The Dayton Silverbacks were a professional
indoor football team based in
Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...
. The team was a member of the
Continental Indoor Football League
The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIF ...
(CIFL). The franchise started as the Miami Valley Silverbacks and joined the CIFL in 2007 after playing their inaugural season as an
expansion team in the
American Indoor Football Association
American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America.
The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...
. The Silverbacks were the fourth indoor football team to be based in Dayton, the first being the
Dayton Skyhawks
The Dayton Skyhawks were a professional indoor American football team based in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Gre ...
of the original
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 am ...
. The Skyhawks were followed by the
Dayton Warbirds, who later became the
Dayton Bulldogs, of the
National Indoor Football League
The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...
and the third being the
Cincinnati Marshals who played their 2007 season in Dayton. The Owner of the Silverbacks was Various people through the years with the final owner being Corwyn Thomas of Cincinnati . The Silverbacks played their home games at
Hara Arena
Hara Arena was a 5,500-seat multi-purpose arena located in the Trotwood, Ohio suburb of Dayton. The facility began as a ballroom in 1956, added an arena in 1964 and grew to a six-building complex which closed in August 2016.
At various times, it ...
in nearby
Trotwood, Ohio
Trotwood is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States and is a suburb of Dayton.
The population was 24,431 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is served by the Trotwood-Madison City Sc ...
.
Franchise history
2006: AIFL expansion
The team began play in 2006 as the Miami Valley Silverbacks, an expansion member of the
American Indoor Football League
American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America.
The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...
. On Saturday, March 25, 2006, WR/DB
Maurice Lee managed to set five AIFL wide receiver records, en route to his team's 57–54 Week 5 road victory over the
Steubenville Stampede. He set the records for most catches (16), most reception yards (191), most receiving touchdowns (7), most points (42), and total touchdowns (7). The team finished 5-9 in their expansion season, earning a birth in the AIFL playoffs before losing in the first round. After the season four Silverbacks were named to the AIFL ProStar Team.
2007: Joining the CIFL
After the season, the team decided to move to the Continental Indoor Football League, along with their brother franchise, the
Steubenville Stampede, signing a three-year contract with the league. Team owner Jeff Kolaczkowski cited, "This will cut down on the team's operating expenses as well as build strong rivalries." The Silverbacks had a rude welcome to the CIFL, when defending league champion, the
Port Huron Pirates
The Port Huron Pirates were a professional indoor football team based in Port Huron, Michigan. The team was a charter member of the Great Lakes Indoor Football League (GLIFL) joining the league in 2006 as an expansion team. The Pirates were the ...
, defeated the Silverbacks 54-7. The team bounced back and finished with a 4-9 record and a chance to win a qualifying playoff game. They lost 60-28 to the
Chicago Slaughter
The Chicago Slaughter were an American professional football team based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Having been inactive since 2013, the franchise was a part of the CIFL from 2007 to 2009, winning the championship in 2009. The Slaughter joined ...
, failing to make the playoffs.
2008
In 2008, the team saw the only coach it had even known, removed himself from the position and become the team's president. His first move was to hire Carl Allen as his successor. The team finished 3-9 and had their third season in a row of declining win totals.
2009: Rock bottom
The Silverbacks planned on sitting out the 2009 CIFL season, but due to the
West Virginia Wild getting suspended from the league, the CIFL offered for the Silverbacks to take the place of the Wild. They had been scheduled to play a 12-game season, primarily as a traveling team only playing two home games at
Hobart Arena, but two of their road games were cancelled. The team hired
Derrick Shepard, a former
NFL and
Arena Football League
The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...
Defensive Tackle, to coach the team. On April 14, the Silverbacks announced that a majority of their remaining 2009 season were to be broadcast live online for free on MCP-TV at www.miamicountypost.com. Professional sports announcer, JT Szabo provided the play-by-play. The team finished with a franchise worst record of 0-10, failing to make the playoffs for the 3rd straight season.
2010: Return to the playoffs
The 2010 Silverbacks announced they will continue play in the CIFL as a full travel squad. The team named former
Cincinnati Swarm (af2),
Louisville Fire
The Louisville Fire was an arena football team that played its home games at the Brown-Forman Field in Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. They were a 2001 expansion team of the af2. Their owner/operator was former Pro Bowl lineman and Louisv ...
(af2) and
Cincinnati Marshals (NIFL) assistant Brian Wells as head coach. The 2010 Silverbacks finished the regular season with, at the time, the best winning percentage in team history (.400) and their second ever playoff berth. Wells was named CIFL Coach of the Year! The Silverbacks were eliminated in the first round by the eventual CIFL Champion
Cincinnati Commandos
The Cincinnati Commandos were a professional indoor football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team suspended operations for the 2013 season, with hope of returning in 2014. They began play in 2010 as an expansion team in the Continental Indo ...
.
2011
In 2011, the Silverbacks saw several changes. They changed the franchise name from the "Miami Valley Silverbacks" to the "Dayton Silverbacks" and found a home arena in
Hara Arena
Hara Arena was a 5,500-seat multi-purpose arena located in the Trotwood, Ohio suburb of Dayton. The facility began as a ballroom in 1956, added an arena in 1964 and grew to a six-building complex which closed in August 2016.
At various times, it ...
in
Trotwood, Ohio
Trotwood is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States and is a suburb of Dayton.
The population was 24,431 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is served by the Trotwood-Madison City Sc ...
. The Silverbacks brought back
Derrick Shepard to coach the team after Brian Wells took a job with the Commandos. The Silverbacks continued their success from the following season, finished with a franchise best .500 winning percentage, and a second consecutive playoff appearance. They would go on to lose in the Semi-finals to the
Marion Blue Racers
The Marion Blue Racers were a professional indoor football team based in Marion, Ohio. The Blue Racers began play as an expansion team in the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) in 2011, before moving to the United Indoor Football League ...
.
2012: S'Back best season ever
After much speculation about whether or not the Silverbacks would leave the CIFL and join the
Ultimate Indoor Football League
The Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) was a regional professional indoor football league that began its inaugural season on February 18, 2011 as the Ultimate Indoor Football League before playing as the United Indoor Football League in 2012 ...
, the Silverbacks management made an announcement that they would be staying in the CIFL and helping the league rebuild after losing its top two teams from the
2011 season. Coach
Derrick Shepard resigned at the end of the 2011 season. On September 8, 2011, Mister Askew was named the 6th coach in Silverbacks history. On February 9, 2012, it was announced that Silverbacks Football LLC, in which Jeff Kolaczkowski of Dayton acted as president of that organization, decided they would be stepping out of the world of football and selling the team to an ownership group. The Dayton Silverbacks were sold to MRL Sports Entertainment LLC. There are currently three members on the ownership board for MRL Sports Entertainment LLC and all three board members were current members of the Dayton Silverbacks front office staff. Those members were Michael Lause, April Shellenberger and Tyree Fields. On March 1, just ten days before the season started, the Silverback fired Head Coach Mister Askew. The reasons for his termination have yet to be determined. The team hired James Scott, a former player for the Silverbacks, and Askew's Defensive Coordinator, to be the team's Head Coach. More trouble came before the season started, as Fields left the team in all capacities, leaving only Lause and Shellenberger. Then after one week of the season, Lause left the team as well for reasons that are unknown. Shelleberger was left as the lone person in charge and eventually reached out to a silent partial owner, Corwyn Thomas, to help provide financial support to get the team through the season. Corwyn stepped in and paid the absolute bare minimum to get things done, even making the team travel in a school bus to the championship game. Despite all the off the field distractions, the Silverbacks put together the best season in franchise history, clinching a winning record for the first time ever with a 62-15 win of the
Indianapolis Enforcers
The Indianapolis Enforcers were a professional indoor football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. The team was a member of the Continental Indoor Football League. The Enforcers joined the CIFL in 2011 as an expansion team. The Enforcers were t ...
on April 14. The Silverbacks would finish the season 8-1, with their lone loss coming to the undefeated
Saginaw Sting
The Saginaw Sting was a professional Indoor Football team based in Saginaw, Michigan. The team was most recently a member of American Indoor Football (AIF). They began play in 2008 as an expansion team in the Continental Indoor Football League ...
. Their second-place finish was critical after the CIFL cut the playoffs from 4 teams to just 2, moving the Silverbacks into the 2012
CIFL Championship Game against the Sting. Silverbacks scored just 7 points, in what was the lowest scoring CIFL Championship Game in league history, with a final score of 7-35. After all the success the team had through the season, Mr Thomas decided he didn’t want to continue utilizing the Silverback name in an attempt to distance himself from financial obligations left by Michael Lause of MRL Entertainment. Corwyn folded the Silverback name and switched to the Dayton Sharks name and then fired the GM and attempted to strap her with the leftover Silverback debts.
Logos and uniforms
![CIFL-Uniform-Dayton-2011](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/CIFL-Uniform-Dayton-2011.png)
The Silverbacks organization had the same primary logo from 2006 till 2010, featuring a
Silverback
Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...
, who was in brush, waiting to attack about the text, "Miami Valley Silverbacks." When the team mean moved to Dayton in 2011, they unvailed a new logo, again featuring a Silverback, roaring above the word "Silverbacks." The team's primary uniform colors are black, forest green and silver. The Silverbacks' helmet is black with the letter D going through the letter S. The team wore black pants and green and silver jerseys for the entire 2011 season.
Notable players
Final roster
Awards and honors
The following is a list of all Miami Valley/Dayton Silverbacks players who have won Individual Awards and Honors.
Notable coaches
Head coaches
''Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the
2012 CIFL season.''
Coaching staff
Season-by-season results
Media
*Broadcasters: Radio - Dave Reed, Micheal Hirn, Lee W. Mowen
*Local media: Radio - Ohio Sports Radio
References
Silverbacks Broadcast Live On www.miamicountypost.com
External links
Dayton Sharks official website2010 Miami Valley Silverbacks Stats
{{CIFL
Former Continental Indoor Football League teams
Defunct American football teams in Ohio
American football teams in Dayton, Ohio
American football teams established in 2006
American football teams disestablished in 2012
2006 establishments in Ohio
2012 disestablishments in Ohio