 2015, he coached the defensive line for Houston (2009–2014), Buffalo (2006–2008), St. Louis (2001–2005) and Atlanta (1990–2000).
Chad Thomas Salisbury is an American football coach and former quarterback. He is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for California University of Pennsylvania, positions he has held since 2009. He was formerly the quarterbacks and wide receivers coach for the Los Angeles Avengers.
Matthew Sauk is an arena football coach and former quarterback. He played college football at Utah State, was an af2 quarterback from 2001 to 2005, and an AFL quarterback from 2002 to 2008. He has been a football coach since 2008. After being the offensive coordinator for the Utah Blaze from 2011 to 2013, he became the Portland Thunder head coach in 2014. He was the head coach of the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles of the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2017 and the Columbus Destroyers of the Arena Football League in 2019.
Carlos "the Assassin" James is a former American football player who played ten seasons in the Arena Football League (AFL) with the Iowa Barnstormers, Buffalo Destroyers, New York Dragons and Tampa Bay Storm. He played college football at the University of Iowa and attended Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois.
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 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.