Virginia Destroyers

Virginia Destroyers
Year founded: 2009
Logo
City	Virginia Beach, Virginia
Head coach	Marty Schottenheimer
Owner(s)	Bill Mayer[1]
General manager	Marty Schottenheimer
Affiliations
United Football League (2009–present)
Current uniform
Team colors	Cardinal Red, Navy Blue, Gray
Team history
Florida Tuskers (2009–2010) Virginia Destroyers (2011–present)
Championships
League championships (1) 2011
Home fields
Tropicana Field (2009) Citrus Bowl (2009–2010) Virginia Beach Sportsplex (2011–present)

The Virginia Destroyers are a professional American football team based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They began play in the United Football League (UFL) in the 2011 season. They play their home games at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex.

The team is a successor to the Florida Tuskers, a charter UFL franchise based in Orlando, Florida from 2009 to 2010. The Tuskers appeared in the first two UFL Championship Games, losing both to the Las Vegas Locomotives. In 2010 the league suspended the Tuskers' operations and moved the remnants of the team to Virginia Beach to assume the identity (and some executive staff) of a previously announced expansion team that was to begin play in 2011.^[2][3] Former NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer is the team's head coach and general manager.

Franchise history

Florida Tuskers (2009–2010)

2009 season

Main article: 2009 Florida Tuskers season

See also: 2009 UFL season

Orlando was awarded a franchise for the UFL's 2009 season. Former New Orleans Saints and St. Louis Rams head coach Jim Haslett was named the first head coach of the team on March 11, 2009.^[4]

Tryouts for the four teams that would play in the 2009 season took place in Orlando and Las Vegas during the summer, with the draft taking place on June 19. With their first selection, the Tuskers picked Fred Bledsoe, who had gone undrafted in the 2008 NFL Draft before signing with the Green Bay Packers as a practice squad member.

The team's name, along with its colors and uniforms, were unveiled to the public in August, two months before the start of the season.^[5] On the same day it was announced that the Tampa Bay Rays had bought interest in the team.^[6]

In their inaugural season, the Tuskers were led by quarterback Brooks Bollinger, and wide receiver Taye Biddle. Bollinger was the league leader in passing yards, while Biddle led in receiving yards. On the defensive side of the ball, Odell Thurman led the team in tackles, Patrick Chukwurah was the league leader in sacks, and Jerome Carter led the league in interceptions.

The team was noted for having a large number of former players from the nearby Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Among the Buccaneer alumni were Matt Bryant, who once kicked a game-winning 62-yard field goal as time expired, which is also the third-longest successful attempt in NFL history, Micheal Spurlock, the first player in Tampa Bay history to return a kickoff for a touchdown, and Super Bowl XXXVII MVP Dexter Jackson.^[7]

The Tuskers put together a league-best undefeated 6–0 record in the regular season, clinching a spot in the championship game in Week 4. However in the championship game, the Tuskers were beaten by the Las Vegas Locomotives, losing on a game-winning field goal in overtime. Despite the team being unable to complete a perfect season, Jim Haslett was named Coach of the Year, while Bollinger was given the league's MVP award.^[8]

2010 season

Florida Tuskers logo

Main article: 2010 Florida Tuskers season

See also: 2010 UFL season

In January 2010, head coach Jim Haslett left the team to become the defensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League.^[9] On February 9, 2010, UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue named Jay Gruden as head coach and general manager.^[10] On the same day it was announced that the Tampa Bay Rays had sold their interest in the team, meaning the Tuskers would be fully based in Orlando for the 2010 season.^[11] After several months of league ownership, a group led by Joe Theismann purchased the team in October 2010. The Tuskers signed WYGM as their radio affiliate, becoming the second UFL team to have one.^[12]

Florida extended their regular season winning streak to seven games when they defeated the Las Vegas Locos in their opener on September 18, 27–20. The Tuskers lost their first regular season game in franchise history in Week 2 when they were defeated by the Sacramento Mountain Lions, 24–20. They dropped their next contest on September 30 against the Locos, 20–17, the first time Las Vegas had beaten Florida in a regular season match-up. After splitting their next two games, the Tuskers were 2–3 and in danger of being eliminated from championship contention. After backup quarterback Chris Greisen became the new starter in Week 8, the Tuskers went on to win their final three games, sending them back to the championship game, once again facing Las Vegas.^[13]

Virginia Destroyers

2011 season

Main article: 2011 Virginia Destroyers season

See also: 2011 UFL season

The UFL originally announced an expansion team based in Norfolk, Virginia, to begin play in 2011. Jim Speros, owner of the Baltimore Stallions and (briefly) the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, was named as the team's owner, but relinquished control of the team to the league on August 23, 2010 opening up bidding to other parties.^[14] Former NFL and USFL quarterback Doug Williams later was named the team's general manager.^[15][16][17] On February 21, 2011, Williams resigned from the Destroyers to become the head coach at Grambling State University.

Joe Moglia, chairman of TD Ameritrade and a former college coordinator who last coached football in the 1980s, was given the head coaching position^[18] at the behest of league commissioner Michael Huyghue in November 2010; Williams had no input on the hire.^[19] However, in January 2011, the league announced Moglia would instead coach the Omaha Nighthawks.^[20]

Meanwhile, on January 12, 2011, the league announced that the Tuskers ceased operations in Orlando and moved to Virginia, with Jay Gruden remaining as the Destroyers' coach. Bret Munsey, the Tuskers' director of player personnel, assumed authority over player personnel upon Williams' resignation. Theismann, a minority owner of the team in Florida, was relegated to being a consultant for the league^[21] but eventually left that role, expressing disgust in the way he was treated by the league's ownership during his time as the Tuskers' director of football operations.^[22] In February 2011, Gruden was hired by the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL as their offensive coordinator.

On March 23, 2011, former NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer was hired as head coach and general manager.^[23]

On July 28, 2011, Bill Mayer was installed as owner of the Destroyers. Mayer had previously owned the New York Sentinels and Hartford Colonials in the UFL, but the league moved to contract that team as part of the move. The league confirmed the contraction of the Colonials on August 10 and Mayer was installed as owner September 7.^[24]

Schedule

Week	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		Game site	Attendance
				Final score	Team record
1	Thursday, September 15	8:00 p.m.	at Omaha Nighthawks	W 23–13	1–0	TD Ameritrade Park Omaha	15,836
2	Saturday, September 24	7:00 p.m.	Las Vegas Locomotives	W 34–17	2–0	Virginia Beach Sportsplex	12,167
3	Bye
4	Friday, October 7	7:00 p.m.	Sacramento Mountain Lions	W 28–6	3–0	Virginia Beach Sportsplex	12,617
5	Saturday, October 15	7:00 p.m.	at Sacramento Mountain Lions	L 20–27 (OT)	3–1	Hornet Stadium	18,794
All times are Eastern Time.

Season-by-season records

UFL Champions

Season	Team	League	Regular season				Playoff results	Awards
			Finish	Wins	Losses	Ties
Florida Tuskers
2009	2009	UFL	1st	6	0	0	Lost UFL Championship Game (Las Vegas Locos) 23-20 (OT)
2010	2010	UFL	2nd	5	3	0	Lost UFL Championship Game (Las Vegas Locos) 20-17
Virginia Destroyers
2011	2011	UFL	1st	3	1	0	Won UFL Championship Game (Las Vegas Locos) 17-3	Marty Schottenheimer 2011 UFL Coach of the Year, Aaron Rouse 2011 UFL Championship Game MVP, Dominic Rhodes 2011 UFL Offensive POY
Total				14	4	0	(2009–2011, includes only regular season)
				1	2	0	(2009–2011, includes only playoffs)
				15	6	0	(2009–2011, includes both regular season and playoffs)

Records vs. teams

Team	Record	Percent
Hartford Colonials/New York Sentinels	4–0	1.000
Las Vegas Locomotives	5–3	.625
Omaha Nighthawks	3–0	1.000
Sacramento Mountain Lions/California Redwoods	3–3	.500

• Note: This includes postseason games.

Home, away, and neutral records

Location	Record	Percent
Home	7–2	.778
Away	7–2	.778
Neutral	0–2	.000

Current personnel

Current staff

Virginia Destroyers staffv · d · e
	Front Office President – Ed Reynolds Assistant General Manager – John Wuehrmann Director of Player Personnel – Bret Munsey Head Coaches Head Coach/General Manager – Marty Schottenheimer Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator – Terry Shea Running Backs – Gerald Carr Wide Receivers – Bobby Saunders Offensive Line – Bill Laveroni			Defensive Coaches Defensive Line – John Marshall Assistant Defensive Line – Delbert Cowsette Linebackers – Johnny Holland Defensive Backs – Lionel Washington Defensive Volunteer – Kurt Schottenheimer Special Teams Coaches Special Teams – Mike Stock Strength and Conditioning Strength/Tight Ends – Chet Fuhrman → Coaching Staff → Management → More UFL staffs

Current roster

Virginia Destroyers rosterview · talk · edit
	Quarterbacks  3 Derek Devine 14 Chris Greisen  8 Mike McMahon Running Backs 47 Jason Davis FB 42 Billy Latsko FB 33 Dominic Rhodes 25 Wynel Seldon 22 Clifton Smith Wide Receivers 16 Aundrae Allison 81 Cortez Hankton 88 Calvin Russell 82 John Standeford 15 Huey Whittaker Tight Ends 86 Ronnie Ghent 89 Michael Matthews 80 Jamarko Simmons		Offensive Linemen 63 Adrien Clarke G 66 Anthony Davis G 67 Brett Helms C 73 Clint Oldenburg T 76 Na'Shan Goddard T 79 Jonathan Palmer T 78 Seth Wand T 72 Kyle Young C Defensive Linemen 91 Jay Alford DE 68 McKinley Boykin DT 93 Antwon Burton DT 58 Joe Clermond DE 92 Maurice Fountain DE 69 Orien Harris DT 99 Jonathan Lewis DT 96 Eric Moore DE 54 Marques Murrell DE 94 Stylez G. White DE		Linebackers 53 Mike Balogun MLB 51 Darnell Bing OLB 59 Diyral Briggs OLB 52 Savion Frazier OLB 55 Terrence Melton OLB 50 Tony Taylor MLB Defensive Backs 36 Tra Battle SS 28 Ahmad Carroll CB 23 Jerome Carter FS 27 Simeon Castille CB -- Bryan Evans FS 31 Reggie Jones CB 26 Aaron Rouse SS 24 Darius Vinnett CB 35 Kyle Whitehurst CB 39 DeAngelo Willingham FS Special Teams  4 Delbert Alvarado K  1 Matt Henry P 49 Ryan Senser LS		Reserve Lists 53 Neal Howey MLB (IR) 92 Quentin Moses DE (IR) 70 Shane Olivea OT (IR) 29 Adrian N. Peterson RB (IR) 20 Keiwan Ratliff CB (IR) Rookies in italics Roster updated October 20, 2011 Depth Chart 53 Active, 5 Inactive → More rosters

References

1. ^ Doyle, Paul (July 28, 2011). UFL Won't Admit Hartford Colonials Ship Has Sunk ... Yet. Hartford Courant. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
2. ^ Cordes, Henry (2011-02-21). Full seats, empty pockets. Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
3. ^ "UFL's Florida Tuskers move to Virginia". Orlando Business Journal. January 12, 2011. http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2011/01/12/ufls-florida-tuskers-move-to-virginia.html. Retrieved February 7, 2011. 
4. ^ "UFL Names Jim Haslett Head Coach of the Orlando Franchise". United Football League. 2009-03-11. http://www.ufl-football.com/press/2009/03/11/ufl_names_jim_haslett_head_coach_of_the_orlando_franchise. Retrieved 2009-11-30. ^{[dead link]}
5. ^ "United Football League Introduces Florida Tuskers as Team Name & Unveils Uniforms". United Football League. 2009-08-12. http://www.ufl-football.com/press/2009/08/12/united_football_league_introduces_florida_tuskers_as_team_name_unveils_uniforms. Retrieved 2009-11-30. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ Lancaster, Marc (2009-08-12). "Rays buy into UFL franchise, slate game at Trop". Tampa Bay Online. http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/12/121624/rays-buy-ufl-franchise-slate-game-trop/. Retrieved 2009-11-30. 
7. ^ Harry, Chris (2009-10-28). "Former Bucs presence being felt in UFL". Orlando Sentinel. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2009-10-28/sports/0910270213_1_tuskers-bucs-super-bowl-xxxvii. Retrieved 2009-11-30. 
8. ^ "United Football League Announces Season-End Awards". UFL. 2009-12-02. http://www.ufl-football.com/press/2009/12/02/united_football_league_announces_season_end_awards. Retrieved 2009-12-03. ^{[dead link]}
9. ^ Maske, Mark and Barry Svrluga (2010-01-13). "Redskins hire Jim Haslett as defensive coordinator". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/13/AR2010011300289.html. Retrieved 2010-02-08. 
10. ^ "United Football League Names Jay Gruden Head Coach of Florida Tuskers". United Football League. 2010-02-09. http://www.ufl-football.com/press/2010/02/09/united_football_league_names_jay_gruden_head_coach_of_florida_tuskers. Retrieved 2010-02-09. ^{[dead link]}
11. ^ "Florida Tuskers To Make Orlando Home". United Football League. 2010-02-09. http://www.ufl-football.com/press/2010/02/09/florida_tuskers_to_make_orlando_home. Retrieved 2010-02-09. ^{[dead link]}
12. ^ "WYGM to Air Tuskers Games in 2010". United Football League. 2010-07-13. http://www.ufl-football.com/news/wygm-air-tuskers-games-2010. Retrieved 2010-07-14. 
13. ^ Dusty Sloan (November 20, 2010). "Tuskers to Join Locos in “The Championship” Rematch". United Football League. http://www.ufl-football.com/news/tuskers-join-locos-championship-rematch. Retrieved November 20, 2010. 
14. ^ "Statement on UFL Virginia". United Football League. 2010-08-20. http://www.ufl-football.com/news/statement-ufl-virginia. Retrieved 2010-08-20. 
15. ^ "United Football League Board Grants Conditional Approval for Norfolk, Virginia, To Host Sixth Team". United Football League. 2010-06-21. http://www.ufl-football.com/news/united-football-league-board-grants-conditional-approval-norfolk-virginia-host-sixth-team. Retrieved 2010-06-22. 
16. ^ "UFL to add Virginia team for 2011 season". Associated Press (Sports Illustrated). 2010-06-21. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/more/06/21/ufl.norfolk.ap/. Retrieved 2010-06-22. ^{[dead link]}
17. ^ George, Thomas (2010-05-18). "Washington Redskins should bring Doug Williams home again". FanHouse. http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/05/18/washington-redskins-should-bring-doug-williams-home-again/. Retrieved 2010-05-18. 
18. ^ Burke, Monte (2010-11-07). TD Ameritrade's Joe Moglia lands football coaching job. Forbes. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
19. ^ Robinson, Tom (2010-11-11). Destroyers' GM: Commissioner made call on coach. The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
20. ^ Karpeles, Robert (2011-01-12). "Joe Moglia to Coach Omaha Nighthawks". FanHouse. http://www.fanhouse.com/2011/01/12/joe-moglia-to-coach-omaha-nighthawks/. Retrieved 2011-01-12. 
21. ^ "Jay Gruden to Coach the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League". United Football League. 2011-01-12. http://www.ufl-football.com/news/jay-gruden-coach-virginia-destroyers-united-football-league. Retrieved 2011-01-12. 
22. ^ Masters, Mark (2011-06-24). Unplugged: Theismann on the CFL, NFL and Marc Trestman. National Post. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
23. ^ Mortensen, Chris (2011-03-21). "Sources: Marty Schottenheimer close to UFL gig". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/ufl/news/story?id=6243241&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines. Retrieved 2011-03-21. 
24. ^ Fairbank, Dave (September 7, 2011). Mayer signs on as UFL Destroyers' owner, touts league. Daily Press. Retrieved September 7, 2011.

External links

• Official webpage