The Utah Blaze
is an Arena Football League team based in Salt Lake City, Utah. They began play as a 2006 expansion team. They are currently coached by Ron James.
|
UTAH BLAZE TICKETS
|
History
The Utah Blaze began play on January 28, 2006, playing the
San Jose SaberCats on the road. The team is coached by longtime
Arizona Rattlers coach
Danny White and plays its home games at the
EnergySolutions Arena in
Salt Lake City, home of the
National Basketball Association's
Utah Jazz. The team is owned by
automobile businessmen John Garff,
Robert Garff, and Brett Hopkins.
On Saturday, February 11, 2006, the Blaze lost to the
New York Dragons 84-81 in the second highest scoring game in the history of the Arena Football League. The Blaze's performance was also the second highest score for a losing team in the AFL's 20-year history.
In their first season, the Blaze had the highest average attendance in the Arena Football League, with 15,498 fans per game. They narrowly edged out Philadelphia's 15,463. Prior to the 2006 season, the Blaze had said EnergySolutions Arena held 13,000 fans due to poor sight lines in most of the building. After 16,705 people attended the home opener, that figure was changed to near 15,000. The Blaze topped that figure 5 of the 8 games their first season.
Despite a losing record of 7-9, the Blaze got into the playoffs as an AC Wildcard (the conference's #6 seed). Unfortunately, the newly formed Blaze were given the boot as they lost to the
Arizona Rattlers with a final score of 57-34.
The team's mascot is a dalmatian named
"Chief"
. The Blaze were winners of the league"Commissioners Award" in 2006 and won the
"Support Staff of the Year Award"
in back-to-back seasons (2006-2007), an award that goes to the league's best training and equipment staff, which was headed by Kevin Semans and Darin Featherstone in both award winning seasons.
[1]
During the 2008 season the Blaze became the first, and only, professional football team to record three 1,500 yard receivers in the same season, with
Huey Whittaker, , and
Aaron Boone.
[2] This also marks the first time three players each caught 120 or more passes in the same season.
| Name
| Rec
| Yards
| TDs
|
| Huey Whittaker
| 126
| 1,541
| 32
|
| J.J. McKelvey
| 121
| 1,529
| 38
|
| Aaron Boone
| 135
| 1,527
| 23
|
Season-by-season
Note:
W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties''
| Season
| W
| L
| T
| Finish
| Playoff results
|
| 2006
| 7
| 9
| 0
| 3rd AC Western
| Lost Wild Card (Arizona 57-34)
|
| 2007
| 8
| 8
| 0
| 3rd AC Western
| Lost Wild Card (Los Angeles 64-42)
|
| 2008
| 6
| 10
| 0
| 3rd AC Western
| Lost Wild Card (Colorado 49-44)
|
| 2009
| Did Not Play
|
| Totals
| 21
| 30
| 0
| (including playoffs)
|
Retired Numbers
#3
Justin Skaggs - WR/LB -
March 29,
2008 (died of brain tumor in 2007)
AFL Hall of Famers
Coaches
| Head coach
| Tenure
| Regular season
record (W-L)
| Post season
record (W-L)
| Most recent coaching staff
| Notes
|
| Danny White
| 2006 - 2008
| 21-27
| 0-3
| DL / LB Coach: Lindsay Hassell
DC / Dir.
Player Personnel: Ron James
ST Coordinator / Dir.
Football Ops.: Scott Lieber
| Former Dallas Cowboys quarterback.
1993 Coach of the Year
1993 All-Star game - coach
Arena Football League Hall of Fame
Class of 2002.
|
| Ron James
| 2009
| 0-0
| 0-0
| OC: Tony Kimbrough
GM / DC: Jeff Russell
ST Coordinator / Dir.
Football Ops.: Scott Lieber
| DC / Director of
Player Personnel (2007 - 2008).
|
Notes
- UtahBlaze.com - Fuel The Fire
- Arena Football 2008 Receiving Stats