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Virginia Destroyers
Year founded: 2009
Virginia Destroyers logo
Logo
City Virginia Beach, Virginia
Head coach Marty Schottenheimer
Owner(s) Bill Mayer[1]
General manager Marty Schottenheimer
Affiliations
United Football League (2009–present)
Current uniform
File:UFL-Uniform-VA.png
Team colors Cardinal Red, Navy Blue, Gray

              

Team history
  • Florida Tuskers (20092010)
  • Virginia Destroyers (2011–present)
Championships
League championships (0)
Home fields

The Virginia Destroyers are a professional American football team based in Virginia Beach, Virginia. They are scheduled to play in the United Football League (UFL) beginning in the 2011 season. They will play their home games at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex. The team is a successor to the Florida Tuskers, who began play as a charter UFL franchise in Orlando, Florida, in 2009; the Tuskers appeared in both of the UFL Championship Games (losing both) before the team ceased operations and moved the remnants of the team to Virginia Beach to assume the identity (and some executive staff) of a previously announced expansion team that was to begin play in 2011.[2] Former NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer is the team's head coach and general manager.

Franchise history[]

Florida Tuskers (2009–2010)[]

2009 season[]

Orlando was awarded a franchise for the UFL's 2009 season. Former New Orleans Saints and St. Louis Rams head coach Jim Haslett was named the first head coach of the team on March 11, 2009.

Tryouts for the four teams that would play in the 2009 season took place in Orlando and Las Vegas during the summer, with the draft taking place on June 19. With their first selection, the Tuskers picked Fred Bledsoe, who had gone undrafted in the 2008 NFL Draft before signing with the Green Bay Packers as a practice squad member.

The team's name, along with its colors and uniforms, were unveiled to the public in August, two months before the start of the season. On the same day it was announced that the Tampa Bay Rays had bought interest in the team.[3]

In their inaugural season, the Tuskers were led by quarterback Brooks Bollinger, and wide receiver Taye Biddle. Bollinger was the league leader in passing yards, while Biddle led in receiving yards. On the defensive side of the ball, Odell Thurman led the team in tackles, Patrick Chukwurah was the league leader in sacks, and Jerome Carter led the league in interceptions.

The team was noted for having a large number of former players from the nearby Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Among the Buccaneer alumni were Matt Bryant, who once kicked a game-winning 62-yard field goal as time expired, which is also the third-longest successful attempt in NFL history, Micheal Spurlock, the first player in Tampa Bay history to return a kickoff for a touchdown, and Super Bowl XXXVII MVP Dexter Jackson.[4]

The Tuskers put together a league-best undefeated 6–0 record in the regular season, clinching a spot in the championship game in Week 4. However in the championship game, the Tuskers were beaten by the Las Vegas Locomotives, losing on a game-winning field goal in overtime. Despite the team being unable to complete a perfect season, Jim Haslett was named Coach of the Year, while Bollinger was given the league's MVP award.

2010 season[]

Florida Tuskers logo

Florida Tuskers logo

In January 2010, head coach Jim Haslett left the team to become the defensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League.[5] On February 9, 2010, UFL commissioner Michael Huyghue named Jay Gruden as head coach and general manager. On the same day it was announced that the Tampa Bay Rays had sold their interest in the team, meaning the Tuskers would be fully based in Orlando for the 2010 season. After several months of league ownership, a group led by Joe Theismann purchased the team in October 2010. The Tuskers signed WYGM as their radio affiliate, becoming the second UFL team to have one.[6]

Florida extended their regular season winning streak to seven games when they defeated the Las Vegas Locos in their opener on September 18, 27–20. The Tuskers lost their first regular season game in franchise history in Week 2 when they were defeated by the Sacramento Mountain Lions, 24–20. They dropped their next contest on September 30 against the Locos, 20–17, the first time Las Vegas had beaten Florida in a regular season match-up. After splitting their next two games, the Tuskers were 2–3 and in danger of being eliminated from championship contention. After backup quarterback Chris Greisen became the new starter in Week 8, the Tuskers went on to win their final three games, sending them back to the championship game, once again facing Las Vegas.[7]

Virginia Destroyers[]

2011 season[]

The UFL originally announced an expansion team based in Norfolk, Virginia, to begin play in 2011. Jim Speros, owner of the Baltimore Stallions and (briefly) the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League, was named as the team's owner, but relinquished control of the team to the league on August 23, 2010 opening up bidding to other parties.[8] Former NFL and USFL quarterback Doug Williams later was named the team's general manager.[9][10] On February 21, 2011, Williams resigned from the Destroyers to become the head coach at Grambling State University.

Joe Moglia, chairman of TD Ameritrade and a former college coordinator who last coached football in the 1980s, was given the head coaching position[11] at the behest of league commissioner Michael Huyghue in November 2010; Williams had no input on the hire.[12] However, in January 2011, the league announced Moglia would instead coach the Omaha Nighthawks.[13]

Meanwhile, on January 12, 2011, the league announced that the Tuskers ceased operations in Orlando and moved to Virginia, with Jay Gruden remaining as the Destroyers' coach. Bret Munsey, the Tuskers' director of player personnel, assumed authority over player personnel upon Williams' resignation. Theismann, a minority owner of the team in Florida, was relegated to being a consultant for the league[14] but eventually left that role, expressing disgust in the way he was treated by the league's ownership during his time as the Tuskers' director of football operations.[15] In February 2011, Gruden was hired by the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL as their offensive coordinator.

On March 23, 2011, former NFL coach Marty Schottenheimer was hired as head coach and general manager.[16]

On July 28, 2011, Bill Mayer was installed as owner of the Destroyers. Mayer had previously owned the New York Sentinels and Hartford Colonials in the UFL, but the league moved to contract that team as part of the move. The league has not publicly confirmed the move but will announce their plans on or before August 2.[1]

Season-by-season records[]

UFL Champions
Season Team League Regular season Playoff results Awards
Finish Wins Losses Ties
Florida Tuskers
2009 2009 UFL 1st 6 0 0 Lost UFL Championship Game (Las Vegas Locomotives) 23-20 (OT)
2010 2010 UFL 2nd 5 3 0 Lost UFL Championship Game (Las Vegas Locomotives) 20-17
Virginia Destroyers
2011 2011 UFL
Total 11 3 0 (2009–2010, includes only regular season)
0 2 0 (2009–2010, includes only playoffs)
11 5 0 (2009–2010, includes both regular season and playoffs)

Records vs. teams[]

Team Record Percent
Hartford Colonials/New York Sentinels 4–0 1.000
Las Vegas Locomotives 3–3 .500
Omaha Nighthawks 2–0 1.000
Sacramento Mountain Lions/California Redwoods 2–2 .500
  • Note: This includes postseason games.

Home, away, and neutral records[]

Location Record Percent
Home 5–2 .714
Away 6–1 .857
Neutral 0–2 .000

Current personnel[]

Current staff[]

Virginia Destroyers staffv · d · e
Front Office
  • President – Ed Reynolds
  • Assistant General Manager – John Wuehrmann
  • Director of Player Personnel – Bret Munsey

Head Coaches

Offensive Coaches

  • Offensive Coordinator – Terry Shea
  • Running Backs – Gerald Carr
  • Wide Receivers – Bobby Saunders
  • Offensive Line – Bill Laveroni
 

Defensive Coaches

Special Teams Coaches

Strength and Conditioning


Coaching Staff
Management
More UFL staffs

Current roster[]

Virginia Destroyers rosterview · talk · edit
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Reserve Lists
  • Currently vacant


Rookies in italics
Roster updated January 25, 2010

50 Active, 0 Inactive

More rosters

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Doyle, Paul (July 28, 2011). UFL Won't Admit Hartford Colonials Ship Has Sunk ... Yet. Hartford Courant. Retrieved July 28, 2011.
  2. Cordes, Henry (2011-02-21). Full seats, empty pockets. Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved 2011-02-21.
  3. Lancaster, Marc (2009-08-12). "Rays buy into UFL franchise, slate game at Trop". Tampa Bay Online. http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/aug/12/121624/rays-buy-ufl-franchise-slate-game-trop/. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  4. Harry, Chris (2009-10-28). "Former Bucs presence being felt in UFL". Orlando Sentinel. http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/2009-10-28/sports/0910270213_1_tuskers-bucs-super-bowl-xxxvii. Retrieved 2009-11-30.
  5. Maske, Mark and Barry Svrluga (2010-01-13). "Redskins hire Jim Haslett as defensive coordinator". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/13/AR2010011300289.html. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
  6. "WYGM to Air Tuskers Games in 2010". United Football League. 2010-07-13. http://www.ufl-football.com/news/wygm-air-tuskers-games-2010. Retrieved 2010-07-14.
  7. Dusty Sloan (November 20, 2010). "Tuskers to Join Locos in “The Championship” Rematch". United Football League. http://www.ufl-football.com/news/tuskers-join-locos-championship-rematch. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
  8. "Statement on UFL Virginia". United Football League. 2010-08-20. http://www.ufl-football.com/news/statement-ufl-virginia. Retrieved 2010-08-20.
  9. "United Football League Board Grants Conditional Approval for Norfolk, Virginia, To Host Sixth Team". United Football League. 2010-06-21. http://www.ufl-football.com/news/united-football-league-board-grants-conditional-approval-norfolk-virginia-host-sixth-team. Retrieved 2010-06-22.
  10. George, Thomas (2010-05-18). "Washington Redskins should bring Doug Williams home again". FanHouse. http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2010/05/18/washington-redskins-should-bring-doug-williams-home-again/. Retrieved 2010-05-18.
  11. Burke, Monte (2010-11-07). TD Ameritrade's Joe Moglia lands football coaching job. Forbes. Retrieved 2010-11-08.
  12. Robinson, Tom (2010-11-11). Destroyers' GM: Commissioner made call on coach. The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved 2010-11-11.
  13. Karpeles, Robert (2011-01-12). "Joe Moglia to Coach Omaha Nighthawks". FanHouse. http://www.fanhouse.com/2011/01/12/joe-moglia-to-coach-omaha-nighthawks/. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  14. "Jay Gruden to Coach the Virginia Destroyers of the United Football League". United Football League. 2011-01-12. http://www.ufl-football.com/news/jay-gruden-coach-virginia-destroyers-united-football-league. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  15. Masters, Mark (2011-06-24). Unplugged: Theismann on the CFL, NFL and Marc Trestman. National Post. Retrieved 2011-06-25.
  16. Mortensen, Chris (2011-03-21). "Sources: Marty Schottenheimer close to UFL gig". ESPN. http://sports.espn.go.com/extra/ufl/news/story?id=6243241&campaign=rss&source=NFLHeadlines. Retrieved 2011-03-21.

External links[]

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