The 1969 COFL season was the fifth and final season of the
Continental Football League
The Continental Football League (COFL) was a professional American football minor league that operated in North America from 1965 through 1969. It was established following the collapse of the original United Football League, and hoped to beco ...
(COFL). Following the season, nine of the league's remaining teams split from the league, with five forming the
Trans-American Football League and four joining the
Atlantic Coast Football League.
Franchise changes
*The Michigan Arrows moved to
Midland, Michigan and became the Tri-City Apollos. They were an informal
farm team of the NFL's
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...
.
*The Hawaii Warriors were announced as a new league franchise in January 1969, but were unable to raise the necessary money to keep the team alive. Their spot in the league was instead given to
Portland, Oregon.
*A franchise was awarded to
Newark, New Jersey, which was subsequently named the Jersey Jays. The Jays were later announced to be a farm team of the NFL's
Cleveland Browns.
*The Orange County Ramblers announced a relocation to
San Bernardino, California but had their franchise revoked several weeks later for failing to confirm conditional approval. Their player contracts were later assumed by the Portland Loggers.
*On September 21, 1969 the Mexico Golden Aztecs ceased operations and forfeited the remainder of their 1969 schedule.
*The Spokane Shockers became a farm team of the AFL's
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...
.
*The TFL's El Paso Jets franchise was revoked for failure to comply with league regulations regarding several issues.
General news
*James Dunn was named commissioner of the league.
*On January 25, 1969 it was announced that the COFL was adding the entirety of the eight-team
Texas Football League to its ranks. The TFL joined as a separate entity and was placed into the new Texas Division (itself split into East and West). The new teams were mostly scheduled to play against each other but did also play interleague contests.
*The league office moved from San Jose to Indianapolis.
*As a result of the addition of the eight TFL franchises, the league was split into four divisions.
*The league established the
Glen Hepburn Memorial Award for Community Service, named for an Omaha Mustangs player who died from an injury sustained during a game the previous September.
Regular season
''W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PCT= Winning Percentage, PF= Points For, PA = Points Against''
'' = Division Champion''
Playoffs
''Home team in CAPITALS''
Divisional playoffs, round 1 (November 29, 1969)
* San Antonio 20, TEXARKANA 7
* Las Vegas 31, SACRAMENTO 0
* INDIANAPOLIS 27, Orlando 7
Divisional playoffs, round 2 (December 7, 1969)
* SAN ANTONIO 21, Las Vegas 17
League Championship (December 13, 1969)
* INDIANAPOLIS 44, San Antonio 38 (OT)
Awards
* MVP:
Johnnie Walton, QB, Indianapolis
* Coach of the Year: Ken Carpenter, Indianapolis
References
{{Continental Football League
Continental Football League seasons
1969 in American football