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San Diego Strike Force

San Diego Strike Force
Current season
Established 2018
Play in Oceanside, California
at Frontwave Arena
SDStrikeForce.com
League/conference affiliations
Indoor Football League (2019–present)
  • Western Conference (2022–present)
Current uniform
Team colorsFlight suit green, stealth black, yellow, white
       
Personnel
PresidentBurt Grossman[1]
General managerGeno Gerbo[1]
Head coachTaylor Genuser
Team history
  • San Diego Strike Force (2019–present)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Playoff appearances (1)
Home arena(s)

The San Diego Strike Force are a professional indoor football team based in San Diego County, California, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The team plays its home games at Frontwave Arena. The Strike Force began play in the 2019 season.

History

[edit]

The team was initially announced as a 2019 Indoor Football League expansion team in November 2018 and was owned by Roy Choi, who was also the owner of the IFL's Cedar Rapids River Kings.[2] The team announced their colors as black, navy blue, silver, as well as their initial staff on December 17, 2018.[3] Brian Cox, a former sports agent and quarterback, was hired as the general manager, while ex-Chargers defensive end Burt Grossman was named head coach.[4][5]

The Strike Force are the second professional football team in San Diego that began play in spring 2019, after the San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football, more than year after the departure of the NFL's San Diego Chargers in 2017.

The Strike Force is the third indoor team to play in San Diego, after the San Diego Riptide of AF2 (2002–2005) and the San Diego Shockwave of the National Indoor Football League (2007).[6] The team may have planned on being called the San Diego Lightning, as the organization's original email addresses and internal website links used that name.[7]

The Strike Force struggled throughout its inaugural season with Grossman remarking the games were like he was "Southwestern College going to play Clemson or something."[8] In their season opener against the Quad City Steamwheelers, they allowed 43 points in the first half and lost 67–49;[9] Grossman attributed the team's struggles to a lack of headsets for the coaches. He eventually fired the defensive coordinator and released four players on defense; the offensive coordinator had also been fired two weeks prior, though Grossman noted both coaches were on the staff prior to his arrival.[10] The Strike Force's first home game, a 65–44 defeat by the Tucson Sugar Skulls,[11] saw a poor playing field consisting of carpet pieces held together with duct tape; four additional players were released a day later.[12] After a 0–3 start, owner Choi brought in the River Kings' general manager Ryan Eucker to replace Cox.[13] The team finished the season with a 1–13 record and last place in the league; their lone win was a 40–34 victory over the River Kings.[14]

Following the 2019 season, Eucker announced the team would undergo a minor rebrand with a new logos and colors, choosing more military tones in olive green, black, silver, and brass to better represent the city.[15] After playing one game, a 50–36 win over the Bismarck Bucks,[16] the rest of the 2020 season was canceled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Strike Force also withdrew from the 2021 season due to continued pandemic restrictions in California.[17] During the hiatus, Eucker left the team and was replaced by football operations director Geno Gerbo as interim general manager by April 2021.[18] In May 2021, Vivian Lin was announced as the team president and claimed to be the first Asian American woman to be a president of a professional football team.[19][20]

By November 2021, Gerbo had left the organization and Todd Durkin was named general manager.[21] while Grossman was replaced as head coach by former Christian High School athletic director and football offensive coordinator, David Beezer.[22] In March 2022, it was announced that the team had been sold to a new group of local investors, with Vivian Lin as the controlling owner, when Choi no longer wanted to be the owner.[23] However, by December 2022, Lin was no longer listed on the team website and former coach Burt Grossman was listed as team president.[24]

On October 1, 2024, the IFL and the Strike Force announced a three-year partnership with Frontwave Arena in nearby Oceanside, California; the team will play home games in the arena starting with the 2025 season.[25]

Roster

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San Diego Strike Force roster
Quarterbacks
  •  9 Rudy Johnson


Running backs

Wide receivers

  •  4 Xavier Amey
  • 16 Isiah Cox
  •  3 Arthur Jackson III
  • 18 Jordan Kress
  • 19 Elijah Lilly


 Offensive linemen
  • 70 Adonis Boone
  • 72 Jalen Both
  • 71 Clayton Bradley
  • 52 Jonathan Williams


Defensive linemen

  • 11 Jaquan Artis
  •  1 Byron Cooper
  • 43 VJ Malo
  • 98 Tevita Mo'unga
  • 55 Ben Moa
  • 99 Javian Williams


 Linebackers
  • 17 Sherrod Williams


Defensive backs

  •  5 Elijah Belle
  • 16 Ty'Korian Brown
  • 23 Atoa Fox
  •  2 Justic'e King
  • 14 Tariq Thompson
  •  2 Kishawn Walker


Kickers

  • 15 Conor Mangan


 Reserve lists
  • Currently vacant

Rookies in italics
Roster updated March 18, 2024
32 Active, 0 Inactive

→ More rosters

Season-by-season results

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League champions Conference champions Playoff berth League leader
Season League Conference Regular season Postseason results
Finish Wins Losses
2019 IFL 10th 1 13
2020 IFL 1 0 Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 IFL Dormant year
2022 IFL Western 6th 3 13
2023 IFL Western 5th 6 9
2024 IFL Western 4th 10 6 Won First round (Bay Area) 49–40
Lost Western Conference Championship (Arizona) 58–23
Totals 21 41 All-time regular season record
1 1 All-time postseason record
22 42 All-time regular season and postseason record

References

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  1. ^ a b "Front Office". Strike Force. Retrieved September 15, 2023.
  2. ^ "IFL Announces San Diego Expansion Team". OurSportsCentral.com. November 19, 2018.
  3. ^ "Indoor Football League takes flight in America's Finest City with the San Diego Strike Force". Strike Force. December 17, 2018.
  4. ^ Krasovic, Tom (December 18, 2018). "Column: Founder of San Diego indoor football team had harrowing NFL moment, leading to football success". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  5. ^ "Strike Force Name Head Coach". Indoor Football League. January 10, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  6. ^ "Yet Another New Team Coming To Town". San Diego Sports Domination. November 19, 2018.
  7. ^ "San Diego Strike Force (Official website)". sdstrikeforce.com. Retrieved November 28, 2018.
  8. ^ Krasovic, Tom (March 4, 2020). "Column: Burt Grossman says overhaul bodes well for Strike Force to bounce back after first-year chaos". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  9. ^ Tappa, Steve (February 22, 2019). "Steamwheelers strike down 'Force in season opener". The Dispatch / The Rock Island Argus. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  10. ^ Krasovic, Tom (March 1, 2019). "Column: After road fiasco, Strike Force of Burt Grossman will make San Diego debut". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  11. ^ Nguyen, Alexander (March 3, 2019). "San Diego Indoor Football Team Loses in Home Debut". Times of San Diego. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  12. ^ Krasovic, Tom (March 22, 2019). "San Diego Strike Force overhaul business side, including slashing ticket prices". The San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  13. ^ "Cedar Rapids River Kings' front office reshuffle ends with Reggie Harris as new GM". The Gazette. March 16, 2019.
  14. ^ "Game 7 Recap - San Diego vs. Cedar Rapids". San Diego Strike Force. April 14, 2019. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  15. ^ Ferguson, Connor (August 14, 2019). "San Diego Strike Force reveal Re-design". Last Word on Sports. Retrieved July 4, 2020.
  16. ^ "SAN DIEGO STRIKE FORCE TAKES DOWN BUCKS 50-36". Strike Force. March 9, 2020.
  17. ^ "STRIKE FORCE LOOKING AHEAD TO 2022 SEASON". Strike Force. April 14, 2020.
  18. ^ "FOOTBALL IS BACK!". Strike Force. April 30, 2021.
  19. ^ Krasovic, Tom (May 19, 2021). "San Diego football team re-emerges with groundbreaking hire as president". San Diego Union Tribune.
  20. ^ "Vivian Lin Named President of the San Diego Strike Force". OurSports Central. May 19, 2021.
  21. ^ "BREAKING NEWS: STRIKE FORCE ANNOUNCE TODD DURKIN AS THEIR NEW GM". San Diego Strike Force. November 10, 2021.
  22. ^ "SAN DIEGO STRIKE FORCE NAMES DAVID BEEZER AS HEAD COACH". San Diego Strike Force. November 17, 2021.
  23. ^ "Column: Strike Force's home opener comes under new local ownership". The San Diego Union-Tribune. March 28, 2022.
  24. ^ "Burt Grossman discusses Chargers wild-card, SDSU loss, and the Holiday Bowl". kusi.com. Retrieved December 27, 2022.
  25. ^ "STRIKE FORCE AND FRONTWAVE ARENA ANNOUNCE THREE YEAR PARTNERSHIP". sdstrikeforce.com. Retrieved October 1, 2024.
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