Florida Tarpons
| Florida Tarpons | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Founded | 2011 |
| League | Ultimate Indoor Football League |
| Team history | Florida Tarpons (2012-future) |
| Arena | Germain Arena |
| Based in | Estero, Florida |
| Team colors | Navy Blue, Red, Sea Blue, Grey, White |
| Owner(s) | Michael & Anna Taylor |
| Head coach | Michael Taylor |
| General Manager | Michael Taylor |
| Championships | 0 |
| Division titles | 1 UIFL South (2012) |
| Dancers | Reel Girls |
The Florida Tarpons are a professional indoor football team based in Estero, Florida. The team is currently a member of the Ultimate Indoor Football League. They began play in 2012 as an expansion team. 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.
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Franchise history [edit]
2012 [edit]
In July 2011, the Tarpons were announced as an expasion 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 defeateding the Lakeland Raiders in the UIFL South Finals. The Tarpons lost Ultimate Bowl II to the Cincinnati Commandos. 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.
Schedule [edit]
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 9 | Mississippi Hound Dogs | Home | W 58-35 |
| March 25 | Lakeland Raiders | Home | W 62-47 |
| March 30 | Mississippi Hound Dogs | Away | W 45-22 |
| April 6 | Rome Rampage | Home | W 60-7 |
| April 14 | Lakeland Raiders | Away | W 59-51 |
| April 28 | Mississippi Hound Dogs | Home | W 58-26 |
| May 6 | Lakeland Raiders | Home | W 55-24 |
| May 14 | Lakeland Raiders | Away | W 57-42 |
| May 19 | Rome Rampage | Home | W 68-2 |
| May 26 | Mississippi Hound Dogs | Home | W 74-13 |
| June 9 | Palm Beach Phantoms | Home | W 91-18 |
| June 25 | Lakeland Raiders (UIFL Semifinals) | Home | W 60-29 |
| June 25 | Cincinnati Commandos (Ultimate Bowl II) | Home | L 44-61 |
The May 6 game against Lakeland was originally scheduled for May 5, but had to be moved due to a conflict with Germain Arena's other tenant, the Florida Everblades', post-season playoff series.
The May 26 game against Mississippi was originally scheduled to be an away game, but Mississippi's financial troubles caused the team to be purchased by the league and reformed as a travel-only squad.[3]
Standings [edit]
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2012 United Indoor Football League
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Conference | Overall | |||||||||
| W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | PF | PA | ||||
| Northern Conference | |||||||||||
| Cincinnati Commandos-y | 8 | 2 | .800 | 10 | 2 | .833 | 709 | 465 | |||
| Erie Explosion-x | 8 | 3 | .727 | 8 | 4 | .667 | 788 | 423 | |||
| Marion Blue Racers-x | 6 | 4 | .600 | 7 | 4 | .636 | 602 | 467 | |||
| Johnstown Generals | 2 | 6 | .250 | 2 | 6 | .250 | 231 | 434 | |||
| Western Pennsylvania Sting | 0 | 5 | .000 | 0 | 6 | .000 | 125 | 464 | |||
| Southern Conference | |||||||||||
| Florida Tarpons-y | 11 | 0 | 1.000 | 12 | 1 | .923 | 791 | 377 | |||
| Eastern Kentucky Drillers | 5 | 4 | .556 | 6 | 4 | .600 | 613 | 361 | |||
| Lakeland Raiders-x | 5 | 6 | .455 | 6 | 6 | .500 | 668 | 442 | |||
| Rome Rampage | 1 | 6 | .143 | 1 | 6 | .143 | 100 | 462 | |||
| Mississippi Hound Dogs | 1 | 8 | .111 | 1 | 8 | .111 | 243 | 471 | |||
Players of note [edit]
Current roster [edit]
| Florida Tarpons roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
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Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
Linebackers
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Defensive Backs
Kickers
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Injured Reserve
Exempt List Practice Squad Rookies in italics |
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Awards and honors [edit]
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 |
Coaches of note [edit]
Head coaches [edit]
Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2012 UIFL season.
| Name | Term | Regular Season | Playoffs | Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Win% | W | L | |||
| Michael Taylor | 2012–present | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 | 1 | 1 | UIFL South Coach of the Year (2012) |
Coaching staff [edit]
| Florida Tarpons staff | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front Office
Head Coach
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Offensive Coaches Defensive Coaches
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Statistics and records [edit]
Season-by-season results [edit]
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 |
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| 2013 | 2013 | UIFL | 0 | 0 | |||||||
| Totals | 11 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2012) | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 | - | All-time postseason record (2012) | ||||||||
| 12 | 1 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2012) | |||||||||
* Season currently in progress
References [edit]
- ^ "Florida Tarpons Football at Germain Arena".
- ^ "Taylor Announced as Tarpons Head Coach". www.theuifl.com. UIFL.
- ^ Montrose, Dave (28 April 2012). "Tarpons clinch playoff spot with win over Dogs". Fort Myers News-Press. Retrieved 29 April 2012. Text "text" ignored (help); Text "Sports" ignored (help)
External links [edit]
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