The Michigan Panthers are a professional

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team based in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

. The Panthers compete in the

United States Football League The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

(USFL) as a member of the North Division. The team plays their home games at

Ford Field Ford Field is a domed American football stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It primarily serves as the home of the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL), as well as the annual Quick Lane Bowl college football bowl game, state champ ...

Downtown Detroit Downtown Detroit is the central business district and a residential area of the city of Detroit, Michigan, United States. Locally, downtown tends to refer to the 1.4 square mile region bordered by M-10 (Lodge Freeway) to the west, Interstate 75 ( ...

, which also hosts the

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 ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL).

History

The Michigan Panthers were one of eight teams that were officially announced as a USFL franchise on ''

The Herd with Colin Cowherd ''The Herd with Colin Cowherd'' is a sports radio, sports talk radio show hosted by Colin Cowherd on Fox Sports Radio and Fox Sports 1. The show features commentary on the day's sports news, perspective on other news stories, and interviews with ce ...

'' on November 22, 2021. On January 27, 2022, it was announced on ''The Herd with Colin Cowherd'' that former NFL Head coach

Jeff Fisher Jeffrey Michael Fisher (born February 25, 1958) is an American football coach who is the head coach and general manager for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). He is a former cornerback and return specialist. He ...

was named the head coach and general manager of the Panthers. The Panthers selected Michigan quarterback

Shea Patterson Shea Christopher Patterson (born January 17, 1997) is an American football quarterback for the New Orleans Breakers of the United States Football League (USFL). He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines (2018–2019) and the Ole M ...

with the first overall pick in the

2022 USFL Draft The 2022 USFL Draft, also known as the 2022 USFL Player Selection Meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released throug ...

. In the first two games of 2022, the Panthers lost to the

Houston Gamblers The Houston Gamblers were an American football team that competed in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985. The Gamblers were coached by veteran NFL head coach Jack Pardee in both their seasons. They were noteworthy for introducing ...

and

New Jersey Generals The New Jersey Generals were a franchise of the United States Football League (USFL) established in 1982 to begin play in the spring and summer of 1983. The team played three seasons from 1983 to 1985, winning 31 regular season games and losing ...

. On May 1, 2022, the team won their first ever game with a 24–0 win at Protective Stadium against the

Pittsburgh Maulers Pittsburgh Maulers may refer to: * Pittsburgh Maulers (1984), United States Football League team * Pittsburgh Maulers (2022) The Pittsburgh Maulers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Maulers compet ...

. Losses resumed after that, the Panthers' only other win of the season was against the Maulers, a 33–21 with the winner assuming the rights to the first overall pick in the 2023 USFL Draft. In October, 2022, the Panthers hired

Steve Kazor Steven Kazor (born 1948) is an American football executive, scout, and former coach who is the general manager for the Michigan Panthers of the United States Football League (USFL). Kazor served as the head football coach at Iowa Wesleyan College ...

as general manager. After all eight USFL teams played their home games 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 ...

, the Panthers moved to the state of Michigan in 2023, announcing

as their home stadium. On February 3, 2023, the USFL announced that Fisher had been replaced as head coach by

Mike Nolan Michael Tullis Nolan (born March 7, 1959) is a former American football coach. Nolan previously served as a head coach for the San Francisco 49ers, and a defensive coordinator for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Washington Redskins, ...

, citing only "personal reasons."

Personnel

Current roster

Initially, each team carried a 38-man active roster and a 7-man practice squad, but the rosters were increased to 40 active players and 50 total in May, 2022.

Staff

Statistics and records

Season-by-season record

''Note: The Finish, Wins, Losses, and Ties columns list regular season results and exclude any postseason play.''

Records

References

External links

* 2021 establishments in Alabama American football teams established in 2021 Michigan Panthers (2022) American football teams in Detroit United States Football League (2022) teams {{amfoot-team-stub