Colorado Crush (IFL)

For the now-defunct Arena Football League franchise, see Colorado Crush.
Colorado Crush
Current season
Established 2006
Play in Budweiser Events Center
in Loveland, Colorado
ColoradoCrushFootball.com
HelmetLogo
League/conference affiliations

United Indoor Football (2007–2008)
Indoor Football League (2009–present)

  • Intense Conference (2009)
    United Conference (2010)
    Intense Conference (2011–present)
    • Western (2007–2008)
      Pacific (2009)
      Central West (2010)
      Mountain West (2011)
Team colors Navy Blue, Orange, Carolina Blue, White
                   
Mascot Glacier
Personnel
Owner(s) Project FANchise
General manager Vacant
Head coach Jose Jefferson
Team history

Colorado Ice (2006–2015)

  • Colorado Crush (2016–present)
Championships
League championships (0)
0
Conference championships (0)
0
Division championships (1)
Mountain West: 2011
Playoff appearances (6)
UIF: 2007, IFL: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
Home arena(s)

The Colorado Crush is a professional indoor football team currently playing as a member of the Indoor Football League. Based in Fort Collins, Colorado, the Crush plays its home games at the Budweiser Events Center in nearby Loveland.

The Crush began play in 2007 as the Colorado Ice, an expansion member of United Indoor Football (UIF) and joined the IFL as part of the UIF-Intense Football League merger of 2009. The Ice were a sub-.500 team during their first four years of existence but still managed to make the playoffs twice. Their first winning season came in 2011 when they were Mountain West Division Champions but were defeated in the first round of the playoffs. Since 2011, the team has made the playoffs every season but are still winless in the postseason. They have competed in one Intense Conference Championship Game, where they lost 50-55 to the Nebraska Danger.

Ahead of the 2016 season, the team changed its name to the Colorado Crush, after the John Elway-owned team of the same name which played in the Arena Football League from 2003 until its suspension of operations in 2008, notably having won ArenaBowl XIX. Despite the same name, the current Crush is not otherwise connected to the original.[1]

History

In July 2006, Colorado real estate executive, Danny DeGrande, was awarded an expansion franchise of United Indoor Football to begin play in 2007.[2]

2011 saw an overhaul of the team's roster and a reversal of its fortunes as the Ice began the season with seven straight wins and finished with an 11–3 record plus the Mountain West Division title. The Ice fell to the Tri-Cities Fever in the first round of the playoffs. This was Collins Sanders' last season as head coach before his promotion to general manager in 2012.[3]

2012 was the team's first year under new head coach Heron O'Neal. They recorded an 8–6 record and reached the playoffs but lost to the Tri-Cities Fever in the first round.

2013 saw the return of Heron O'Neal as head coach and a strong start with three consecutive home wins. Both of the Ice's 2012 All-AFL Team players returned for the 2013 season.

Heron O'Neal returned as head coach for a third season.[4]

On July 15, 2015, the Colorado Ice became the new Colorado Crush one year after the trademark for the original AFL franchise name expired. On March 7, 2016, owner Thomas Wigley announced the team was for sale after he was diagnosed as terminally ill.[5] Wigley assured that the team would finish 2016 season, but due to his health he would not be able to continue operations himself. In October 2016, the Crush's new owners were announced as Project FANchise, a group that also started the 2017 expansion Salt Lake Screaming Eagles. Project FANchise-owned teams are operated in conjunction with fan input by allowing them vote on every aspect of the team including hiring the head coach, signing players, and calling plays.[6]

Players of note

Current roster

Colorado Crush roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

  •  5 Josh Ford
  • -- Jordan James
  • -- Jonathan Wallace

Wide Receivers

  • -- William Dukes
  • -- Anthony Eboreime
  •  8 Kyle Kaiser
Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

  • -- Kwame Bell
  • -- Jamil Merrell
Linebackers
  • -- Donte Savage

Defensive Backs

  • -- Terry Johnson
  • -- Maijuaque Key
  •  3 Daniel Masifilo
  • -- Antonio Marshall
  • -- Derrick Morgan
  • -- Deante Purvis

Kickers

  • 20 Spencer Groner
Injured Reserve
  • Currently vacant

Transfer List

  • Currently vacant

Refused to Report

  • Currently vacant

Rookies in italics
Roster updated November 22, 2016
22 Active, 0 Inactive

→ More rosters

Awards and honors

The following is a list of all Ice/Crush players who have won league Awards

Season Player Position Award
2011 David Knighton Quarterback Most Improved Player
2014 Willie Copeland Quarterback Most Valuable Player
2016 Demarius Washington Wide Receiver Offensive Player of the Year

All-IFL players

The following Ice players have been named to All-IFL Teams:

Staff

Head coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2016 Indoor Football League season.

Name Term Regular Season Playoffs Awards
W L T Win% W L
Collins Sanders 2007–2011 30 41 0 .423 0 3
Heron O'Neal 2012–2016 37 35 0 .514 0 3 IFL Coach of the Year (2014)
Jose Jefferson 2017–present 0 0 0 – 0 0

Coaching staff

Colorado Crush staff
Front Office
  • Principal Owner – Project FANchise
  • General Manager - vacant
  • Director of Operations – Aaron Ontiveros
  • Account Representative - George Martinez
  • Director of Group Sales – Nick Rezvani
  • Business Operations, Sales Representative - Josh Swado
  • Public Relations, Sales Representative - Breanne Jackson
  

Head Coach

  • Head Coach – Jose Jefferson

Offensive Coaches

Offensive Coordinator -

  • Running backs / Wide Receivers -

Defensive Coaches

  • Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs –

Special Team Coaches

  • Special Teams Coordinator –

Statistics and records

Season-by-season results

Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play.

League Champions Conference Champions Division Champions Wild Card Berth League Leader
Season Team League Conference Division Regular season Postseason Results
Finish Wins Losses Ties
2007 2007 UIF Western 3rd 6 9 0 Lost Western Division Semifinals (Sioux Falls) 16-44
2008 2008 UIF Western 4th 6 8 0
2009 2009 IFL Intense Pacific 3rd 5 9 0 Lost Wild Card (Fairbanks) 14-42
2010 2010 IFL United Central West 5th 2 12 0
2011 2011 IFL Intense Mountain West 1st 11 3 0 Lost Intense Conference Semifinals (Tri-Cities) 42-45
2012 2012 IFL Intense 4th 8 6 0 Lost Intense Conference Semifinals (Tri-Cities) 43-52
2013 2013 IFL Intense 2nd 9 5 0 Lost Intense Conference Championship (Nebraska) 50-55
2014 2014 IFL Intense 1st 10 4 0 Lost Intense Conference Championship (Nebraska) 15-45
2015 2015 IFL Intense 3rd 6 8 0
2016 2016 IFL Intense 4th 4 12 0
Totals 67 76 0 All-time regular season record (2007–2016)
0 6 — All-time postseason record (2007–2016)
67 82 0 All-time regular season and postseason record (2007–2016)

* Season currently in progress


Radio

Games and weekly coach's show are broadcast on KFKA (1310 AM).

References

  1. ↑ "Introducing the Colorado Crush". GoIFL.com. Indoor Football League. July 15, 2015. Retrieved July 15, 2015.
  2. ↑ Andy Vuong (July 18, 2006). ""Ice" to join Colorado's team ranks". www.denverpost.com. The Denver Post. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  3. ↑ Mike Brohard (July 7, 2011). "Ice make changes; O'Neal new head coach". www.reporterherald.com. Loveland Reporter-Herald. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Colorado Ice announce 2014 coaching staff". Fort Collins Coloradoan. Fort Collins, CO: Gannett Company. September 6, 2013. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Colorado Crush Owner Ill, Team for Sale". OurSportsCentral. March 7, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Project FANchise Launches First-Ever Fan-Run Pro Sports Team". OurSports Cnetral. April 21, 2016.
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