Odessa Roughnecks
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| Year founded | 2003 |
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| Home arena | Ector County Coliseum |
| City, State | Odessa, Texas |
| Intense Bowl Championships | 1:2006 |
The Odessa Roughnecks is a professional indoor football team based in Odessa, Texas. The team's nickname is a tribute to the oil industry, which has been the source of Odessa's wealth over the past century.
The team began operations in 2004 as a charter member of the Intense Football League (IFL). In 2005, the IFL folded; its four remaining teams joined the NIFL. For the 2006 season, the IFL was resurrected, and the Odessa Roughnecks returned to their original league.
The team plays its home games at Ector County Coliseum in Odessa. The team's owner is Tommy Benizio and its head coach is Chris Williams (former head coach of the Tennessee Valley Vipers of the af2 and was the Roughnecks first head coach). The 2006 season is Coach Williams's third season with the Roughnecks. He replaced Mike Esposito, who was fired halfway through the season on June 12, 2006.
Despite the coaching change in the middle of the season, the Roughnecks won its first championship in 2006 at Intense Bowl 2 by beating the Corpus Christi Hammerheads 97-56, which is an IFL record for most points scored by one team in a game. The team finished with an overall record of 14-2.
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[edit] History of the Team
(from the teams website http://www.roughnecksifl.com) In 2003, the nearly 20 year old Arena Football League that had been only in major markets like New York and Chicago, was now spreading across the nation in small to middle sized cities. Jerry Jones of the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys kicked off his AFL franchise in Dallas and secured the rights to every smaller market in the state of Texas with a suitable arena for indoor football. When Jones couldn’t be reached to discuss selling these rights, a new league was formed throughout the state. In August of 2003, Chad Dittman, President of the fledgling Intense Football League announced that Odessa would be one of the sites for his new professional indoor football league.
Through prayer shortly after, Abby and Tommy Benizio decided to purchased the franchise and moved to the Permian Basin along with their pet prairie dogs. By the close of 2003, the franchise creatively announced the name of “Roughnecks” along with the unveiling of a logo fit for the community and a mascot whom has become a staple in both Odessa and Midland known as Digger.
The team kicked off on May 8th, 2004 under the direction of head coach Chris Williams who lead the team to a 9-7 record and home field advantage in the playoffs. Lubbock defeated Odessa in overtime just one game shy of the championship but the season did not end without the success of leading the IFL in attendance and having promoted more players to the next level than any other team in the league.
This success became well known throughout the national football community, and along with the hard work of the teams coaches, Odessa enjoyed a very rare undefeated regular season in the National Indoor Football League in 2005. Despite losing one game shy of the championship again, the Roughnecks were once more atop of their league in attendance, successfully hosted the first ever NIFL All-Star Game, and could boast a 16-1 overall record.
With the opportunity to freshen things up, the Roughnecks assisted in the reformation of the IFL and have a new and very impressive head coach in Mike Esposito. With a history of great success in the franchise and a great spirit of enthusiasm in the offices and locker room, 2006 turned out to be the team’s best season yet.
[edit] Regular Season Winning Streak
The Roughnecks have the longest regular season winning streak in professional football history with 27 straight regular season victories. The record was broken with a 55-35 win over the Laredo Lobos in Odessa on June 17, 2006, giving the Roughnecks 26 straight regular season wins. The streak began with a 20-0 victory against the San Angelo Stampede on July 31, 2004, in San Angelo, Texas and ended at 27 wins with a 70-63 loss against the Louisiana Swashbucklers on July 1, 2006, in Lake Charles, Louisiana. In 1925, the Canton Bulldogs of the National Football League, lead by Jim Thorpe, lost after 25 straight regular season games. In 1992, the Quad City Steamwheelers of the af2 lost after 24 straight regular season games.
[edit] Season-by-Season Records
Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties
| Season | W | L | T | Finish | Playoff Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Odessa Roughnecks (IFL) | |||||
| 2004 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 3rd League | Lost Semifinals 61-54 (OT) (L. Lone Stars) |
| Odessa Roughnecks (NIFL) | |||||
| 2005 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1st Pacific North | Won Pacific Conference Quaterfinal 74-23 (Beaumont) Won Pacific Conference Semifinal 52-39 (Corpus Christi) Lost Pacific Conference Final 41-39 (Tri-Cities) |
| Odessa Roughnecks (IFL) | |||||
| 2006 | 12 | 2 | 0 | 1st League | Won Semifinals 53-50 (Louisiana) Won Intense Bowl 2 97-56 (Corpus Christi) |
| 2007 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| Totals | 39 | 11 | 0 | (including playoffs) | |
[edit] Head Coaches
The following table shows each coach's record while with the Roughnecks. (Since some coached other teams, their overall record may differ.)
| 2004-2005 | Chris Williams | (25-9) | Left in late 2005 to become Head Coach of the Tennessee Valley Vipers of the af2 |
| 2006 | Mike Esposito | (7-0) | Fired on June 12, 2006, "due to philosophical differences" [1] |
| 2006-Present | Chris Williams | (7-2) |
[edit] Entire 2007 Season Schedule
| Date | Opponent | Home/Away | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 31 | San Angelo Stampede Express (Preseason) | Big Spring, TX | W 39-23 |
| April 9 | CenTex Barracudas (Preseason) | Home | |
| April 14 | Louisiana Swashbucklers | Away | |
| April 21 | San Angelo Stampede Express | Home | |
| April 28 | Corpus Christi Hammerheads | Away | |
| May 12 | CenTex Barracudas | Away | |
| May 19 | Corpus Christi Hammerheads | Home | |
| May 26 | CenTex Barracudas | Home | |
| June 2 | Frisco Thunder | Away | |
| June 9 | Katy Ruff Riders | Home | |
| June 16 | Alaska Wild | Home | |
| June 23 | Katy Ruff Riders | Away | |
| June 30 | Frisco Thunder | Home | |
| July 5 | Alaska Wild | Away | |
| July 14 | San Angelo Stampede Express | Away | |
| July 28 | Louisiana Swashbucklers | Home |
[edit] External links
| Intense Football League |
|---|
| Alaska Wild | CenTex Barracudas | Corpus Christi Hammerheads | Frisco Thunder | Katy Ruff Riders | Louisiana Swashbucklers | Odessa Roughnecks | San Angelo Stampede Express |
