The Cedar Rapids River Kings were a professional indoor football team based in

Cedar Rapids, Iowa Cedar Rapids () is the second-largest city in Iowa, United States and is the county seat of Linn County, Iowa, Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River, north of Iowa City, Iowa, Iowa City and north ...

. The River Kings joined the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a professional indoor American football league created in 2008 out of the merger between the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football. It has one of the largest number of currently active teams amon ...

(IFL) as an

expansion team An expansion team is a new team in a sports league, usually from a city that has not hosted a team in that league before, formed with the intention of satisfying the demand for a local team from a population in a new area. Sporting leagues also ...

in 2011 as the Cedar Rapids Titans and first took the field for the 2012 season. Since 2014, the Titans/River Kings franchise has played its home games at the newly renovated

Alliant Energy PowerHouse Alliant Energy PowerHouse (formerly Five Seasons Center and later U.S. Cellular Center) is a multi-purpose arena located in the downtown area of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. It was financed by the approval of a voter referendum to allocate special muni ...

, after having played their first two seasons at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena. The Titans were the first indoor team to be based in Cedar Rapids. The Titans have appeared in two United Conference championship games (2013, 2014), losing to the

Sioux Falls Storm The Sioux Falls Storm are a professional indoor football team based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Storm joined the original Indoor Football League as an expansion team in 1999 as the Sioux Falls Cobras, and first took the field for the 2000 ...

both times. During the 2018 season, the Titans were sold to new ownership and announced that they would rebrand for 2019 with a name-the-team contest, eventually taking on the Cedar Rapids River Kings name. Due to the effects of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the River Kings went dormant for at least the 2021 season. The team website was deactivated in 2020 and the team was not included as a 2022 league member.

Franchise history

2012 – Titans

In August 2011, it was announced that the Cedar Rapids Titans would become an expansion team of the

for the 2012 season owned by Chris Kokalis, Bob Sullivan and Kenneth Moninski. Titans' general manager, Chris Kolalis stated, "We believe that Cedar Rapids is a fantastic market to bring a team into. We hope to promote economic development and be a part of the growth of the community by being active and giving back to the fans." The team also announced that they would play their home games at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena, with the intentions to play in the newly renovated, U.S. Cellular Center in 2013. On November 18, 2011, the Titans hired former NFL player, Kyle Moore-Brown, as the first coach in franchise history. They won their inaugural game on March 3, 2012 with a 32–13 win over

Lehigh Valley Steelhawks The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks were a professional indoor football team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Steelhawks began play as an expansion team in the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2011. The Steelhawks moved to the Professional Indoor ...

2013

The Titans lost their pre-season warm-up against Green Bay but began the 2013 regular season with three straight wins in a home-and-home series with Chicago and hosting the new Texas Revolution franchise out of Allen. After a two-week bye, the team lost its next three games. The Titans recovered from this stumble and finished the season second in the United Conference with a 9–5 record. They made the post-season but lost to the

in the United Conference Championship. The team fared much better at home than on the road with 5 of its 6 losses coming when it was away from the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena.

2014

The Titans were one of eight returning teams plus one expansion team for the 2014 Indoor Football League season. After a 38–47 loss to open the 2014 season, the Titans went on to win their next 8 games in a row. The Titans entered Week 12, with a chance to claim first place in the United Conference, but fell 36–48 to the undefeated Storm. The Titans avenged the loss during the final game of the season, defeating the Storm 49–37. The victory placed the Titans in second place in the United Conference, and ended the Storm's undefeated season. The Titans' 2nd-place finish meant a road playoff game against the Storm in the United Conference Finals, where they were defeated 36–73.

2015

The Titans were tasked with replacing 2014 starting quarterback Spencer Ohm, while also losing the IFL's leading rusher, LaRon Council. The team signed Sam Durley, from the defunct

Wyoming Cavalry The Wyoming Cavalry were an American professional indoor football team based in Casper, Wyoming. They were most recently members of the Intense Conference in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Cavalry began play in 2000 as an expansion member ...

, to be their new starting quarterback. Durley got the Titans off to a 6–3 start, good enough for second place in the United Conference, but he was released on May 4, 2015 to sign with the

New Orleans VooDoo Louisiana Voodoo (french: Vaudou louisianais, es, Vudú de Luisiana), also known as New Orleans Voodoo, is an African diasporic religion which originated in Louisiana, now in the southern United States. It arose through a process of syncretis ...

. However, just two weeks prior to Durley's release, the Titans had traded for the 2014 IFL MVP, Willie Copeland.

Jeremiah Price Jeremiah Price (born February 19, 1988) is a professional gridiron football defensive end for the Jacksonville Sharks of the National Arena League (NAL). Early life Born the son of Alice and Jasper Price, Jeremiah attended Collins High School w ...

was named the Defensive Player of the Year.

2016

The Titans were yet again looking for a quarterback heading into 2016. The team selected Dylan Favre (quarterback for the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

from the 2015 Football World Cup and the nephew of

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...

) to lead the team. Favre finished 6th in the league in passing touchdowns and 5 in passing yards as the Titans finished the season 12–4, clinching the 2 seed in the United Conference. The Titans won their first playoff game in team history with a 66–36 victory over the

Wichita Falls Nighthawks The Wichita Falls Nighthawks were a professional indoor American football team. They were based in Wichita Falls, Texas. The team was headquartered in Wichita Falls and played its home games at Kay Yeager Coliseum. The Nighthawks first joined the ...

, but were once again defeated by the

48–41 in the United Conference Championship. Price repeated as the Defensive Player of the Year.

2017

The Titans hired former

Iowa Hawkeyes The Iowa Hawkeyes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Iowa, located in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes have varsity teams in 22 sports, 8 for men and 14 for women; a 15th women's sport will be added in 2023. The teams partici ...

wide receiver,

Marvin McNutt Marvin McNutt, Jr. (born July 4, 1989) is a former American football wide receiver. After playing college football for Iowa, where he became the all-time leader in receiving touchdowns and yardage (single season & career), he was drafted by the ...

as the third coach in team history.

2018

After the 2017 season, head coach McNutt took over as general manager and hired Billy Back, the 2016 IFL coach of the year with the

, as the new head coach. However, coach Back would leave the team a couple of months after his hiring to coach the expansion

Carolina Cobras The Carolina Cobras were an expansion franchise in the Arena Football League. The team was formed prior to the 2000 season, which endured a player strike. The team was originally based in Raleigh, North Carolina, but moved to Charlotte followin ...

of the

National Arena League The National Arena League (NAL) is a professional indoor football league that began play in 2017. It consists of teams based on the East Coast of the United States. Teams' typical payroll budget is $600,000 per season, while players are paid $ ...

for the 2018 season. The Titans then hired former NFL linebacker

Marvin Jones Marvin Jones may refer to: *John Marvin Jones (1882–1976), known as Marvin Jones and J. Marvin Jones, United States congressman *Marvin Jones (linebacker) (born 1972), American football linebacker *Marvin Jones (wide receiver) (born 1990), Americ ...

as his replacement. On January 30, 2018, the Titans' ownership announced the team was for sale with hopes of selling to new local ownership. In June, it was announced that the Titans had been sold to Roy Choi, a California-based businessman, with the intentions of keeping the team Cedar Rapids.

River Kings

In a letter to fans posted on the team's website on August 17, 2018, new general manager Ryan Eucker announced that the Titans' name and identity would be replaced as part of a rebranding process after the ownership change. On August 20, 2018, Eucker announced a name-the-team contest to select a new team name and identity with submissions due by September 5. On September 22, the team announced their new name as the Cedar Rapids River Kings with a new logo and color scheme to be unveiled by mid-October. On September 25, 2018, general manager Ryan Eucker announced that Mark Stoute had returned as the head coach of the River Kings. He coached the Titans from 2013 to 2016. A few games into the season, general manager Eucker was sent by the new owner to his other IFL team, the

San Diego Strike Force The San Diego Strike Force is a professional indoor football team based in San Diego, California. It is a member of the Indoor Football League and began play in 2019 at Pechanga Arena in the city's Midway district. It is the second professional ...

, to take over as general manager. Reggie Harris was promoted to the River Kings' general manager. The River Kings finished with a 1–13 record and head coach Stoute was fired after the season. Victor Mann was brought in as head coach after his previous team, the Texas Revolution, had folded the previous season. The River Kings participated in one of the two league games that were completed in the 2020 season before the entire league's season was curtailed during the

. The team also withdrew from the league's 2021 season. The league did not list the River Kings as a member for 2022 season.

Players

Roster

All-IFL players

The following Titans/River Kings players have been named to All-IFL Teams: *RB LaRon Council (2) *WR Carl Sims, Bryan Pray (2), Damond Powell *OL Maurice Robinson, Albert Erni, Jr., A. J. Harmon *DL Xzavie Jackson (4), Kyle Jenkins,

(2) *LB Nikolas Sierra *DB T. J. Simmons, Ricky Johnson *K Rockne Belmonte (2), Nicholas Belcher *KR Robert Brown, Demetruce McNeal

Individual awards

The following is a list of all Titans/River Kings players who have won league awards

Staff

Statistics and records

Season-by-season results

Head coach records

''Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 2020 Indoor Football League season.''

References

External links

Cedar Rapids River Kings official website
{{Cedar Rapids Titans seasons 2011 establishments in Iowa