Florida Tarpons
 | |
| Founded | 2011 |
|---|---|
| Current season | 2016 |
| League |
Ultimate Indoor Football League (2012–2014) X-League Indoor Football (2015) American Indoor Football (2016) Arena Pro Football (2017–) |
| Division | Southern (2016) |
| Team history | Florida Tarpons (2012–present) |
| Based in | Estero, Florida |
| Arena | Germain Arena (2012–present) |
| Colors |
Royal Blue, Red, Sea Blue, Grey, Orange White |
| Owner(s) | Florida Tarpons Group |
| Head coach | Michael Taylor |
| General Manager | Michael Taylor |
| Championships |
(2) UIFL (2013) X-League (2015) |
| Conference titles | (1) UIFL South (2012) |
| Playoff berths |
(5) UIFL (2012, 2013, 2014) X-League (2015) AIF (2016) |
| Dancers | Reel Girls |
| Mascot | Timmy the Tarpon |
The Florida Tarpons are a professional indoor football team based in Estero, Florida and is currently a member of the Arena Pro Football. They began play in 2012 as an expansion team of the Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL). The Tarpons joined the X-League Indoor Football (X-League) during the 2015 season when the UIFL merged with the X-League.
The Tarpons are Estero's second indoor football team; their first since arenafootball2's Florida Firecats which played from 2001 until the af2's demise in 2009. In addition, they are the fourth indoor football team in the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metropolitan area, with them and the Firecats joining the unrelated Fort Myers Tarpons which played in the National Indoor Football League's final season of 2007 and the Florida Stingrays which played the 2008 American Indoor Football Association season. (Both teams played at the Lee County Civic Center). The founders of the Tarpons are Andrew & Leah Haines and Michael & Anna Taylor. The Tarpons play their home games at Germain Arena.
Franchise history
2012: Expansion
In July 2011, the Tarpons were announced as an expansion team for the 2012 UIFL season.[1] On July 6, 2011, the Tarpons named, UIFL Co-Founder, Michael Taylor, as the team's inaugural head coach.[2] The Tarpons went undefeated during the regular season, and advanced to Ultimate Bowl II after defeating the Lakeland Raiders in the UIFL South Finals. The Tarpons lost Ultimate Bowl II to the Cincinnati Commandos.[3] Four players from the Tarpons 2012 roster were invited/signed to NFL Rookie Mini Camps: DL Joshua Long, WR Dwayne Frampton, DB Willie Williams, and DB E.J. Whitley. WR Carlos Singleton signed with the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League after the Tarpons season ended.[4]
2016: Move to the AIF
On October 7, 2015, the Tarpons announced that they were joining American Indoor Football.[5] On July 18, 2016, the AIF ceased operations, leaving the Tarpons without a league.
2017: Arena Pro Football
On October 20, 2016, the Tarpons were added to the Arena Developmental League (ADL) for the league's inaugural 2017 season.[6] However, on November 10, the Tarpons later announced they had joined the new Arena Pro Football (APF) instead and removed any mention of the ADL from their website.
Players of note
Current roster
| Florida Tarpons roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
|
Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Kickers
|
Injured Reserve
Transfer List
Refuse to Report
Rookies in italics | |||
Awards and honors
The following is a list of all Tarpons players who have won league awards:
| Season | Player | Position | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Terrance Jones | Defensive Back | UIFL South Defensive Player of the Year |
| 2012 | Ross Gornall | Kicker | UIFL South Special Teams Player of the Year |
| 2012 | Chris Wallace | Quarterback | 1st Team All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | Carlos Singleton | Wide Receiver | 1st Team All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | Donald Fusilier | Wide Receiver | 1st Team All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | James Barker | Offensive Lineman | 1st Team All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | Greg Walls | Offensive Lineman | 1st Team All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | Josh Long | Defensive Lineman | 1st Team All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | Darrell Roseman | Defensive Lineman | 1st Team All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | Harriel Moore | Linebacker | 1st Team All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | Tavares Woodley | Linebacker | 1st Team All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | Terrance Jones | Defensive Back | 1st Team All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | Ross Gornall | Kicker | 1st Team All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | Sean Callahan | Offensive Lineman | Honorable Mention All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | E.J. Whitley | Defensive Back | Honorable Mention All-UIFL North |
| 2012 | Steven Turner | All-Purpose | Honorable Mention All-UIFL North |
| 2015 | Javarous Faulk | Defensive Lineman | X-Bowl MVP |
Coaches of note
Head coaches
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2016 American Indoor Football season
| Name | Term | Regular Season | Playoffs | Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Win% | W | L | |||
| Michael Taylor | 2012–present | 33 | 8 | 0 | .805 | 4 | 3 | UIFL South Coach of the Year (2012) |
Coaching staff
| Florida Tarpons staff | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front Office
|
Offensive Coaches
Defensive Coaches
| |||||
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 | ||||||||
| 2012 | 2012 | UIFL | South | 1st | 11 | 0 | Won UIFL South Finals (Raiders) 60–29 Lost Ultimate Bowl II (Commandos) 44–61 | ||||
| 2013 | 2013 | UIFL | 1st | 5 | 1 | Won Ultimate Bowl III (Fury) 40-32 | |||||
| 2014 | 2014 | UIFL | 2nd | 4 | 4 | Lost Ultimate Bowl IV (Fury) 23-60 | |||||
| 2015 | 2015 | X-League | 1st | 6 | 2 | Won X-Bowl II (Marine Raiders) 65-23[7] | |||||
| 2016* | 2016 | AIF | Southern | 2nd | 7 | 1 | 0 | Won Southern Semifinal (Steam) 71-20 Lost Southern Championship (Lions) 66-79 | |||
| Totals | 33 | 8 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2012-2016) | |||||||
| 4 | 3 | — | All-time postseason record (2012-2015) | ||||||||
| 37 | 11 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2012-2016) | ||||||||
* Season currently in progress
References
- ↑ "Florida Tarpons Football at Germain Arena". Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- ↑ Woody Wommack (July 6, 2011). "Pro football: Florida Tarpons name UIFL co-founder as first head coach". www.naplesnews.com. Naples Daily News. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- ↑ Adam Fisher (July 2, 2012). "Indoor football: Perfect season not in the cards as Tarpons fall in championship". www.naplesnews.com. Naples Daily News. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- ↑ "Tarpons WR Carlos Singleton Moves up to AFL". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. July 22, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
- ↑ "Florida Tarpons Join AIF". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. October 7, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
- ↑ "League to Welcome Former Two-Time Champion Florida Tarpons". ADL. October 20, 2016. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
- ↑ "Edge season over as X-League skips to title game". The Pantagraph. Bloomington, IL: Lee Enterprises. June 4, 2015. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
