 | |
| Founded | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Folded | 2012 |
| Based in | Virginia Beach,Virginia |
| Home stadium |
|
| Owner(s) | Bill Mayer[1] |
| Colors | Cardinal red, navy blue, gray |
| League titles | |
TheVirginia Destroyers were a professionalAmerican football team based inVirginia Beach, Virginia. They began play in theUnited Football League (UFL) in the2011 season. They played their home games at theVirginia Beach Sportsplex.
The team succeeded theFlorida Tuskers, a charter UFL franchise based inOrlando, Florida, from 2009 to 2010. The Tuskers appeared in the first twoUFL championship games, losing both to theLas 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 announcedexpansion team that was to begin play in 2011.[2][3]
The Destroyers' business license expired on March 1, 2013; the team had effectively ceased operations several weeks earlier.[4]
Orlando was awarded a franchise for the UFL's2009 season. FormerNew Orleans Saints andSt. Louis Rams head coachJim Haslett was named the first head coach of the team on March 11, 2009.[5]
Tryouts for the four teams that would play in the 2009 season took place in Orlando andLas Vegas during the summer, with thedraft taking place on June 19. With their first selection, the Tuskers picked Fred Bledsoe, who had gone undrafted in the2008 NFL draft before signing with theGreen Bay Packers as a practice squad member.[citation needed]
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.[6] On the same day it was announced that theTampa Bay Rays had bought interest in the team.[7]
In their inaugural season, the Tuskers were led by quarterbackBrooks Bollinger, and wide receiverTaye 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, andJerome Carter led the league in interceptions.[citation needed]
The team was noted for having a large number of former players from the nearbyTampa Bay Buccaneers. Among the Buccaneer alumni wasMatt Bryant, noted for having once kicked a game-winning 62-yard field goal as time expired, which ranked as the third-longest successful attempt in NFL history. Other ex-Bucs includedMicheal Spurlock, the first player in Tampa Bay history to return a kickoff for a touchdown, andSuper Bowl XXXVIIMVPDexter Jackson.[8]
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 thechampionship game, the Tuskers were beaten by theLas Vegas Locomotives, losing on a game-winning field goal in overtime. Despite the team being unable to complete aperfect season,Jim Haslett was named Coach of the Year, while Bollinger was given the league'sMVP award.[9]
In January 2010, head coachJim Haslett left the team to become the defensive coordinator for theWashington Redskins of theNational Football League.[10] On February 9, 2010, UFL commissionerMichael Huyghue namedJay Gruden as head coach andgeneral manager.[11] On the same day it was announced that theTampa Bay Rays had sold their interest in the team, meaning the Tuskers would be fully based in Orlando for the 2010 season.[12] After several months of league ownership, a group led byJoe Theismann purchased the team in October 2010. The Tuskers signedWYGM as their radio affiliate, becoming the second UFL team to have one.[13]
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 theSacramento 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 quarterbackChris Greisen became the new starter in Week 8, the Tuskers went on to win their final three games, sending them back to thechampionship game, once again facing, and losing to,Las Vegas.[14]
The UFL originally announced an expansion team based inNorfolk, Virginia, to begin play in2011.Jim Speros, owner of theBaltimore Stallions and (briefly) theMontreal Alouettes of theCanadian Football League, was named as the team's owner, but relinquished control of the team to the league on August 23, 2010, in a dispute over the league's ownership structure. The radio broadcast team of 2011 was handled by play-by-play Hampton Roads area veteran John Castleberry and colour by ex-USFL/NFL defensive lineman William Fuller who is a Chesapeake, Virginia native. Daily Press Paul White handled the local coverage in press and online.[15] FormerNFL andUSFL quarterbackDoug Williams later was named the team'sgeneral manager.[16][17][18] On February 21, 2011, Williams resigned from the Destroyers to become the head coach atGrambling State University.[citation needed]
Joe Moglia, chairman ofTD Ameritrade and a former college coordinator who last coached football on a paid basis in the 1980s, was given the head coaching position[19] at the behest of league commissionerMichael Huyghue in November 2010; Williams had no input on the hire.[20] However, in January 2011, the league announced Moglia would instead coach theOmaha Nighthawks.[21]
Meanwhile, on January 12, 2011, the league announced that the Tuskers had 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[22] 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.[23] In February 2011, Gruden was hired by theCincinnati Bengals of the NFL as theiroffensive coordinator.[citation needed]
On March 23, 2011, former NFL coachMarty Schottenheimer was hired as head coach and general manager.[24]
On July 28, 2011, after unsuccessfully searching for another investor to replace the departures of Speros and Theismann,Bill Mayer was installed as owner of the Destroyers. Mayer had previously owned theNew York Sentinels/Hartford Colonials in the UFL; that team was suspended at the same time (and eventually folded outright prior to the 2012 season). The league confirmed the contraction of the Colonials on August 10 and Mayer was installed as Destroyers' owner September 7.[25]
Schottenheimer abruptly resigned shortly before the start of the 2012 season. Though failure to pay was a factor in his departure,[26] it became known several years later that he was in the early stages ofAlzheimer's disease.[27]Kurt Schottenheimer, Marty's younger brother and longtime defensive assistant, was given the head coach position on September 18. The assistant coaches wereBret Munsey,Bill Lavoroni,Kurt Gouveia, andTerry Shea. The front office in 2012 was manned byJohn Wuerhmann and Vice President of SalesJohn Castleberry, who was also the play-by-play broadcaster in 2011. Print journalists included Paul White of theHampton Daily Press; Tom Robinson covered the Destroyers (albeit in an often disparaging manner) forThe Virginian-Pilot.[citation needed]
After a promising 2011 season in which the Destroyers drew over 12,000 fans to all three home games, attendance plummeted in 2012, prompted in part by uncertainty over whether the league would even play their 2012 season. The team's second home game was so poorly attended that the league refused to release an attendance total[28] for the first and only time in league history. On the field, the team's performance also suffered, tying for last place in the league at the time of the league's suspension.[28]
| UFL Champions |
| Season | Team | League | Regular season | Playoff results | Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | |||||||
| Florida Tuskers | ||||||||||
| 2009 | 2009 | UFL | 1st | 6 | 0 | 0 | LostUFL championship game (Las Vegas) 23–20 (OT) | |||
| 2010 | 2010 | UFL | 2nd | 5 | 3 | 0 | LostUFL championship game (Las Vegas) 20–17 | |||
| Virginia Destroyers | ||||||||||
| 2011 | 2011 | UFL | 1st | 3 | 1 | 0 | WonUFL championship game(1) (Las Vegas) 17–3 | Marty Schottenheimer 2011 UFL Coach of the Year Aaron Rouse 2011 UFL championship game MVP Dominic Rhodes 2011 UFL Offensive POY | ||
| 2012 | 2012 | UFL | 3rd | 1 | 3 | 0 | did not qualify | |||
| Total | 15 | 7 | 0 | (2009–2012, includes only regular season) | ||||||
| 1 | 2 | 0 | (2009–2012, includes only playoffs) | |||||||
| 16 | 9 | 0 | (2009–2012, includes both regular season and playoffs) | |||||||
| Team | Record | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Hartford Colonials/New York Sentinels | 4–0 | 1.000 |
| Las Vegas Locomotives | 5–4 | .556 |
| Omaha Nighthawks | 3–0 | 1.000 |
| Sacramento Mountain Lions/California Redwoods | 4–3 | .571 |
| Location | Record | Percent |
|---|---|---|
| Home | 8–2 | .800 |
| Away | 7–3 | .700 |
| Neutral | 0–2 | .000 |