Kevin Guy (born December 6, 1972) is an

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

coach and former wide receiver and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

who is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

for the Arizona Rattlers of 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). He played his

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

at the

University of West Alabama The University of West Alabama (UWA) is a public university in Livingston, Alabama. Founded in 1835, the school began as a church-supported school for young women called Livingston Female Academy. The original Board of Trustees of Livingston F ...

, and was an AFL wide receiver and defensive back from 1996 to 1999. He has been a football coach since 2000, and first served as a head coach in 2000 as the interim head coach for the

New Jersey Red Dogs The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

. After being the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

for the

San Jose SaberCats The San Jose SaberCats were a professional arena football team based in San Jose, California. The SaberCats had been members of the Arena Football League (AFL) since 1995 (the year in which the team was founded); and until 2015, they belonged to ...

from 2006 to 2007, he became the Rattlers head coach in 2008. In 2018, his wife Cathy became co-owner of a new Tucson-based IFL franchise, called the

Tucson Sugar Skulls The Tucson Sugar Skulls are a professional indoor American football team based in Tucson, Arizona. They are members of the Indoor Football League (IFL) since the 2019 season as an expansion team. They play home games at Tucson Convention Center's ...

, set to play in 2019.

Early life

Born in

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, Guy grew up in

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

then continued his high school career in Shelby County High School in

Columbiana, Alabama Columbiana is a city and the county seat of Shelby County, Alabama, United States. At the 2020 census, the population was 4,462. History Columbiana, originally called Columbia, was selected as the county seat of Shelby County in 1826 over riva ...

, where he was a member of the Wildcats football team from 1987 to 1990. Kevin then enrolled at

, and played wide receiver before finishing his career as a defensive back on the

West Alabama Tigers football : ''For information on all University of West Alabama sports, see West Alabama Tigers'' The West Alabama Tigers football program is the intercollegiate American football team for the University of West Alabama located in the U.S. state of Alabama ...

team from 1991 to 1995.

College career

Guy was tested by many high level programs, taking visits to

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Mississippi State Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a public land-grant research university adjacent to Starkville, Mississippi. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Univers ...

, Samford and

Chattanooga Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...

, but only received a scholarship from West Alabama.

Professional career

The Minnesota Fighting Pike signed Guy after he went unselected in the

1996 NFL Draft The 1996 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 20–21, 1996, at the Paramount ...

. He played four years as a wide receiver and defensive back in the AFL, with Minnesota in 1996, the

from 1997 to 1999, and the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

in 1999. He first became a regular starting defensive back in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

with Minnesota. In

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

with New Jersey, he helped lead the Red Dogs to the AFL Semifinal.

Coaching career

In 2000, while not even being one year removed from the AFL, Guy was a defensive coordinator for the Red Dogs under head coach Frank Mattiace. With four games left in the 2000 season, the Red Dogs fired Mattiace, and Guy served the teams interim head coach for the remainder of the season. In 2001, he returned to the AFL as a defensive coordinator for the

Florida Bobcats The Florida Bobcats were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Sunrise, Florida. They were previously known as the Sacramento Attack and the Miami Hooters, and played in the AFL for a total of ten seasons, the last seven in West Palm Beach ...

. He then became a head coach at the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

level, starting in 2002 with the

Tennessee Valley Vipers Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

. After coaching Tennessee to three consecutive playoff berths 2002, 2003 and 2004, he moved to the

Rio Grande Valley Dorados The Rio Grande Valley Dorados were a professional arena football team. They began playing in 2004 as an expansion member of af2, the minor league to the Arena Football League. They played their home games at Obra Homes Field at Dodge Arena in ...

, and served as head coach during the 2005 season and led the Dorados to the National Conference Championship game. After the 2005 season, Guy was named the defensive coordinator for the

of the AFL. Guy's defensive squad helped lead the SaberCats to back-to-back American Conference Championship Game appearances, and a berth in

ArenaBowl XXI ArenaBowl XXI was the 2007 championship game of the Arena Football League and was played at the New Orleans Arena in New Orleans, Louisiana on Sunday, July 29, 2007. It was the third-ever neutral site title game in league's history and the first h ...

, where the SaberCats would defeat the

Chicago Rush The Chicago Rush were a professional arena football team based in Rosemont, Illinois Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Located immediately northwest of Chicago, as of the 2010 census it had a population of 4,20 ...

. Following the SaberCats ArenaBowl victory, the Arizona Rattlers named Guy their 4th head coach in franchise history. Guy led the team to playoff appearances in his first five seasons there, making four consecutive appearances in the ArenaBowl, winning

ArenaBowl XXV ArenaBowl XXV was the 25th edition of the championship in the Arena Football League. The National Conference champion, Arizona Rattlers, defeated the American Conference champion, Philadelphia Soul, 72–54. The game was played on August 10, 201 ...

and

ArenaBowl XXVI ArenaBowl XXVI was the 26th edition of the championship in the Arena Football League. The National Conference champion Arizona Rattlers, defeated the American Conference champion Philadelphia Soul, 48–39. The game was played on August 17, 201 ...

both over the

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often feat ...

, and winning ArenaBowl XXVII over the

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

. In September 2005, Guy was named the defensive coordinator of the

of the AFL. Guy was named the head coach of the Arizona Rattlers in August 2007. On September 15, 2020, it was announced Guy would be assuming the role of Arizona Rattlers team president in addition to his head coaching and general manager duties.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guy, Kevin 1972 births Living people Sportspeople from Birmingham, Alabama Players of American football from Birmingham, Alabama American football wide receivers American football defensive backs Minnesota Fighting Pike players New Jersey Red Dogs players West Alabama Tigers football players Arizona Rattlers coaches People from Columbiana, Alabama Alabama Vipers coaches Cleveland Gladiators coaches Florida Bobcats coaches Rio Grande Valley Dorados coaches San Jose SaberCats coaches