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Colorado Crush (IFL)

Indoor football team


Indoor football team

FieldValue
nameColorado Crush
logoColoradoCrush.png
founded
folded
cityBudweiser Events Center
in Loveland, Colorado
misc
colorsNavy blue, orange, Carolina blue, white
coachMarvin Jones
ownerProject Fanchise
mascotAmbush
cheerleadersTitan Dolls
no_div_champs1
div_champsMountain West: 2011
playoff_appearancesUIF: 2007, IFL: 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
no_playoff_appearances6

in Loveland, Colorado

United Indoor Football (2007–2008)

  • Western Division (2007–2008) Indoor Football League (–)
  • Intense Conference (2009)
    • Pacific Division (2009)
  • United Conference (2010)
    • Central West Division (2010)
  • Intense Conference (2011–2017)
    • Mountain West Division (2011)
  • Colorado Ice (2006–2015)
  • Colorado Crush (2016–2017)
  • Budweiser Events Center (2007–2017)

The Colorado Crush were a professional indoor football team. The Crush played its home games at the Budweiser Events Center in Loveland, Colorado, outside Fort Collins.

The Crush began play in 2007 as the Colorado Ice, an expansion member of United Indoor Football (UIF) and joined the Indoor Football League as part of the UIF-Intense Football League merger of 2009. Ahead of the 2016 season, the team changed its name to the Colorado Crush, after the John Elway-owned team of the same name that played in the Arena Football League from 2003 until its suspension of operations in 2008. Despite the same name, this Crush organization is not connected to the original.

History

In July 2006, Colorado real estate executive, Danny DeGrande, was awarded an expansion franchise of United Indoor Football to begin play in 2007. The Ice were a sub-.500 team during their first four years of existence but still managed to make the playoffs twice in 2007 and 2009.

On April 1, 2010, Tom Wigley was announced as the new owner of the Ice. The 2011 season saw an overhaul of the team's roster and a reversal of its fortunes as the Ice began the season with seven straight wins and finished with an 11–3 record plus the Mountain West Division title and their first winning season. The Ice fell to the Tri-Cities Fever in the first round of the playoffs. This was Collins Sanders' last season as head coach before his promotion to general manager in 2012.

In 2012, Heron O'Neal was hired as head coach. They recorded an 8–6 record and reached the playoffs but lost to the Tri-Cities Fever in the first round. O'Neal returned as head coach for 2013 and a strong start with three consecutive home wins. Both of the Ice's 2012 All-IFL Team players returned for the 2013 season.

Heron O'Neal returned as head coach for a third season in 2014. From 2011 to 2014, the team made the playoffs for four straight seasons but remained winless in the postseason. They competed Intense Conference Championship game in back-to-back seasons, losing both to the Nebraska Danger.

On July 15, 2015, the Colorado Ice became the new Colorado Crush one year after the trademark for the original AFL franchise name expired. On March 7, 2016, owner Thomas Wigley announced the team was for sale after he was diagnosed as terminally ill. Wigley assured that the team would finish 2016 season, but due to his health he would not be able to continue operations himself. In October 2016, the Crush's new owners were announced as Project FANchise, a group that also started the 2017 expansion Salt Lake Screaming Eagles. Project FANchise-owned teams planned to be operated in conjunction with fan input by allowing them vote on every aspect of the team including hiring the head coach, signing players, and calling plays. Due to purchasing the team late in the offseason, this system was not implemented for the Crush in the 2017 season. However, during their first season under Project FANchise, it was announced that FANchise was planning its own league for the 2018 season, called the Interactive Football League, and would not be operating any teams in the Indoor Football League. After the 2017 season ended, the Crush website was shut down and no formal announcement on the team's future was made.

Players

Awards and honors

The following is a list of all Ice/Crush players who have won league Awards

All-IFL players

The following Ice players were named to All-IFL teams:

  • QB Willie Copeland (1)
  • WR Kyle Kaiser (4), Demarius Washington (1)
  • OL Collin Cordell (1), Michael Trice (2), James Atoe (1)
  • DL Gabe Knapton (1), Michael Stover (1), Jason Jones (1)
  • LB Landon Jones (1)
  • LB/DB Joe Thornton (1)
  • DB Idly Etienne (1), Jovan Jackson (1), Corey Sample (2), Rashard Smith (1)
  • K Aric Goodman (1)
  • KR Daniel Lindsey (1)
  • Ironman Eryk Anders (1)

Individual awards

Colorado Crush}};"SeasonColorado Crush}};"PlayerColorado Crush}};"Position
Landon JonesLB
Colorado Crush}};"SeasonColorado Crush}};"PlayerColorado Crush}};"Position
David KnightonQB
Colorado Crush}};"SeasonColorado Crush}};"PlayerColorado Crush}};"Position
Willie CopelandQB
Colorado Crush}};"SeasonColorado Crush}};"PlayerColorado Crush}};"Position
Demarius WashingtonWR

Statistics and records

Season-by-season results

League ChampionsConference ChampionsDivision ChampionsWild Card BerthLeague Leader
SeasonTeamLeagueConferenceDivisionRegular seasonPostseason resultsFinishWinsLossesTies20072008200920102011201220132014201520162017Totals70890All-time regular season record (2007–2017)70950All-time regular season and postseason record (2007–2017)
2007UIFWestern3rd690Lost Western Division Semifinals (Sioux Falls) 16–44
2008UIFWestern4th680
2009IFLIntensePacific3rd590Lost Wild Card (Fairbanks) 14–42
2010IFLUnitedCentral West5th2120
2011IFLIntenseMountain West1st1130Lost Intense Conference Semifinals (Tri-Cities) 42–45
2012IFLIntense4th860Lost Intense Conference Semifinals (Tri-Cities) 43–52
2013IFLIntense2nd950Lost Intense Conference Championship (Nebraska) 50–55
2014IFLIntense1st1040Lost Intense Conference Championship (Nebraska) 15–45
2015IFLIntense3rd680
2016IFLIntense4th4120
2017IFLIntense4th3130
06All-time postseason record (2007–2017)

Head coach records

NameTermRegular seasonPlayoffsAwardsWLTWin%WL
Collins Sanders20073041003
Heron O'Neal3735003IFL Coach of the Year ()
Jose Jefferson26000
Marvin Jones17000

Radio

Games and weekly coach's show are broadcast on KFKA (1310 AM).

References

References

  1. (July 15, 2015). "Introducing the Colorado Crush". Indoor Football League.
  2. Andy Vuong. (July 18, 2006). ""Ice" to join Colorado's team ranks". The Denver Post.
  3. (April 1, 2010). "Colorado Ice Announces New Owner". OurSports Central.
  4. Mike Brohard. (July 7, 2011). "Ice make changes; O'Neal new head coach". Loveland Reporter-Herald.
  5. (September 6, 2013). "Colorado Ice announce 2014 coaching staff". [[Gannett Company]].
  6. (March 7, 2016). "Colorado Crush Owner Ill, Team for Sale". OurSportsCentral.
  7. (October 17, 2016). "Colorado Crush Acquires New Ownership". OurSports Central.
  8. (April 21, 2016). "Project FANchise Launches First-Ever Fan-Run Pro Sports Team". OurSports Central.
  9. (April 20, 2017). "How Can Football Video Games Get More Realistic? Real Humans". [[The Wall Street Journal]].
  10. (April 24, 2017). "WEEKLY SPORTS LEAGUE & FRANCHISE REPORT". OurSports Central.
  11. (September 27, 2017). "Colorado Crush indoor football franchise apparently folds". [[Fort Collins Coloradoan.
  12. (June 23, 2010). "Colorado Ice Linebacker Named IFL Defensive Rookie of the Year". OurSports Central.
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