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36-691: It was created by Project Fanchise , who established the first fan-controlled professional sports franchise, the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles , and operated the Colorado Crush to play in the Indoor Football League in 2017 before Fanchise pulled both teams out of the league. Active roster players were paid weekly $ 400 (before taxes) plus room and board, while coaches were paid $ 3,500 per month with housing and meal plan. The idea, then known as Project Fanchise ,

72-495: A veer option offense featuring Andre Ware , who only threw one touchdown pass his entire high school career, and converted it into one of the most prolific passing attacks in college football history. When Jenkins joined the Cougars, he had further developed his offense from a pure run and shoot attack into what he referred to as the "Multiple Adjusting Passing Offense" or "MAPO". Jenkins' new offense made an immediate impact in

108-807: A defensive backs coach with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Jenkins coached with a number of CFL teams before joining the Toronto Argonauts as the offensive coordinator. There Jenkins installed a new offense built around the strengths of quarterback, Doug Flutie . The Argonauts won the Grey Cup in 1997. Jenkins was appointed as head coach for the Fall Experimental Football League 's Blacktips for

144-401: A minor league baseball team to become publicly owned and operated. The project ultimately failed when purchasing an existing team proved to carry too much debt. In June 2015, an Arena Football League team minority owner, Sohrob Farudi, read about the dead project and contacted Cohen about restarting the concept as Project Fanchise. In April 2016, Project Fanchise purchased an expansion team in

180-751: A rarity that only Don Coryell's San Diego Chargers accomplished in the early 1980s. The Gamblers made the playoffs with a 10–8 record, and lost to the Birmingham Stallions , 22–20. In 1986, Donald Trump , owner of the New Jersey Generals , bought the Houston Gamblers. The Gamblers and the Generals were merged, matching the USFL's leading rusher, Herschel Walker , with its leading passer, Kelly, and creating what ESPN called

216-543: Is an American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach the University of Houston from 1990 to 1992, compiling a record of 18–15. A proponent of the run and shoot offense , Jenkins also coached professional football in the United States Football League (USFL), the Canadian Football League (CFL) and the Fall Experimental Football League (FXFL). He served as

252-463: The 101st Airborne Division . The name was picked over the more controversial choices of " Teamy McTeamface ," " Sandtroopers ," and "Stormin' Mormons ." 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

288-515: The 2022 USFL season that launched on the same night. Before the start of the season, it was announced that Pro Football Hall of Famer Terrell Owens , age 48, will come out of retirement to play for the Zappers . He would later be traded to the Knights of Degen . On May 20, it was reported that Michael Vick will join him in the league, but he later denied those rumors. In the championship game

324-432: The Indoor Football League for the 2017 season . The group created a mobile app for subscribed fans to vote on naming the team, chose its colors, and hire a coach before the season started. The team became the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles , and when the team began to play, the fans chose plays for the team to run. The experience successfully proved the concept of fans controlling the team, but it did not equate to success on

360-665: The Los Angeles Express , the Gamblers trailed 33–13 with eight minutes left in the fourth quarter. Employing a hurry-up offense , the Gamblers came back to win the game 34–33. Since the game was not televised, Sports Illustrated dubbed it "The Greatest Game Never Seen". In the fourth week of the 1985 season, the Gamblers met Davis' Denver Gold in the first game ever to pit two run and shoot offenses. The two offenses showed only small similarities as Jenkins employed various new tactics such as motioning receivers out of

396-584: The Southwest Conference as Houston beat the Texas Longhorns handily in each of his first three seasons: 60–40 in 1987, 66–15 in 1988, and 47–9 in 1989. In 1988, Jason Phillips and James Dixon became the first two college football receivers to finish a season with over 100 catches. In 1989, Houston scored over 40 points in nine of their 11 games, including a 95–21 rout of SMU in which they racked up 1,021 yards of offense. Ware finished

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432-570: The University of Arkansas . After serving as the special teams coach for the Houston Gamblers of the USFL in 1984, Jenkins was promoted to offensive coordinator in 1985 with the departure of Mouse Davis , who moved to the Denver Gold as head coach. Jenkins kept the run and shoot offense that Davis had installed, but modified the offense into his own version. In Jenkins' debut as offensive coordinator against Steve Young and

468-464: The "Dream Team". There were also rumors of Jenkins installing a two-quarterback system with Doug Flutie in the slot. However, after a failed attempt to launch the season in the fall, the USFL folded, and the "Dream Team" never took the field. Jenkins moved to the University of Houston and joined the Houston Cougars football staff as the offensive coordinator in 1987. There he inherited

504-465: The 1991 season poised to pick up right where they left off. After routing Louisiana Tech 73–3 in the first game of the season, the next game was a nationally televised road game against the Miami Hurricanes . They lost 40–10. Houston won only seven more games during the remainder of Jenkins' tenure. He resigned under fire in the spring of 1993. After leaving Houston, Jenkins landed a job as

540-1320: The 2017 Indoor Football League season and would be leaving the league afterwards. 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. 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. Running backs Wide receivers Defensive linemen Defensive backs Special teams → More rosters Head coach Offensive coaches Defensive coaches Key :    Win    Tie    Loss     Bye John Jenkins (American football coach) John Jenkins (born June 20, 1952)

576-607: The 2017 season. Project Fanchise folded both teams after the season and began the process to create the new league. After a few months of being known as the Interactive Football League, it rebranded as the Electronic Football League (eFL), before settling on Fan Controlled Football in November 2017. The league planned to play all of its games in only one city with eight new teams. All games would be played in one location, Las Vegas , with fans calling plays while watching on-line via Twitch . The initial start date

612-606: The 2022 season and announced a new broadcast deal with NBCUniversal subsidiary NBCLX and Peacock to broadcast every game of the 2022 season. In October 2021, the FCF announced the Ballerz Collective and two of the four expansion teams, Team KoD and Team 8oki, later to be given names. The final two expansion teams were announced on January 12, 2022, Team Gutter Cats, and Team Bored Apes, also later to be given names. The defending champion Wild Aces reorganized and rebranded as

648-522: The Cougars. With Ware gone, David Klingler took over at quarterback and continued the success of Jenkins' passing attack. Klingler threw for over 400 yards in nine of 11 games in 1990, including a 716-yard performance against Arizona State in the Coca-Cola Classic . He averaged 474.6 yards a game, a national record. Klingler also broke the national record for most touchdown passes in a game with 11 against Eastern Washington . He completed

684-539: 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 . 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 and then hired Matthew Sauk as its new head coach without using

720-502: The IFL to start their own league. 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. 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

756-569: The Shoulda Been Stars following the departure of one of its co-owners. On January 12, 2022, the FCF announced a $ 40 million investment, led by Animoca Brands and Delphi Digital, for spectator-controlled football games. Ahead of the 2022 season, the league began construction on a 1,500-seat arena at Pullman Yard in Atlanta , Georgia. The second season, dubbed "Season v2.0", began on April 16, thus putting FCF in direct competition with

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792-612: The Zappers would beat the Bored Ape FC to win the 2022 FCF Championship. In February 2023 the league announced the postponement of the 2023 season with intent of adapting the Fan Controlled concept to basketball. In June, Farudi granted an interview to Sports Business Journal stating that it was pausing the league for the time being due to a loss of capital funding that hit the company in late 2022, as most of its funding

828-560: The backfield and going into empty sets. The Gamblers won 36–17. After the game, quarterback Jim Kelly was on pace to finish the season with 7,434 yards and 78 touchdowns. But due to a leg injury, he missed six games of the regular season and he fell well short of those marks. However, Kelly and his backup, Todd Dillon, combined 6,118 yards passing on the season, a record for professional American football. The Gamblers offense also featured three receivers— Clarence Verdin , Gerald McNeil , and Richard Johnson —that each totaled over 1,000 yards,

864-540: The digital subchannel network LX . The FCF saw a steady increase in its viewership through its first five weeks, from 735,000 in the first week to 2.1 million in the playoffs. John Jenkins and Shawn Liotta served as coaching consultants for the league, with Jenkins having a prominent on-air role during FCF telecasts. The Wild Aces beat the Glacier Boyz 46–40 in the final, named the People's Championship as voted by

900-467: The efforts to find franchise owners. Kurz had returned to the AFL by June 2024, before such owners could be found. In December 2023, it was reported that the league plans to return in 2024. This time the FCF plans to play in several locations, with six-to-eight teams for the v3.0 Season, and aim to expand to 20 teams within the next five years. According to the report, a formal announcement was to be expected in

936-474: 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. 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

972-501: The fans, on March 20, 2021. At the end of the 2021 season, Farudi stated that the league planned to play two seasons a year, one in the spring and one in the fall, and was planning to expand to 20 teams by year five. The FCF's second season, nicknamed "Season v.2.0" by the league, was scheduled to begin in fall 2021 but was postponed to Spring 2022 to follow after the NFL's Super Bowl. The league announced they were expanding to eight teams for

1008-425: The field finishing with a 5–11 record. Fanchise had also acquired the Colorado Crush just prior to the start of the season but did not implement the system at that time. 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 and Crush would finish

1044-531: The first quarter (Q1) of 2024. Source: 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

1080-638: The head coach of the CFL's Ottawa Renegades in 2006, the FXFL's Blacktips in 2014 and the Hudson Valley Fort for part of 2015. During his career as a coach, Jenkins has mentored a number of notable quarterbacks such as Andre Ware , David Klingler , Jim Kelly , Eric Crouch , Kliff Kingsbury , Anthony Calvillo and Doug Flutie . Jenkins was raised in Pampa, Texas . He played college football at

1116-409: The league had re-branded once again as Fan Controlled Football (FCF). The league began its inaugural season in February 2021. The FCF began play on February 13, 2021, with four teams competing in a 12-game-format over six weeks. The league uses Internet streaming as its main television platform and is streamed on Twitch and VENN on Saturdays, with reruns on FTF ; the league championship is carried on

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1152-545: The season with 4,699 yards and 44 touchdowns, set 26 NCAA records, and won the Heisman Trophy . The 1989 Houston offense averaged 624.9 total yards per game and 10.1 yards rushing per carry, both national records. In 1990, Cougars head coach Jack Pardee left the team to take the head coaching position with the National Football League 's Houston Oilers . Jenkins was promoted to head coach of

1188-531: The season with 5,140 yards and 54 touchdowns, outpacing Ware's totals from 1989, but fell short in the Heisman race, finishing fifth behind winner Ty Detmer and three others. Houston finished the season 10–1. Their only loss came against Texas. The Cougars were not allowed to go to a bowl game due to NCAA sanctions for violations under former coach Bill Yeoman . Jenkins' teams featured the nation's leading receiver each year from 1987 to 1992. The Cougars started

1224-428: Was covered by The New York Times with the business concept of a fan-controlled baseball team in 2008, but was written as satirical piece by comedian Steve Hofstetter . At the time, the project was just a website created by Grant Cohen with investors consisting of lawyers such as Joe Scura. In 2010, a GOOD Magazine article described the group's business plan, including asking fans to invest in creating or purchasing

1260-558: Was for the 2018 season but was postponed. It has since garnered the backing of professional athletes including former and current NFL players Chad Johnson , Marshawn Lynch , and Richard Sherman . The league then gained backing by Lightspeed Venture Partners , Verizon Ventures , Correlation Ventures, Basecamp 2, Next10 Ventures, Bleacher Report co-founder Dave Finnocchio and Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian and additional team owners including Mike Tyson , Miro , Trevor May , Quavo , Greg Miller , Deestroying , and Bob Menery. In 2020,

1296-420: Was tied to the cryptocurrency bubble ; the company will remain active as Fan Controlled Sports & Entertainment with the intention of licensing their intellectual property and technology to other leagues, in the hopes that the league could be revived if buyers could be found for each of the league's eight teams. Farudi noted that he had brought on Jerry Kurz , a former Arena Football League executive, to lead

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