2009 Arkansas Twisters season

Off-field moves

After two seasons in the Central Division of the National Conference, the Twisters were realigned to the Southwest Division for the 2009 season. They joined the Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings, Corpus Christi Sharks, and Rio Grande Valley Dorados in the Southwest Division.

The Twisters re-signed head coach Chris Siegfried for a second season after leading the team to a winning record and a short playoff run in 2008. The assistant coaches for 2009 were former Dallas Cowboys fullback and first-year coach Robert Thomas, four-time ArenaBowl champion player and 2004 ArenaBowl Defensive MVP Omar Smith, plus veteran assistant coach and East Tennessee State University alum Travis Crusenberry.

In April 2009, the team was alerted that two active players had been assigned the "retired" jersey numbers of former Twisters players Reggie Swinton and Kahlil Carter. The team blamed the error on a "former employee" who had ordered the team's new uniforms without checking with veteran front office staff.

2009 was the final year for Arkansas in arenafootball2 (af2) as the league was merged with remnants of the original Arena Football League to create Arena Football 1. Although they signed on as a charter member of Arena Football 1, Twisters ownership soon had issues with league restructuring and financial stability so they jumped to the Indoor Football League. To avoid buying the rights to the team's name and logo, the Arkansas franchise held a "name the team" contest and became the Arkansas Diamonds for the 2010 season, their last before relocating to Texas. Arkansas is the site of the only diamond mine in the United States.

Roster moves

When pre-season training camp began on March 6, 2009, players included the 2008 AF2 Offensive Player of the Year, quarterback Kyle Rowley, plus defensive back Lawrence Richardson, wide receiver Robert Johnson, kicker James Paul, and prospect Xavier Lee.

Receiver Rod Harper left the team mid-season in June 2009 when he signed with the NFL's New Orleans Saints. Harper was the second Twisters player to jump directly from AF2 to the NFL. (The first was Reggie Swinton who played for the Twisters in 2000 before being signed by the Dallas Cowboys in 2001.)

Schedule

Pre-season

Regular season

• Because of the sale of Alltel to Verizon Wireless, the Alltel Arena was renamed "Verizon Arena" on July 1, 2009.

Playoffs

Standings

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Roster

References

References

1. (November 11, 2008). "Arkansas Twisters Release '09 Schedule". [[KARK-TV]].
2. (November 12, 2008). "Arena Football: Twisters Change Divisions, Release 2009 Schedule". [[Arkansas Business Publishing Group]].
3. Seaton, Philip. (January 23, 2009). "Arkansas Twisters' Roster Starting to Take Shape in Preparation for Upcoming Season". Arkansas Sports 360.
4. (March 9, 2009). "Twisters Coaching Staff Brings Rings". Our Sports Central.
5. (March 19, 2009). "Shock Win Exhibition; Spokane holds off Arkansas in sloppy preseason game". [[The Spokesman-Review]].
6. (March 29, 2009). "Battle Wings lose season opener". [[Shreveport Times]].
7. (April 6, 2009). "Arena Football: Rowley Accounts for 6 TDs in Twisters Second Win". [[Arkansas Business Publishing Group]].
8. (April 11, 2009). "Twisters Down Rio Grande Valley; Improve to 3-0". [[Arkansas Business Publishing Group]].
9. Seaton, Phillip. (April 18, 2009). "Twisters' Flub, Use Retired Jerseys". [[Arkansas Business Publishing Group]].
10. (April 19, 2009). "Tennessee Valley Drops Twisters 61-60 in Final Seconds". [[Arkansas Business Publishing Group]].
11. (April 25, 2009). "Arena football: Twisters dismantle Blizzard at Resch". [[Green Bay Press Gazette]].
12. Watson, Jimmy. (May 2, 2009). "Man of many words". [[Shreveport Times]].
13. (May 4, 2009). "Lancaster, defense impressive in 69-61 win over Arkansas". Bossier Press-Tribune.
14. (May 9, 2009). "af2: Arkansas QB-WR tandem puts away Firecats". [[Naples Daily News]].
15. (May 10, 2009). "Twisters overcome Firecats". [[The News-Press]].
16. (May 18, 2009). "Twisters Win Again". Our Sports Central.
17. Quintero, Erick. (May 31, 2009). "Sharks can't handle Twisters, Harper; Arkansas WR makes 14 catches for 275 yards, 8 TDs". [[Corpus Christi Caller-Times]].
18. (June 4, 2009). "Twisters' Harper Signs With New Orleans Saints". [[Arkansas Business Publishing Group]].
19. (June 6, 2009). "Twisters Fall to OKC". [[KARK-TV]].
20. Yates, Robert. (June 7, 2009). "Twisters stumble minus Harper". [[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]].
21. (June 14, 2009). "AF2 Offense intercepted in loss by Twisters". [[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]].
22. Brown, Mike. (June 14, 2009). "Talons hold off Arkansas". [[Tulsa World]].
23. (June 20, 2009). "Arkansas Avoids 3 Game Losing Streak". [[KARK-TV]].
24. Yates, Robert. (June 21, 2009). "AF2 Twisters turn to UCA for help". [[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]].
25. Haynes, Darren. (June 27, 2009). "Late Field Goal Pushes Twisters Past Dorados". [[KGBT-TV]].
26. Nolan, Aaron. (June 27, 2009). "Twisters Top Rio Grande". [[KARK-TV]].
27. (June 29, 2009). "Arkansas Twisters". [[Arkansas Business Publishing Group]].
28. (July 2, 2009). "NLR's Alltel Arena now Verizon Arena". [[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]].
29. (July 11, 2009). "Twisters Win by 10". [[KARK-TV]].
30. Crise, Doug. (July 12, 2009). "Twisters recover from 2nd-half lull". [[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]].
31. Walker, Nick. (July 19, 2009). "AF2 Twisters win to set up showdown in finale". [[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]].
32. Nolan, Aaron. (July 19, 2009). "Twisters Keep Winning". [[KARK-TV]].
33. (July 23, 2009). "Twisters Move up in Polls". [[KARK-TV]].
34. (July 26, 2009). "AF2 Turnovers doom Twisters in road loss". [[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]].
35. Watson, Jimmy. (July 26, 2009). "Wings take title; Bossier-Shreveport claims second straight Southwest Division championship". [[Shreveport Times]].
36. Wayne, Jeremy. (August 1, 2009). "Burn Torch Twisters In First Round Playoff". [[KMVT-TV]].
37. (August 2, 2009). "Shock advance to the second round of playoffs". [[KHQ-TV]].
38. (September 29, 2009). "Twisters join new AF1 league". [[Victoria Advocate]].
39. (November 19, 2009). "Arkansas Twisters Join IFL". Arkansas Twisters.
40. (January 29, 2010). "Twisters taking suggestions for new name". [[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]].
41. (January 29, 2010). "Legal issue forces change by Dusters". [[Amarillo Globe-News]].
42. (February 4, 2010). "Twisters now the Diamonds". [[Arkansas Democrat-Gazette]].
43. (February 5, 2010). "Twisters Change Name to Arkansas Diamonds". [[KARK-TV]].