Tucson Sugar Skulls
Current season
Established 2018
Play in Tucson Arena
in Tucson, Arizona
League/conference affiliations
Indoor Football League (2019–present)
  • Western Conference (2022-present)
Current uniform
Team colorsBlack, gold, red, white
       
MascotBones
Personnel
Owner(s)Cathy Guy
Ali Farhang
PresidentJay Gonzales[1]
Head coachBilly Back[2]
Team history
  • Tucson Sugar Skulls (2019–present)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Playoff appearances (2)
  • 2019, 2022
Home arena(s)

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 Hurtis Chinn.

History

The 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

Current roster

Tucson Sugar Skulls roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

  • -- Ahmari Davis
  •  8 Mike Jones
  • -- Trelon Smith

Wide receivers

  • -- Akilian Butler
  • -- Mike Carrigan
  • -- Allen Dailey
  •  3 MJ Harris
  • -- Darrion Landry
  • -- Chubueze Nwanna
  • -- Tyrin Ralph
 Offensive linemen
  • -- Isaac Johnson
  • -- Ciff Porter
  • -- Austin Schofield
  • -- Jacob Ungruhe

Defensive linemen

  • 88 Dominion Ezinwa
  • -- Shaheem Haltiwanger
  • -- Sterling Johnson
  • -- Terrence Jones
  • -- Lamont McDougle
  • -- Arthur Randall
  • -- Boss Tagaloa
 Linebackers
  •  7 Trae'varis Ferrell
  • -- Caleb Tannor

Defensive backs

  • -- Kaytron Allen
  • -- John Broussard
  • 12 Carlito Gonzalez
  • -- Sean Harper
  • -- Jonathan Haynes
  • -- James Jackson
  • -- Jalen Phelps
  • -- Robert Sheffield

Kickers


 Reserve lists
  • Currently vacant

Rookies in italics
Roster updated March 20, 2023
33 Active, 0 Inactive

→ More rosters

Staff

Tucson Sugar Skulls staff
Front office
  • Co-owners – Cathy Guy, Ali Farhang
  • CEO – Cathy Guy
  • President – Jay Gonzales
  • Assistant general manager – Anton Zimanek
  • Director of sales – Dan Reich
  

Coaches

  • Head coach and general manager – Hurtis Chinn

Statistics

Season-by-season results

League champions Playoff berth League leader
Season League Regular season Postseason results
FinishWinsLossesTies
2019 IFL6th770Lost first round (Sioux Falls) 47–50
2020 IFLSeason cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 IFL9th680
2022 IFL3rd970Lost first round (Northern Arizona) 30-49
Totals 22220All-time regular season record (2019–2022)
02—All-time postseason record (2019–2022)
22240All-time regular season and postseason record (2019–2022)

Head coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the 2022 IFL season.

Name Term Regular season Playoffs Awards
WLWin%WL
Marcus Coleman201977.50001
Dixie Wooten2020–present1515.50001

References

  1. ↑ "Jay Gonzales named Sugar Skulls President". Sugar Skulls. July 24, 2019.
  2. ↑ "Sugar Skulls hire five-time champion Billy Back as Head Coach, Hurtis Chinn resigns". Tucson Sugar Skulls. September 1, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Tucson Indoor Football". Facebook.com. August 23, 2018.
  4. ↑ Richard Obert (August 23, 2018). "Tucson joins Indoor Football League with Rattlers coach Kevin Guy and wife as co-owners". azcentral.com.
  5. ↑ "Tucson's Indoor Football League team has its first coach — and he's a reigning champion". Tucson.com. September 12, 2018.
  6. ↑ Ryan Finlay (September 20, 2018). "Sweet: Tucson's new Indoor Football League team picks a name with local significance". tucson.com.
  7. ↑ "Sugar Skulls Hire Championship Coach". OurSports Central. September 18, 2019.
  8. ↑ "IFL Cancels Remaining 2020 Games". IFL. April 13, 2020.
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