 | |
| Founded | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Team history |
|
| Based in | Tony’s Pizza Events Center inSalina, Kansas |
| Home arena |
|
| Mascot | Sideline Sam |
| League |
|
| Colors | Navy, blue, red, silver, white |
| Personnel | |
| Head coach | Heron O'Neal |
| General manager | Sam Sellers |
| Owners | Precision Sports, LLC Roy Lawrence Dan and Linda Mendicina Tom Perez Josh Perez Jimmy and Robyne Sponder Dan Kieborz and Jennifer Main |
| Championships | |
| League titles (1) |
|
| Conference titles (1) |
|
| Playoff appearances (5) | |
| |
| Website | www |
 Current season | |
TheSalina Liberty are a professionalindoor football team based inSalina, Kansas. They began play in 2016 as members of theChampions Indoor Football (CIF) and played in theArena Football League in 2024. In 2025, they played inArena Football One. In 2026, the team will move to theNational Arena League.[1] The team plays their home games at theTony’s Pizza Events Center.
Indoor football in Salina started in 2012 as theSalina Bombers, an expansion franchise for theChampions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL), were announced for the2013 season. The Bombers then joinedChampions Indoor Football (CIF) due to a merger between the CPIFL and theLone Star Football League for 2015. However, during their first season in the CIF, the league ejected the Bombers for a "business violation" on May 28[2] and they would cease operations later that month.[3] In July 2015, the CIF announced it had replaced the Bombers with a new expansion team in Salina called the Salina Liberty.[4]
The Liberty began play in the Champions Indoor Football League in 2016 finishing last in the Northern Division and failing to qualify for the playoffs. In 2017 Salina Liberty received their first win on the road against Bloomington Edge 47-34 after promoting Offensive Coordinator Mike Bonner to Head Coach. The team finished 1-4 under Coach Bonner.
General Manager Ricky Bertz decided to go in another direction after the 2017 season. After hiring Herron O’Neal The Liberty finished first in the CIF's North Conference regular season in 2018 and 2019. They won the conference playoff championship in 2019 and played in the Champions Bowl for the league title, but lost to theDuke City Gladiators 29–35.
On September 25, 2023, the Liberty were implicitly announced to be joining theArena Football League after the AFL announced it would be absorbing CIF's remaining franchises.[5] Then nearly one year later on September 4, 2024, the Liberty announced their move to the newArena Football One following the collapse of the AFL. They played in the league's new Central Division along with theCorpus Christi Tritons andSouthwest Kansas Storm with theWichita Regulators going dormant for 2025.
At a media conference held September 19, 2025, it was announced the Liberty were moving to theNational Arena League in 2026, part of a series of moves by the league to compact its footprint to the midwest.
| League Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | Playoff berth | League leader |
| Season | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | |||||
| 2016 | CIF | Northern | 6th | 2 | 10 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | CIF | North | 7th | 1 | 11 | 0 | ||
| 2018 | CIF | North | 1st | 9 | 3 | 0 | Won Conference Semifinal (Bismarck) 81–51 Lost Conference Championship (Sioux City) 39–45 | |
| 2019 | CIF | North | 1st | 8 | 4 | 0 | Won Conference Championship (Omaha) 44–42 Lost Champions Bowl (Duke City) 29–35 | |
| 2020 | CIF | North | Season cancelled due toCOVID-19 pandemic | |||||
| 2021 | CIF | 1st | 9 | 1 | 0 | Won Semifinal (Dodge City) 55–31 Lost Champions Bowl (Omaha) 39–40 | ||
| 2022 | CIF | 2nd | 7 | 3 | 0 | Won Semifinal (Billings) 26–14 Won Champions Bowl (Omaha) 38–34 | ||
| 2023 | CIF | 2nd | 8 | 2 | 0 | Won Semifinal (Gillette) 37–30 Lost Champions Bowl (Omaha) 30–50 | ||
| 2024 | AFL | 3rd | 6 | 2 | 0 | Won Round One Semifinal (Dodge City) 41–35 Lost Semifinal (Albany) 59-80 | ||
| Totals | 50 | 36 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2016–2024) | ||||
| 7 | 5 | — | All-time postseason record (2016–2024) | |||||
| 57 | 41 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2016–2024) | |||||
SeeCategory:Salina Liberty players
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