Salt Lake Screaming Eagles

The Salt Lake Screaming Eagles were a professional indoor football team based in West Valley City, Utah, near Salt Lake City. The Screaming Eagles started as an expansion team in the Indoor Football League (IFL) and began play in 2017 with home games at the Maverik Center. The team folded when ownership left the IFL to start their own league.

Salt Lake Screaming Eagles
Established 2016 Folded 2017 Played in Maverik Center in West Valley City, Utah SaltLakeScreamingEagles.com
League/conference affiliations
Indoor Football League (2017) Intense Conference (2017)
Current uniform
Team colors	Navy blue, red, white
Personnel
Owner(s)	Project Fanchise
President	Thom Carter
Head coach	Matthew Sauk
Team history
Salt Lake Screaming Eagles (2017)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Home arena(s)
Maverik Center (2017)

History

The team was announced in April 2016 by a group called Project FANchise with the intent on creating an entirely fan operated indoor football team.^[1] The project announced that fans would vote on every aspect of the team including the name of the team, signing players, and calling plays. On June 6, the name of the team was announced as the Screaming Eagles after the 101st Airborne Division.^[2] The name was picked over the more controversial choices of "Teamy McTeamface," "Sandtroopers,"^[3] and "Stormin' Mormons."^[4] William McCarthy was voted in as the first head coach in franchise history.

The team made their debut at home against the Nebraska Danger on February 16, 2017. They lost 78–47 in a game which featured the fans storming the field after the Eagles scored the first fan-called touchdown in franchise history. Also, the team introduced their part-owner, Norm Macdonald, who helped call part of the game streamed live on SI.com (Sports Illustrated) and YouTube.^[5] The team won their first game the next week defeating the Colorado Crush 42–41 on February 26. On March 1, the team then fired head coach William McCarthy due to philosophical differences^[6] and then hired Matthew Sauk as its new head coach without using the fan vote system. However, the FANchise vote system made national news once again when their fans voted against signing former NFL player Greg Hardy on March 30, 2017.^[7]

On April 20, 2017, The Wall Street Journal reported that Project FANchise was planning on launching a new league called the "Interactive Football League". Project FANchise CEO Sohrob Farudi confirmed that the Screaming Eagles would finish the 2017 Indoor Football League season^[8] and would be leaving the league afterwards.^[9] The league was later re-branded as the Electronic Football League (eFL) in October 2017 and then as the Fan Controlled Football League (FCFL) in November 2017.^[10] The new league planned to play all of its games in only one city with eight new teams and the Screaming Eagles did not appear to be one the team names considered. The new league eventually began play in February 2021 as Fan Controlled Football with four teams.

Statistics and records

Season-by-season results

League Champions

Conference Champions

Division Champions

Playoff Berth

League Leader

Season	Team	League	Conference	Division	Regular season			Postseason results
					Finish	Wins	Losses
2017	2017	IFL	Intense		4th	5	11

Head coach records

Name	Term	Regular season			Playoffs		Awards
		W	L	Win%	W	L
William McCarthy	2017	1	1	.500	0	0
Matthew Sauk	2017	4	10	.286	0	0

Personnel

Final roster

2017 Salt Lake Screaming Eagles roster
Quarterbacks  1 Verlon Reed Running backs 17 Bubba Poole 16 Lucien Walker Wide receivers 14 Dorian Buford 21 Juwan Dotson  8 Delric Ellington 84 Devin Mahina  7 Chris Robinson 10 Dontrelle Sanford 11 Tanqueray Towns		Offensive linemen 92 Siaosi Aiono 99 Zach Fondal 52 Royce Roxas Defensive linemen 75 Quinton Bradley 97 Viliseni Fauonuku 53 Sisale Hautau 52 Michael Ward 93 Seante Williams		Linebackers 25 Jerome McElroy  9 Gionni Paul Defensive backs  6 Ed Burns 11 James Calhoun 12 Rashard Greene 14 Kelvin Lee  3 Don Unamba Special teams 13 Scott Thomsen		Reserve lists  2 Breon Allen RB (IR) 10 Trent Andrus K (IR) 99 David Gilbert DL (IR) 52 Ofa Hautau DL (IR) 51 Alex Land OL (Exempt) 10 Derwyn Lauderdale WR (IR) -- Lene Maiava OL (Exempt) 15 Gianni Olivas DB (IR)  9 Devon Price WR (IR)  5 Jesse Scroggins QB (IR) 13 Cy Strahm WR (IR) rookies in italics Roster updated June 13, 2017 25 Active, 12 Inactive → More rosters

All-League selections

• WR Devin Mahina
• DB James Calhoun

Individual awards

Offensive Rookie of the Year Season Player Position 2017 Verlon Reed QB

Staff

Salt Lake Screaming Eagles staff
	Front office Majority owner – Project FANchise President – Thom Carter			Head coach Head coach – Matthew Sauk Assistant to the head coach – Ron McBride Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – The Fans Offensive line coach – Jaren Skinner Defensive coaches co-Defensive Coordinator – Sergio Gilliam co-Defensive Coordinator – Kevin Bello

2017 season

2017 Salt Lake Screaming Eagles season
Owner	Project FANchise
Head coach	William McCarthy (2 games) Matthew Sauk
Home stadium	Maverik Center
Results
Record	5–11
Conference place	5th
Playoffs	Did not qualify
Salt Lake Screaming Eagles 2018 →

Schedule

Key:   Win   Tie   Loss   Bye

Week	Day	Date	Kickoff	Opponent	Results		Location	Attendance
					Score	Record
1	Thursday	February 16	7:00pm	Nebraska Danger	L 47–78[11]	0–1	Maverik Center	8,191
2	Sunday	February 26	3:00pm	at Colorado Crush	W 42–41 (OT)	1–1	Budweiser Events Center
3	BYE
4	Monday	March 13	7:00pm	Spokane Empire	L 35–41[12]	1–2	Maverik Center	4,196
5	BYE
6	Friday	March 24	7:00pm	at Spokane Empire	L 36–53[13]	1–3	Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
7	Friday	March 31	7:00pm	Colorado Crush	L 49–52[14]	1–4	Maverik Center	4,121
8	Saturday	April 8	7:05pm	at Wichita Falls Nighthawks	L 33–39	1–5	Kay Yeager Coliseum
9	Friday	April 14	7:00pm	Arizona Rattlers	L 60–73	1–6	Maverik Center	3,785
10	Saturday	April 22	7:05pm	at Nebraska Danger	L 30–49	1–7	Eihusen Arena
11	Sunday	April 30	3:00pm	at Spokane Empire	L 29–31	1–8	Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena
12	Sunday	May 7	4:30pm	at Colorado Crush	W 64–41	2–8	Budweiser Events Center
13	Friday	May 12	7:00pm	Colorado Crush	W 38–37	3–8	Maverik Center	4,855
14	Saturday	May 20	7:00pm	at Arizona Rattlers	L 33–63	3–9	Talking Stick Resort Arena
15	Monday	May 29	7:00pm	Cedar Rapids Titans	W 64–27	4–9	Maverik Center	2,981
16	Friday	June 2	7:00pm	Iowa Barnstormers	L 36–58	4–10	Maverik Center	3,873
17	Saturday	June 10	7:05pm	at Green Bay Blizzard	L 34–37	4–11	Resch Center	4,657
18	Friday	June 16	7:00pm	Spokane Empire	W 45–42	5–11	Maverik Center	4,581

Standings

2017 Intense Conference
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	CON	GB	STK
y - Arizona Rattlers	12	4	0	.750	782	610	8–1	—	W8
x - Nebraska Danger	9	7	0	.563	717	660	5–2	3.0	W1
Spokane Empire	8	8	0	.500	654	677	7–5	4.0	L3
Salt Lake Screaming Eagles	5	11	0	.313	675	762	4–8	7.0	W1
Colorado Crush	3	13	0	.188	629	821	2–10	8.0	L4