| Fort Wayne Freedom | |
| |
| Founded | 2003 |
| History | Fort Wayne Freedom 2003-2006, 2008-2009 |
| League | Continental Indoor Football League |
| Arena | Allen County War Memorial Coliseum |
| Based in | Fort Wayne, Indiana |
| Colors | Red, White, & Blue
|
| Head Coach | Matt Land |
| Dancers | The First Ladies |
| Mascot | Super Sam and Kooka Bird |
The Fort Wayne Freedom was a team in the Continental Indoor Football League, beginning play in the 2008 season. Like the original Freedom, the team retained a red, white, and blue color scheme, and played in the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
In September, 2008, the Freedom announced that former Freedom Assistant GM Brad Harris (who was with the original Freedom from 2003–2005) had been hired as GM. Head coach Matt Land also returned for the 2009 to coach the team for the full season.
In 2008, Land, who had been the team's head coach for the 2005 campaign, was asked by team co-owner William Fahlsing to lead the team for the final four games of the season when original head coach Willie Davis, Jr. was fired the morning of the May 17 game against the Chicago Slaughter. With only 15 minutes of practice, Land's second term began with a 41-33 loss to the Slaughter, despite a solid performance by the Freedom defense.
In 2009, the Freedom had success on the field but struggled financially. Toward the end of the 2009 season players were not paid promptly and then not at all. Team Co-owners Bill Fahlsing and Mark Chappius were forced to ask for public support to help get the team through the season. Despite the financial issue with salaries, the players continued to play for the Freedom and won the Eastern Conference Championship over the Marion Mayhem but lost the 2009 CIFL championship game to the Chicago Slaughter.
Season-By-Season[]
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties
| Season | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 3rd Great Lakes East | -- |
| *2009 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 2nd Eastern | Lost in CIFL Championship Game against Chicago |
* = Current Standing
2008 Season Schedule[]
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 21 | Miami Valley Silverbacks | Home | Won 52-48 |
| March 27 | Kalamazoo Xplosion | Home | Lost 34-50 |
| April 4 | Rock River Raptors | Away | Lost 29-64 |
| April 12 | Muskegon Thunder | Away | Lost 33-39 |
| April 19 | Rock River Raptors | Home | Won 55-54 |
| April 26 | Marion Mayhem | Home | Won 55-40 |
| May 2 | Miami Valley Silverbacks | Away | Lost 29-35 |
| May 10 | Saginaw Sting | Home | Lost 21-34 |
| May 17 | Chicago Slaughter | Away | Lost 33-41 |
| May 24 | Muskegon Thunder | Home | Won 42-38 |
| May 31 | Chesapeake Tide | Away | Won 37-31 |
| June 7 | Kalamazoo Xplosion | Away | Lost 32-39 |
2009 Season Schedule[]
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 21 | Marion Mayhem | Home | Win 46 - 23 |
| March 28 | Wheeling Wildcats | Away | Win 49 - 34 |
| April 4 | Marion Mayhem | Away | Loss 39-33 OT |
| April 10 | Wisconsin Wolfpack | Away | Loss 38-34 |
| April 18 | Chicago Slaughter | Home | Loss 56-41 |
| April 25 | Miami Valley Silverbacks | Home | Win 33-28 |
| May 1 | Rock River Raptors | Home | Loss 48-46 |
| May 9 | Milwaukee Bonecrushers | Away | Win 51-33 |
| May 16 | Miami Valley Silverbacks | Away | Win 56-28 |
| May 23 | Marion Mayhem | Home | Loss 62-47 |
| May 29 | Wheeling Wildcats | Away | Won 84-42 |
| June 6 | Miami Valley Silverbacks | Game was canceled | |
| June 20 | CIFL EASTERN DIVISION PLAYOFF | Marion Mayhem | Away Won 49-40 |
| June 27 | CIFL CHAMPIONSHIP | Chicago Slaughter | Away Lost 58-48 |
Original Team[]
Original logo of the Freedom.
The original Fort Wayne Freedom was a professional indoor football team. They were founded by Richard Coffey, who had spent ten years as the General Manager of the Fort Wayne Fury of the CBA (Continental Basketball Association), the development league of the NBA. They were most recently a member of the United Indoor Football league (UIF), and played their home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. In 2004, the Freedom set the single game record for attendance at 10,225. In 2005, the Freedom moved to the UIF after 2 years in the NIFL. The Freedom won the 2005 UIF Midwest Division Championship, went 14-2 in the regular season while clinching the #1 seed in the playoffs, but lost 57-22 in the first round of the UIF Playoffs to the Tennessee Valley Raptors.
Team history[]
The Freedom selected a new coach for the 2006 season, after Matt Land left the Freedom to coach Tri-State University in NCAA Division III. The Freedom selected one of their own as they signed Dan Pifer to be their new head coach. Pifer is also the offensive coordinator for NCAA Division III Tri-State under former coach Matt Land. He had worked previously as an assistant coach at the University of St. Francis, an NAIA institution, and NCAA Division II Hillsdale College in Michigan. Pifer also was a high school assistant and played quarterback at the University of California in Pennsylvania. After completing its fourth year of football, the assets of the Freedom were sold to Jeremy Golden, who moved the franchise to af2. The Freedom joined the CIFL for the 2008 season.
United Indoor Football did find an ownership group (that included investor Bill Bean) that also sought a lease with Randy Brown and the Memorial Coliseum. Brown opted to go with the af2 franchise.
Rumored move to af2[]
The team had been heavily rumored to move to af2 for quite some time, and Coffey sold the assets to Golden on November 10, 2006. Golden had already applied for and was awarded an af2 franchise, but because only the assets and not the Freedom's corporate entity were sold, the Fort Wayne Fusion af2 franchise is not a continuation of the UIF team.
Fans[]
The Freedom Force is the official fan club of the Fort Wayne Freedom.
Head coaches[]
- Rich Huff (2003–2004)
- Matt Land (2005, 2008)
- Dan Pifer (2006)
- Willie Davis, Jr. (2008)
- Matt Land (2008–2009)
Former Staff[]
- Head Coach - Willie Davis, Jr.
- Head Coach - Dan Pifer
- Offensive Coordinator - Dan Pifer
- Defensive Coordinator - Mike Smith
- Offensive Line Coach / Defensive Line Coach - Toney Bergman
- Assistant Coach - Troy Abbs
- Radio Play-by-play - Dean Jackson broadcast 58 games for the Freedom
Season-By-Season[]
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties
| Season | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Wayne Freedom (NIFL) | |||||
| 2003 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 3rd Atlantic East | -- |
| 2004 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 3rd Atlantic North | Won Round 1 (Believers) Lost Semifinal (Greyhounds) |
| Fort Wayne Freedom (UIF) | |||||
| 2005 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 1st Midwest | Lost Round 1 (T.V. Raptors) |
| 2006 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 4th East | -- |
| Totals | 35 | 27 | 0 | (including playoffs) | |
2003 Season[]
Game-by-Game results[]
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 22, 2003 | vs. Evansville BlueCats | W - 41-40 | (1-0) |
| March 29, 2003 | vs. Tupelo Fire Ants | W - 57-22 | (2-0) |
| April 12, 2003 | vs. Ohio Valley Greyhounds | L - 41-54 | (2-1) |
| April 19, 2003 | at Tennessee Riverhawks | L - 48-65 | (2-2) |
| April 25, 2003 | at Ohio Valley Greyhounds | L - 42-48 | (2-3) |
| May 3, 2003 | vs. Sioux Falls Storm | W - 55-19 | (3-3) |
| May 17, 2003 | vs. Myrtle Beach Stingrays | W - 51-25 | (4-3) |
| May 24, 2003 | at Evansville BlueCats | W - 62-33 | (5-3) |
| May 30, 2003 | at Lacrosse Night Train | W - 59-06 | (6-3) |
| June 6, 2003 | vs. Tennessee Riverhawks | W 74-15 | (7-3) |
| June 14, 2003 | at Sioux Falls Storm | L 49-52 | (7-4) |
| June 21, 2003 | at Myrtle Beach Stingrays | L - 41-50 | (7-5) |
| June 26, 2003 | at Lexington Horsemen | L - 43-59 | (7-6) |
| July 5, 2003 | vs. Lexington Horsemen | W - 76-62 | (8-6) |
2004 Season[]
Game-by-Game results[]
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 14, 2004 | vs. Show-Me Believers | W - 66-37 | (1-0) |
| March 20, 2004 | vs. Evansville BlueCats | W - 80-41 | (2-0) |
| April 3, 2004 | at Lexington Horsemen | L - 21-49 | (2-1) |
| April 10, 2004 | vs. Lexington Horsemen | L - 48-51 | (2-2) |
| April 24, 2004 | vs. Atlantic City CardSharks | W - 63-54 | (3-2) |
| May 1, 2004 | at Evansville BlueCats | L - 68-71 | (3-3) |
| May 8, 2004 | vs. Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W - 43-35 | (4-3) |
| May 15, 2004 | at Staten Island Xtreme | L - 41-42 | (4-4) |
| May 21, 2004 | vs. Staten Island Xtreme | W - 56-07 | (5-4) |
| May 28, 2004 | at Show-Me Believers | W - 49-35 | (6-4) |
| June 5, 2004 | at Ohio Valley Greyhounds | L - 23-52 | (6-5) |
| June 12, 2004 | at Atlantic City CardSharks | L - 27-41 | (6-6) |
| June 19, 2004 | at Tupelo Fire Ants | W - 61-40 | (7-6) |
| June 26, 2004 | vs. Carolina Stingrays | W - 48-03# | (8-6) |
# = set single game indoor football attendance record with 10,225 fans.[2]
- 2004 stats do not include a NIFL playoff game at Ohio Valley (Wheeling, WV)***
2005 Season[]
The 2005 season was a season for the ages and, statistically, the best season the Freedom have had in franchise history. Finishing a league-best 14-2, the Freedom had high hopes as they went into the first-round of the UIF playoffs. On the other hand, the Tennessee Valley Raptors had other plans. Considering the game was in Fort Wayne, the Freedom were heavily favored, and the Raptors didn't take that into consideration when they destroyed the Freedom 57-22. A phenomenal season for the Freedom came to an end with a miserable showing in the first-round against a team that had more heart and more poise.
Game-by-Game results[]
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 20, 2005 | vs. Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W 29-25 | (1-0) |
| April 10, 2005 | at Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W 31-20 | (2-0) |
| April 16, 2005 | vs. Black Hills Red Dogs | W - 59-34 | (3-0) |
| April 23, 2005 | at Tupelo Fire Ants | W - 51-15 | (4-0) |
| April 30, 2005 | at Sioux Falls Storm | W - 34-31 | (5-0) |
| May 7, 2005 | vs. Sioux City Bandits | W - 57-50 | (6-0) |
| May 13, 2005 | vs. Peoria Rough Riders | W - 52-32 | (7-0) |
| May 21, 2005 | at Peoria Rough Riders | W - 41-13 | (8-0) |
| May 28, 2005 | vs. Tupelo Fire Ants | W - 45-20 | (9-0) |
| June 5, 2005 | vs. Omaha Beef | W - 42-40 | (10-0) |
| June 11, 2005 | at Omaha Beef | L - 30-33 | (10-1) |
| June 18, 2005 | vs. Lexington Horsemen | L 41-58 | (10-2) |
| June 25, 2005 | at Peoria Rough Riders | W - 56-35 | (11-2) |
| July 2, 2005 | at Black Hills Red Dogs | W - 40-26 | (12-2) |
| July 8, 2005 | at Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W - 44-34 | (13-2) |
| July 17, 2005 | vs. Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W - 41-31 | (14-2) |
2006 Season[]
Game-by-Game results[]
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 25, 2006 | vs. Sioux City Bandits | W - 28-23 | (1-0) |
| April 1, 2006 | at Bloomington Extreme | W - 51-28 | (2-0) |
| April 8, 2006 | vs. Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W - 37-32 | (3-0) |
| April 15, 2006 | at Sioux City Bandits | L - 27-41 | (3-1) |
| April 22, 2006 | vs. Sioux Falls Storm | L - 44-47 | (3-2) |
| April 28, 2006 | at Lexington Horsemen | L - 65-32 | (3-3) |
| May 6, 2006 | at Sioux Falls Storm | L - 25-44 | (3-4) |
| May 12, 2006 | vs. Rock River Raptors | L - 36-49 | (3-5) |
| May 20, 2006 | vs. Evansville BlueCats | L - 31-33 | (3-6) |
| June 3, 2006 | at Ohio Valley Greyhounds | L - 29-52 | (3-7) |
| June 10, 2006 | at Evansville BlueCats | L - 37-43 | (3-8) |
| June 17, 2006 | at Rock River Raptors | L - 27-29 | (3-9) |
| June 24, 2006 | vs. Ohio Valley Greyhounds | W - 42-40 | (4-9) |
| July 1, 2006 | vs. Lexington Horsemen | L - 44-70 | (4-10) |
| July 8, 2006 | at Omaha Beef | L - 13-52 | (4-11) |
See also[]
- History of sports in Fort Wayne, Indiana