The Tucson Sugar Skulls are a professional indoor American football team based in Tucson, Arizona. They are members of the Indoor Football League (IFL) since the 2019 season as an expansion team. They play home games at Tucson Convention Center's Tucson Arena. The team are led by owners Cathy Guy, wife of Arizona Rattlers' head coach Kevin Guy, and Ali Farhang. Their head coach is Billy Back.
| Tucson Sugar Skulls | |
|---|---|
 Current season | |
| Established 2018 Play in Tucson Arena in Tucson, Arizona | |
 | |
| League/conference affiliations | |
Indoor Football League (2019–present)
| |
Current uniform | |
 | |
| Team colors | Black, gold, red, white |
| Mascot | Bones |
| Personnel | |
| Owner(s) | Cathy Guy Ali Farhang |
| President | Jay Gonzales[1] |
| Head coach | Billy Back[2] |
| Team history | |
| |
| Championships | |
| League championships (0) | |
| Conference championships (0) | |
| Division championships (0) | |
| Playoff appearances (3) | |
| |
| Home arena(s) | |
| |
History
editThe franchise was announced by the ownership group led by Kevin and Cathy Guy at a press conference held on August 23, 2018, at the Tucson Convention Center.[3] As Kevin Guy was also the head coach of the Arizona Rattlers, Cathy was named the majority owner of the Tucson team to oversee primary operations along with Mike Feder and Ali Farhang.[4] The team announced Marcus Coleman as its first head coach on September 12, 2018.[5] The team name was revealed on September 20, 2018, after a name-the-team contest originating from the local tradition of creating sugar skulls for Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) and the Roman Catholic holiday of All Souls Day.[6]
The team qualified for the playoffs in their first season with a 7–7 record. They lost to the eventual league champion Sioux Falls Storm 50–47 in the first round. After the season, the Sugar Skulls hired two-time IFL coach of the year Dixie Wooten away from the Iowa Barnstormers as head coach and general manager for the 2020 season.[7] However, the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic before the Sugar Skulls played any games.[8]
Personnel
editCurrent roster
editQuarterbacks
Running backs
Wide receivers
| Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
| Linebackers
Defensive backs
Kickers | Reserve lists
Rookies in italics → More rosters |
Staff
editFront office
| Coaches
| |||||
Statistics
editSeason-by-season results
edit| League champions | Playoff berth | League leader |
| Season | League | Conference | Regular season | Postseason results | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||||
| 2019 | IFL | 6th | 7 | 7 | 0 | Lost first round (Sioux Falls) 47–50 | |
| 2020 | IFL | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||||
| 2021 | IFL | 9th | 6 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | IFL | Western | 3rd | 9 | 7 | 0 | Lost first round (Northern Arizona) 30-49 |
| 2023 | IFL | Western | 3rd | 9 | 6 | 0 | Lost first round (Bay Area) 46-34 |
| 2024 | IFL | Western | 1 | 5 | 0 | ||
| Totals | 32 | 32 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2019–2024) | |||
| 0 | 3 | 0 | All-time postseason record (2019–2024) | ||||
| 32 | 35 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2019–2024) | ||||
Head coaches
editNote: Statistics are correct through the 2022 IFL season.
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | Win% | W | L | |||
| Marcus Coleman | 2019 | 7 | 7 | .500 | 0 | 1 | |
| Dixie Wooten | 2020–present | 15 | 15 | .500 | 0 | 1 | |
References
edit- ^ "Jay Gonzales named Sugar Skulls President". Sugar Skulls. July 24, 2019.
- ^ "Sugar Skulls hire five-time champion Billy Back as Head Coach, Hurtis Chinn resigns". Tucson Sugar Skulls. September 1, 2023.
- ^ "Tucson Indoor Football". Facebook.com. August 23, 2018.
- ^ Richard Obert (August 23, 2018). "Tucson joins Indoor Football League with Rattlers coach Kevin Guy and wife as co-owners". azcentral.com.
- ^ "Tucson's Indoor Football League team has its first coach — and he's a reigning champion". Tucson.com. September 12, 2018.
- ^ Ryan Finlay (September 20, 2018). "Sweet: Tucson's new Indoor Football League team picks a name with local significance". tucson.com.
- ^ "Sugar Skulls Hire Championship Coach". OurSports Central. September 18, 2019.
- ^ "IFL Cancels Remaining 2020 Games". IFL. April 13, 2020.