From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Georgia Force

Arena football team

Summary

Arena football team

Field	Value
name	Georgia Force
logo	GeorgiaForceLogo.png
founded	2002 (Original incarnation)
folded	2012 (Second incarnation)
city	Arena at Gwinnett Center
in Duluth, Georgia
colors	Blue, black, white

coach	Dean Cokinos
owner	Doug MacGregor
president	Corey Remillard
mascot	Blu
no_conf_champs	1
no_div_champs	3
no_league_champs	0
no_playoff_appearances	6

in Duluth, Georgia

Arena Football League (–)

American Conference (2002–2008, 2011–2012)
- South (1997–2001, 2005–2007)
First franchise
- Nashville Kats (1997–2001)
- Georgia Force (2002–2008)
Second franchise
- Tennessee Valley Vipers (2000–2004, 2006–2009)
- Alabama Vipers (2010)
- Georgia Force (2011–2012)

Prior to 2005, the AFL did not have conference championship games

, ,
, , , , ,
Philips Arena (2002, 2005–2007)
Arena at Gwinnett Center (2003–2004, 2008, 2011–2012)

The Georgia Force was an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Gwinnett County, Georgia, United States (part of suburban Atlanta) that played in the South Division of the American Conference. The team was owned by Doug MacGregor and Donn Jennings.

Following the termination of operations of the Arena Football League on August 4, 2009, Georgia Force officials quickly followed with a release that indicated that they, too, were ceasing operations.

In 2010, the Alabama Vipers announced they would leave Huntsville, and would move to suburban Atlanta for the 2011 AFL season, once again playing home games at Arena at Gwinnett Center.

Following the 2012 season, the franchise folded citing, "The market never responded to our extensive marketing and sales campaign," said team president Corey Remillard. "With all of the outreach, marketing, community and public relations that we put forward, it would have been impossible to not know that we were playing here, and the city simply did not respond. Atlanta is simply not a football town."

History

The original Nashville Kats

The team began as the first Nashville Kats team from 1997 to 2001. The original Kats played in the Nashville Arena (later known as Gaylord Entertainment Center, now known as Bridgestone Arena) in downtown Nashville and were initially coached by Eddie Khayat in 1997 and 1998. Khayat was then succeeded by Pat Sperduto for the balance of the team's time in Nashville. The Kats were the league's "Organization of the Year" for their inaugural year of 1997, and were in the playoffs for every season of their relatively brief existence, even playing in the ArenaBowl each of their final two seasons, albeit losing both times they reached the AFL's championship game.

Virgil Williams, an Atlanta businessman, purchased the franchise for nearly $10 million in December 2001, and moved the team to Atlanta after the team's previous owners failed to negotiate a favorable lease with the arena's primary tenant and manager, the National Hockey League's Nashville Predators. The Kats would return to Nashville as an expansion team in 2005 (in a situation similar to the National Football League's Cleveland Browns). The second Nashville Kats team would fold after a losing 2007 season.

First dispersal draft

1. OL/DL Mike Lawson- (Miami)-formerly Florida Bobcats
1. WR/DB Kusanti Abdul-Salaam - (UCLA)-formerly Oklahoma Wranglers
1. FB/DB Scott Byrd Johnson (Ole Miss)-formerly-Knoxville Nighthawks(PIFL)
1. OL/DL Marcus Keyes (North Alabama)-formerly- Florida Bobcats
1. DS Scotty Lundsey (Stephen F. Austin)-formerly-Houston Thunderbears
1. DB Nate Jacks (University of Kansas)-formerly-Lincoln Capitols (NIFL)

Georgia Force

The rechristened Force initially played in Duluth, a suburb of Atlanta, in the Arena at Gwinnett Center until relocating in the 2004 season to Philips Arena in downtown Atlanta.

The team name was chosen through a contest in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Anthony R Ward submitted the winning name.

Under Williams' three-year tenure as owner, the team made the playoffs one time in 2003. Upon selling the team to Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank in September 2004, it was announced that the franchise would return to the downtown Philips Arena for the 2005 season in response to fan desires as expressed in a poll. However, following the 2007 season, the Force announced they were returning to the Gwinnett Center in 2008 after signing a 10-year lease.

The Georgia Force's only rival in the Arena Football League was the New Orleans VooDoo. Previous owners of both teams, owned NFL teams in the same market. The New Orleans Saints rivaled with The Atlanta Falcons & The New Orleans VooDoo rivaled with The Georgia Force.

The 2005 season was, by far, the most successful in team history with highlights including a conference-best 11–5 record, and undefeated home record (8–0), a division title, a National Conference Championship, and a trip to ArenaBowl XIX. They lost to the Colorado Crush, 51–48. They also won Southern Division titles in 2007 and 2008.

The Force's official mascot used to be a high-tech runner named G-Force, but was later changed to a blue, cuddly monster named Blu.

Revival

Main article: Georgia Force (2024)

An unrelated traveling team bearing the same name played in the short-lived 2024 Arena Football League.

Season-by-season

Main article: List of Georgia Force seasons

Coaches

: Coaches listed are Georgia Force coaches only, not for the Nashville Kats.

Head coach	Tenure	Regular season
record (W–L)	Post season
record (W–L)	Most recent coaching staff	Notes
Robert Lyles	2002	url=http://www.arenafan.com/history/?page=coaches&coach=56	title=ArenaFan Online: AFL Coaches: Robert Lyles	access-date=2008-10-25}}	0–0
Marty Lowe	2002–2004	url=http://www.arenafan.com/history/?page=coaches&coach=62	title=ArenaFan Online: AFL Coaches: Marty Lowe	access-date=2008-10-25}}	1–1
Bob Kronenberg	2004	url=http://www.arenafan.com/history/?page=coaches&coach=72	title=ArenaFan Online: AFL Coaches: Bob Kronenberg	access-date=2008-10-25}}	0–0
Doug Plank	2005–2008	url=http://www.arenafan.com/history/?page=coaches&coach=73	title=ArenaFan Online: AFL Coaches: Doug Plank	access-date=2008-10-25}}	4–4	2x Arena Football League
Coach of the Year
(2005, 2007)
Dean Cokinos	2011–	11–7	1–0	Asst./Line Coach: James Clark (2011–present)
Asst./Line Coach: Juan Porter (2011–present)
Asst./DB Coach: Willie Gary (2011–present)

Notable players

Individual awards

Season	Player	Position
	Maurice Purify	WR

Season	Player	Position
	Carlos Martinez	K

Season	Player	Position
	Troy Bergeron	OS
	Maurice Purify	WR

All-Arena players

The following Force players were named to All-Arena Teams:

QB Matt Nagy (1), Chris Greisen (1)
WR/LB Derek Lee (1)
WR Chris Jackson (1), Troy Bergeron (1), Maurice Purify (1)
OL/DL Jermaine Smith (3), Gillis Wilson (1)
OL Marcus Keyes (1) Shane Grice (1)
DL Jermaine Smith (1)
LB Umar Muhammad (1)
DB Tracy Belton (1)
DS Kevin Gaines (2)
K Carlos Martinez (1)

All-Ironman players

The following Force players were named to All-Ironman Teams:

FB/LB Travis Reece (1), Scott Byrd Johnson (1), Matt Huebner (1)
WR/LB Darryl Hammond (1), Derek Lee (1)
WR/KR C. J. Johnson (1),

All-Rookie players

The following Force players were named to All-Rookie Teams:

QB Leon Murray
FB/LB Robert Thomas
WR/LB Derek Lee
OL/DL Jermaine Smith
OS Troy Bergeron
WR/CB Tiger Jones

Notes

References

[http://www.11alive.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=133414&catid=40 Following AFL's End, Georgia Force Ceases Operations]
(October 14, 2012). "Force Fold". OurSports Central.
(September 22, 2001). "Kats move to Atlanta, Adams buys new team". OurSports Central.
Holcomb, T. (2001, Dec 11). PRO FOOTBALL: ARENA FOOTBALL: Atlanta gets 2-way lineman with top pick. The Atlanta Journal the Atlanta Constitution, pp. C.5-C.5.
[http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3540058 Georgia Force Sign 10-Year Lease with Gwinnett, oursportscental.com; retrieved September 2008]
[http://georgiaforce.com/cheerleaders/Blu.asp http://georgiaforce.com/cheerleaders/Blu.asp]
"ArenaFan Online: AFL Coaches: Robert Lyles".
"ArenaFan Online: AFL Coaches: Marty Lowe".
"ArenaFan Online: AFL Coaches: Bob Kronenberg".
"ArenaFan Online: AFL Coaches: Doug Plank".

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

georgia-force 2002-establishments-in-georgia-(u.s.-state) 2008-disestablishments-in-georgia-(u.s.-state) 2011-establishments-in-georgia-(u.s.-state) 2012-disestablishments-in-georgia-(u.s.-state)

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Georgia Force — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report