Raymond 'Ray' Philyaw (born July 30, 1974) is a former

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 ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

who was most recently the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator is a member of the coaching staff of an American football or Canadian football team who is in charge of the team's offense. Generally, along with the defensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator, this coach re ...

of the

Jacksonville Sharks The Jacksonville Sharks are a professional indoor football team based in Jacksonville, Florida, playing their home games at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Beginning in 2017, the Sharks began play as charter members of the National Arena Leag ...

of the

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 ...

(AFL). He also played for 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 ...

, Chicago Rush,

Kansas City Brigade Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the we ...

, Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings and the Albany/Indiana Firebirds, leading the former to the American Conference championship game in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

and

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

. Prior to his Arena Football career, he played for the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

and the

Madison Mad Dogs The Madison Mad Dogs were an indoor football team that played in the Professional Indoor Football League ( PIFL) in 1998, and in the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 1999 & 2000. The Mad Dogs franchise was owned by Keary Ecklund. The team office w ...

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 ...

. After leaving to coach 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 ...

in 2011, he attempted a return as a player in 2012 with 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 ...

, but later became OC for the

San Antonio Talons The San Antonio Talons were a professional arena football team based in San Antonio, Texas. They played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Their home arena was the Alamodome, following their relocation to San Antonio for the 2012 season. The t ...

. He holds the record for the highest career TD-to- INT ratio in AFL history and threw a school record 52 TDs while attending Northeast Louisiana.

Early life

Philyaw attended Southwood High School in

Caddo Parish, Louisiana Caddo Parish (French language, French: ''Paroisse de Caddo'') is a Parish (administrative division), parish located in the northwest corner of the U.S. state of Louisiana. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the parish ...

. While there, he participated in football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

and

track & field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

, winning a district championship his senior year in both football and basketball.

College career

Philyaw attended

Northeast Louisiana University The University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) is a public university in Monroe, Louisiana. It is part of the University of Louisiana System. History ULM opened in 1931 as Ouachita Parish Junior College. Three years later it became the Northeast Cen ...

, where he continued his football career. Philyaw started his sophomore through senior seasons for the Indians. At the completion of his career in 1996, Philyaw's 52 career touchdown passes stood as a school record until

Steven Jyles Steven Jyles (born September 25, 1982) is a former professional Canadian football quarterback. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League in 2006. He played college football for Louisiana–M ...

broke his record in 2005. In 2009, Philyaw was inducted into the ULM Athletics Hall of Fame.

Statistics

Philyaw's college stats at the completion of the 1996 season. Source:

Professional career

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Madison Mad Dogs

Shreveport Knights

Philyaw was backup quarterback for the

Shreveport Knights The Shreveport Knights were a professional American football team that played during the 1999 season as part of the Regional Football League. They played their home games at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The team was announced as ...

of the short-lived

Regional Football League The Regional Football League (RFL) was an american football minor league formed to be the self-styled "major league of spring football." Established in 1997, the league played a single season, 1999, and then ceased operations. History The RFL se ...

in 1999.

Albany/Indiana Firebirds

Chicago Rush

With the Chicago Rush in 2004, Philyaw lead the Rush to the conference semi-finals, but when he suffered an

ACL injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

, the Rush lost momentum and fell to the

Kansas City Brigade

In 2006, Philyaw signed with expansion

, after the Brigade released veteran Andy Kelly.

Cleveland Gladiators

In 2008, Philyaw lead the

to the National Conference finals. The Gladiators lost the game 35–70 to the champion

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 ...

Bossier-Shreveport Battle Wings

San Jose SaberCats

In 2012, Philyaw attempted a comeback with the

, but never made the roster.

Coaching career

New Orleans VooDoo

In 2011, Philyaw was hired by the

as the team's

San Antonio Talons

In 2013, Philyaw as hired as the

' offensive coordinator. Philyaw dealt with injuries during the year, starting five different quarterbacks in the first seven weeks of the season. The Talons did not find an ownership group for the 2015 season, and the franchise was placed on suspension, leaving Philyaw jobless.

References

External links

AFL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Philyaw, Raymond 1974 births Living people Players of American football from Shreveport, Louisiana American football quarterbacks Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football players Regional Football League players Chicago Rush players Albany Firebirds players Indiana Firebirds players Kansas City Brigade players Cleveland Gladiators players San Jose SaberCats players Bossier–Shreveport Battle Wings players Jacksonville Sharks coaches San Antonio Talons coaches New Orleans VooDoo coaches