We are just a matter of hours away from the conclusion of the 2026 Indoor Football League season, and within the last 48 hours we have received answers as to who the final expansion teams will be for the 2027 season, as well as who will be taking over some of the teams that parted ways with their coaches. Let’s start with Georgia.
The Future of the IFL in Georgia is in Good Hands
The state of Georgia has not one but two Indoor Football League teams launching for 2027, and both have officially hired Head Coaches. While it has been very public that Rob Keefe was hired by the Athens Indoor Football team, up to this point it had been strictly rumor and conjecture about who Savannah would hire, partly because they had not yet been formally announced as an expansion team.
All of that changed championship weekend, when commissioner Todd Tryon announced that Savannah would officially be getting an IFL team for 2027, in addition to the Arkansas Diamonds moving to the IFL for 2027, closing the 2027 IFL expansion at 18 teams. Shortly after that announcement, it was formally announced that Savannah had hired Clay Harrell as their Head Coach.
Mini astute fans had their eye on Harrell as the top candidate from the start due to the ties between the Jacksonville organization and the new Savannah expansion team. However, whether we saw this move coming or not, there is a lot to love about the hire of Clay Harrell. Let’s take a look at his coaching background as well as what brought him to Indoor and Arena Football in the first place.
Clay Harrell, Savannah Indoor Football Team
The “Jacksonville Sharks North” are being assembled in Savannah as Clay Harrell, Troy Waranka, and Anthony Tanza have all taken their talents to Savannah, as well as multiple minority owners who previously got their feet wet in indoor football with the Sharks.
Clay Harrell is a home run hire. As a former AFL player he understands what challenges a player faces each week. Harrell has coached in the IFL, NAL, and AFL now for years and has accolades about a mile long during that stretch. He has helped elevate players to the next level, and during his tenure with Jacksonville produced many All-League players whether it was the NAL or IFL.
Savannah will have some interesting rivalries in 2027. First and foremost, Jacksonville vs Savannah should carry some extra spice to it in 2027 and beyond given all the ties between the two organizations. They also have an in-state rival with the Athens Crush which is in itself made more intriguing by the fact that Clay Harrell once played for Rob Keefe before retiring. Considering the IFL now has a nice little pocket of teams in the Southeast with now two teams in Georgia, and two in Florida as well as the addition of Arkansas, suddenly the storylines are aplenty for the IFL next year.
The assumptions are that movement from the Sharks isn’t over yet, and we could see it begin in the form of players. One name some have speculated could make an appearance is Quarterback James Cahoon. Although in our recent interview with Clay Harrell he stopped short of telling us who he intended to sign for 2027.
Rob Keefe, Athens Crush
Rob Keefe has been hired by the Athens Crush and has promptly been paraded around town at every major event as the ownership group does everything they can to make their presence known. From soccer games to meet-and-greets, Keefe is out shaking hands and kissing babies in the name of the Athens Crush.
Hiring Keefe tells us many things about the Athens ownership group, but one fact is glaringly obvious: they want to win, and they want to win now. Rob Keefe is known for building winners everywhere he coaches. From Albany to Northern Arizona to Bay Area, wherever he goes, championships typically follow. Athens announced to the world they aren’t just going to be content being a first-year team.
Staff: Currently, much of Keefe’s trusted staff from his final season as the Head Coach for Bay Area is still in Orlando. Rod Windsor is expected to be the Head Coach for the Pirates, while Les Moss could return with Windsor, a man he has coached alongside for years. However, so far neither coach has been announced as returning, which leaves the door open for a reunion in Athens.
If Moss and Windsor are staying in Orlando, it could make for some very interesting rivalries next season. Jake Moss would likely stick with Les as well. Jason Simpson is another name to watch from Orlando’s staff who could potentially receive interest from Keefe. However, Keefe has built a staff without Moss, Windsor, or Simpson before and could do it again in 2027.
Jonathan Bane, Texas Draft
Jonathan Bane was previously the Head Coach of the San Antonio Gunslingers after spending one season as their Quarterbacks Coach in 2025. Before that, Bane spent years playing in most of the notable indoor or arena leagues as one of the most cerebral quarterbacks of his time. His transition into coaching was a foregone conclusion waiting to come to fruition when his playing career ended.
However, year one as a Head Coach did not go as planned, and his arena-style offense that leaned heavily on empty sets and a near-complete lack of a run game seemed to stunt the progress of an otherwise very talented team. In fact, for much of the season they chose not to carry a true running back. They opted instead to utilize receivers and quarterbacks in the run game.
San Antonio averaged less than 40 yards rushing in 2026 in the IFL, a league that is predicated heavily on the run game. Now Bane stays in Texas, but this time it’s with the Texas Draft. The Draft must want a high-flying offense to build their team around if they are hiring Bane, but it remains to be seen if Bane tweaks his approach after 2026. The difference between good coaches and great coaches is knowing when it’s time to adjust, and something tells me Bane will be learning from his mistakes in 2026 heading into 2027.
There is a long list of current and former Head Coaches that would say they had to take their lumps in their first season as a Head Coach before really finding their path to success, and Bane has proven throughout his football career if he is going to do something, he is going to do everything in his power to become one of the very best at his craft. I have very little doubt his approach to coaching will be any different.
Billy Back, San Antonio Gunslingers
Billy Back has been a successful Head Coach at virtually every stop along the way, including multiple stops in Texas throughout his career. This included stops with the Texas Revolution, Wichita Falls Nighthawks, and Frisco Fighters.
Hiring him to coach a team in Texas is a natural fit. With San Antonio laying claim to some of the best facilities in the league, Coach Back should have no issue getting the band back together in San Antonio. Watch for names like T.J. Edwards, Jerminic Smith, and Tripp Harrington to follow Coach Back to the Gunslingers.
Rod Windsor, Orlando Pirates
Rod (or Rob depending on who you ask) Windsor, has been retained as Head Coach for the Pirates in 2027. Taking over as the interim Head Coach after Rob Keefe resigned days after a 49-46 loss to the Quad City Steamwheelers. Windsor would go on to amass an overall 10-7 record with a 7-5 record in the conference.
Windsor is an experienced coach who has spent years learning next to Kevin Guy, Les Moss, and Rob Keefe, some of the most respected coaches in any indoor or arena football league. Spending time with the Arizona Rattlers, Northern Arizona Wranglers, Bay Area Panthers, and now the Pirates, Windsor was one of those coaches who fell into the interim role, but he was already beginning to garner attention as a Head Coaching candidate.
The staff he assembles will be interesting to see; when the season ended, it was full of former Head Coaches, which can be a good or a bad thing.
Bones Bagunte, Arkansas Diamonds
The most recent addition to the Indoor Football League has locked up it’s Head Coach for the 2027 season extending his contract once again. Bagunte has been the Head Coach of the Diamonds since their first season under the Hot Springs Wiseguys name two-seasons ago. After two seasons of finishing with a championship loss in The Arena League, Arkansas opted to make the move to the IFL for 2027.
This move in my mind was always the smartest move for Arkansas, especially given the move to the IFL. Bagunte cut his teeth coaching in the NAL and IFL before he got his first opportunity as a Head Coach in the TAL. Now he gets the opportunity to return to a style of play he knows well, and build a staff around himself in preparation for the 2027 season.
Arkansas has built a talented roster in the TAL, and many of those players should be expected to return in the IFL. The tricky thing to manage for Arkansas will be the veteran rule as they did have a fairly veteran laden team toward the end of the season as they added players formerly of the NAL etc.
San Diego Leaves No Doubt
The San Diego Strike Force left no doubt about the future of their franchise’s staff ultimately extending Head Coach Taylor Genuser, and Defensive Coordinator/President of Football Operations Adam Shackleford through 2028. This comes following another strong season that fell just short of a Championship appearance as they have now lost to the eventual IFL champions three seasons in a row.
Openings
New Mexico Chupacabras
The New Mexico Chupacabras were the first team to let go of their Head Coach, and yet there has been virtually no news coming from the team about who they have interest in. I have said that if Nate Davis chooses to retire, New Mexico needs to entertain hiring him as the Head Coach, and I was 100% serious about this. Nate Davis has been playing professional football since being selected in the 2009 NFL Draft. More on that in a moment.
Indoor Football Weekly also put out a post this week that Corey Roberson was out in Green Bay and expected to turn up in New Mexico. Less than 48 hours later, the Green Bay team announced that Roberson had resigned after 14 seasons with the Blizzard. If he is the guy for New Mexico, the next question has to be who will he look to for his staff?
Assuming Corey Roberson is in fact the guy for New Mexico, let’s take a look at his history and discuss why Roberson makes a lot of sense for the Chupacabras. First of all, the experience Roberson brings to the table is part of what makes this a great hire. He did not just serve as a Head Coach for Green Bay, also holding Assistant Coaching roles prior to taking over as the interim Head Coach in 2018, and later taking on the General Manager role as well.
All of this comes with immense value to New Mexico, which is building a franchise from the ground up. Their General Manager in 2026 was fairly new to the position, and the ownership group, to my knowledge, has never served as owners for any other team to this point. All of this increases the value of Roberson, who has seen and done it all over his 14 seasons in Green Bay.
Likely more important is that Roberson is a coach who will immediately command respect and allow New Mexico to rebuild the 2026 roster from the ground up. I anticipate that Roberson will take the title of General Manager in New Mexico as well after serving in the role for Green Bay for the last two seasons. In New Mexico, they had Tim Smith in that role in 2026; however, the Chupacabras quietly removed Smith from their website, and on Smith’s LinkedIn.com profile, he ended his time with New Mexico in August.
Could Nate Davis still be trading in his helmet for a headset as the play caller? A power duo of Corey Roberson and Nate Davis would certainly convince fans to tune in, but time will tell.
As Davis heads into what could be his 19th season as a professional football player, he has worked with coaches like Mike Singletary, Jimmy Raye, Pete Carroll, Jim Caldwell, and Clyde Christensen in the NFL. He has also worked with indoor football coaches/scouts such as Danton Barto, Taylor Genuser, Bret Munsey, Julian Reese, Lee Johnson, CoCo Blalock, Martino Theus, Robert Kent, and Fred Griggs.
Having spoken with Davis myself on multiple occasions, he strikes me as the type of player who will never be found far from the game. He is already virtually a coach on the field as he directs the Strike Force offense, and he quite literally got some experience wearing a headset during the 2021 season with the Duke City Gladiators while recovering from injury. An astute fan might recall that, in his absence, Ramone Atkins won IFL Rookie of the Year, and arguably has not been as effective anywhere since. Perhaps “Coach” Davis has more of a resume than most think.
Update: Earlier this week, Nate Davis posted a farewell message to San Diego saying the team had opted to part ways following contract extensions for the coaching staff. It appears the franchise will move forward with former backup QB Kiael Kelly, while Nate Davis is set to test free agency for the first time in years, but is it as a player or a coach?
Green Bay Blizzard
With news breaking that Corey Roberson is out, there is a very natural successor already in place with a resume that includes former Green Bay Blizzard signal caller. Of course, we are referring to current Offensive Coordinator Matt Behrendt, the architect of an impressive offense, and the tutor to three different eventual IFL MVP’s: Jarome Johnson, Max Meylor, and Liam Thompson.
It was often the offense that carried the team to victory this season. Green Bay scored 13 more touchdowns than the second-place team while also leading the league in field goals and extra points converted, and finishing third in deuces. They outscored second place by nearly 100 points and averaged 55.5 points per game.
Meanwhile, their defense allowed 45.2 points per game. That is middle of the pack at 9th place; however, they led the league in total points allowed with 859 in 19 games. New Mexico had the worst average with 50.8 points per game, but Orlando allowed the second most points (843) in 17 games; New Mexico was 3rd but only played 16 games.
I say this to point out that Green Bay made it to the championship on the strength of their offense. Their fortunes with Roberson as the Head Coach only truly shifted in the second season of Behrendt’s tenure as OC. Under Roberson, the Blizzard were 65-51 with a 5-4 playoff record, and he won Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2024.
However, when you look at that record since Behrendt arrived, it’s 43-20 with a 5-3 playoff record. If Behrendt ends up getting promoted, it will be fascinating to follow each coach afterward. Now I once said Corey Roberson should have been fired in 2022 (one that I now feel was clearly incorrect) and even listed Behrendt as a candidate, albeit an unlikely one at the time. Fast forward four years and a version of that situation may be playing out in real time.
Rumor Mill
Fishers Freight
There were rumors afoot that Dixie Wooten and Fishers may part ways heading into 2027, and I approach this rumor much like I approach every coaching rumor at any level.
If you make this move, who is available that is a tangible upgrade over the person you have? Lets make no mistake, finding a coach that is regarded as the same caliber as Dixie Wooten is hard enough, its near impossible when the hiring cycle has already robbed you of an opportunity to hire steady Head Coaching veterans like Rob Keefe, or Billy Back, or even promising up and comers like Clay Harrell, Rod Windsor, or for that matter even a recent “retread” in Jonathon Bane.
The reality is that you probably can not find that guy right now, and whether they considered a change or not, Fishers ultimately realized that the right move was to keep Dixie on the staff. In 2026, Wooten had five out of eight losses that came by 5 points or less. Fishers was a handful of points from 13-3 in a tough division. Let’s give the man his due time to build a winner; after all, he has proven he is among the best in his profession.
Assistant Coach Movement
Rod Miller
Rod Miller has been hired as the Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach by the Fishers Freight for the 2027 IFL season. Miller in just the last four seasons has been: Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs Coach for the Vegas Knight Hawks in 2023, and 2026, the Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator for the Massachusetts Pirates 2024, and the Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Coordinator for the San Diego Strikeforce. Now he lands with Fishers Freight hoping to get them over the hump into the playoffs for their first time.
Peyton Riggs
Peyton Riggs is on the move, with Tulsa announcing that he was hired as the Offensive Coordinator and Assistant Head Coach. This position was vacated when Billy Back was hired as the Head Coach for the San Antonio Gunslingers. Adding an Offensive Coordinator just weeks after winning a Championship is a great move for Tulsa who has had some big names at the O.C. spot in recent seasons.
Tulsa has now had back-to-back Offensive Coordinators hired as Head Coaches: Andre Coles and Billy Back. I certainly have to believe Riggs will extend this trend in the very near future. Let’s not forget Peyton Riggs has been in the IFL as a coach for a total of six seasons, during that stretch his team has made the playoffs 4 times, appearing in three conference championship games, two league championship games, and of course put the cherry on top of his resume with the win in 2026.
Arizona Rattlers Offensive Coordinator
With Riggs out in Arizona, it will be interesting to see who the Rattlers target to replace him. If I were in Kevin Guy’s ear, I would tell him to consider Kevin Ashak. Ashak is currently the Offensive Line Coach for Arizona, a position he has held since 2022, helping win two Championships.
Ashak also serves as a Co-Offensive Coordinator/Offensive Line Coach for his former school: Desert Ridge High School in Mesa, Arizona. He has worked for Desert Ridge since 2017, the same season he won a Championship with the Rattlers as a fullback/offensive lineman. What better person to take over the offense?
Arkansas Diamonds Coaching Staff Coming Together
Former Arkansas Diamonds Linebacker, Tyler Knight has been hired as the Defensive Coordinator for the Arkansas Diamonds for the 2027 season. Knight spent the 2010 season playing for the Arkansas Diamonds of the Indoor Football League their only season playing under that name.
Knight is a Little Rock, Arkansas native who went on to have about as decorated of an IFL career as a player could have. He won 5 Championships, including 4 in a row from 2013-2016 with Sioux Falls. He was named IFL Defensive Player of the Year twice, 1st team All-IFL three times, and 2nd team All-IFL two times.
Transitioning into coaching several years ago winning an NAL Championship with the Omaha Beef. Now he joins Arkansas and is expected to have a very large part in building their defense to compete in the IFL. This was a great hire for the Diamonds, and one that made too much sense for them to pass up on.
Also hired was Rob Orell who will serve as Assistant/Quality Control in 2027. Orell is another former indoor football player who crossed paths with Bones with the Massachusetts Pirates. He has a background as an offensive lineman but has coached many positions. He is an extremely valuable addition to the staff.
Saturday at 8 am Eastern Time we welcome on two Hall of Fame Coaches in Kevin Guy and Dixie Wooten to our ever popular: Around the Indoor Football World show. Catch us every Saturday with the guests you want to hear more about from around the indoor football world.
If you enjoyed this article then check out some our recent indoor and arena football coverage:
- Catfish Hire Joe Powell as Defensive Coordinator for 2027
- Tight Ends: The Bus Driver’s Guide for 2026 Fantasy Football (Full PPR)
- Coming Back Home: Catfish Hire Derrick Zeigler as OL/DL Coach for 2027
- 🚌 The Bus Stop NFL Week 1 Pick’em: Bold Takes, Bus Driver Wagers & Receipts Waiting To Happen
- AAL Welcomes Rome Red Cats for 2027
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