Ron James (born April 28, 1964) is an

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 ...

coach who was most recently the head coach of the

Atlantic City Blackjacks The Atlantic City Blackjacks were a professional arena football team based in Atlantic City, New Jersey, that played in the Arena Football League (AFL) in 2019. History Home games were played at Boardwalk Hall. The team was operated by Trifecta ...

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 played

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 ...

Siena College Siena College is an American private Franciscan college in Loudonville, New York. Siena was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937. The college was named after Bernardino of Siena, a 15th-century Italian Franciscan friar and preacher. St ...

. He has been a football coach since 1986. Before becoming the Blackjacks' head coach for their inaugural 2019 season, James coached for the

Las Vegas Gladiators {{Cat main, Thomas & Mack Center Paradise, Nevada University of Nevada, Las Vegas Wikipedia categories named after buildings and structures in the United States Wikipedia categories named after sports venues ...

from 2005 to 2006, the

Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division (AFL), West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did ...

from 2010 to 2013, the

Pittsburgh Power The Pittsburgh Power were a professional arena football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The team belonged to the East Division of the American Conference (AC) in the Arena Football League (AFL). Founded in 2011, the Power ...

in 2014, the

Portland Steel The Portland Steel were a professional arena football team based in Portland, Oregon and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team started as the Portland Thunder, joining the AFL in 2014 as an expansion team along with the Los Ang ...

in 2016, and the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The f ...

in 2017. James grew up in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City ...

, where he played football at Christian Brothers Academy. He then enrolled at Siena College, and played offensive line on the

Siena Saints football : ''For information on all Siena College sports, see Siena Saints'' The Siena Saints football (formerly the Siena Indians) program was the intercollegiate American football team for Siena College located in Loudonville, New York. The team compet ...

team from 1982 to 1985.

College career

James accepted a scholarship offer from

, where he was an All-American offensive lineman.

Coaching career

After multiple stops coaching in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

and assistant jobs in the

(AFL), James was named the head coach of the

in 2004. After a he compiled a 12–18 record, James was let go and joined the

staff. After

Danny White Wilford Daniel White (born February 9, 1952) is a former quarterback and punter for the Dallas Cowboys and an American football coach in the Arena Football League. He has been the color commentator for Cowboys games on Compass Media Networks' ...

resigned in 2008, James was promoted to head coach of the Blaze. The Blaze folded following the 2013 season and James was hired after week one of the 2014 season by the

when they fired head coach

Derek Stingley Derek Stingley Jr. (born June 20, 2001) is an American football cornerback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at LSU and was selected third overall by the Texans in the 2022 NFL Draft. Ear ...

. The Power folded at the end of the season. On January 30, 2016, James was hired as the new head coach and general manager of the team that became the

, replacing

Andy Olson Andy Olson (born November 6, 1952) is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. He served in the Oregon House of Representatives for District 15, representing parts of Linn and Benton counties, including the city of Albany. Olso ...

. The Steel folded after the 2016 season. On October 25, 2016, he was named the head coach of the

. He helped the Storm to a 10–4 regular season record and a berth in

ArenaBowl XXX ArenaBowl XXX was the championship game of the 2017 Arena Football League season. The game was broadcast on AFLNow, Twitter and WPVI-TV. It was played between the Philadelphia Soul and Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional ar ...

, where they lost to 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 ...

by a score of 44–40. The Storm, who finished with a 2–14 record in 2016, became the first team in AFL history to have a winning percentage of less than .200 in a season and then earn an ArenaBowl berth the next season. James was named the AFL Coach of the Year in 2017. The Storm folded in December 2017. In 2018, James was hired as a senior analyst for the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 1 ...

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 ...

. He returned the AFL in 2019 as the inaugural head coach of the expansion

Head coaching record

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UTAH Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, , , , 1, , 8, , , , 3rd in NC West , , – , , – , , – , , – , - !

, , , , 9, , 7, , , , 3rd in NC West , , – , , – , , – , , – , - style="background:#fdd;" !

, , , , 12, , 6, , , , 3rd in NC West , , 1 , , 1 , , .500 , , , - !

, , , , 7, , 11, , , , 4th in NC West , , – , , – , , – , , – , - ! colspan=2, UTAH total, , 29, , 32, , , , –, , 1, , 1, , , , , - style="background:#fdd;" ! PIT, , , , 15, , 2, , , , 2nd in AC East , , 0 , , 1 , , .000 , , , - style="background:#fdd;" ! POR, , , , 3, , 13, , , , 4th in NC , , 0 , , 1 , , .000 , , , - style="background:#fdd;" ! TAM, , , , 10, , 4, , , , 2nd in AFL , , 1 , , 1 , , .500 , , , - ! AC, , , , 4, , 8, , , , 5th in AFL , , – , , – , , – , , – , - ! colspan=2, Total, , 74, , 77, , , , , , 2, , 4, , , , Juan Diego Catholic Football Staff Juan Diego Christian 2022 Ron James Head Coach

References

External links

ArenaFan profilePittsburgh Power bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Ron 1964 births Living people American football offensive linemen Siena Saints football players Siena Saints football coaches St. Lawrence Saints football coaches Hartwick Hawks football coaches Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers football coaches Army Black Knights football coaches Houston Thunderbears coaches Las Vegas Gladiators coaches Utah Blaze coaches Pittsburgh Power coaches Sportspeople from Albany, New York Cleveland Gladiators coaches Tampa Bay Storm coaches Portland Steel coaches