The Kentucky Drillers were a professional indoor football team based in

Pikeville, Kentucky Pikeville () is a city in and the county seat of Pike County, Kentucky, United States. During the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population within Pikeville's city limits was 7,754. In Kentucky's current city classification sys ...

. The franchise started as the Eastern Kentucky Drillers and joined 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) in 2013 after playing their first two seasons as a charter member of 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 ...

(UIFL) for its inaugural 2011 season. The owner of the Drillers was Rick Kranz. The Drillers played their home games at the

Eastern Kentucky Expo Center The Appalachian Wireless Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Pikeville, Kentucky. Opened in October 2005, it hosts various local concerts and sporting events for the area. The facility, which can seat 7,000 for concerts and 5,700 for sporting event ...

in Pikeville, Kentucky.

Franchise history

2011

On November 26, 2010, the UIFL announced that the team in

, would be named the Eastern Kentucky Drillers. The Owner of the team Rick Kranz and the Head Coach and Kirk Ramsey on the defensive side, Drillers lost their first game in franchise history, a 44-49 defeat to the hands of the

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 ...

. Even in the defeat, two Drillers (Aric Evans and David Jones), won the first ever Offensive Player of the Week and Special Teams Player of the Week Awards in the history of the

. The following week, the Drillers played their first ever home game at

, and in front of 3,500 fans, the Drillers won 37-26 over the Huntington Hammer.

2012

The Drillers made few changes to their team going into 2012, but the hiring of defensive coordinator, Jimmy Brookins is going to be vital to another

Ultimate Bowl The Ultimate Bowl was the annual championship game of the Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL). In 2011, it was the meeting of the two semifinal game winners. In 2012, it was the meeting of the winners of the North and South Divisions. Past Ulti ...

run, as he looked to keep the Drillers atop the UIFL rankings for defense.

2013

On July 19, 2012, it was announced that the Drillers would leave the UIFL and join the

, and change their name to the Kentucky Drillers. During this season,

Prestonsburg, Kentucky Prestonsburg is a small home rule-class city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Kentucky, United States. It is in the eastern part of the state in the valley of the Big Sandy River. The population was 3,255 at the time of the 2010 censu ...

, mayor and Drillers' investor, Jerry Fannin, used city money to help fund the team. It was estimated he spent approximately $7,800 on the team and he was charged in February 2017.

Awards and honors

The following is a list of all (Eastern) Kentucky Drillers players who won individual awards and honors.

Notable coaches

Head coaches

Coaching staff

Season-by-season results

References

{{UIFL 2010 establishments in Kentucky 2013 disestablishments in Kentucky Pikeville, Kentucky