Matthew Sauk (born March 15, 1976) 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

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 ...

. He played college football at Utah State, was an

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 ...

quarterback from 2001 to 2005, and an AFL quarterback from 2002 to 2008. He has been a football coach since 2008. After being the offensive coordinator for the

Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did not submit proper ...

from 2011 to 2013, he became the

Portland Thunder 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 Ange ...

head coach in 2014. He was the head coach of the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles 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 am ...

(IFL) in 2017 and the

Columbus Destroyers The Columbus Destroyers were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in Columbus, Ohio, with home games in Nationwide Arena. The team was founded in as the Buffalo Destroyers, based in Buffalo, New York, and relocated to Columbus in . They fol ...

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 ...

in 2019.

Early life

Sauk attended

Detroit Catholic Central High School Detroit Catholic Central High School, commonly known as Catholic Central (CC), is a private, Catholic, all-male, college preparatory high school in Novi, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1928 in Detroit, Michigan by the Archdiocese of Detro ...

during the 1990–91 school year. Sauk transferred to Woodbridge High School in

Irvine, California Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...

for his final three years of high school.

College career

Orange Coast College

Sauk attended Orange Coast College after graduation high school, where he continued his football career for the Pirates.

Utah State

Sauk's play at Orange Coast earned him a scholarship to

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah ...

, where he continued his football career with the Aggies. Sauk started for two years, earning 2nd Team All-

Big West Conference The Big West Conference (BWC) is an American collegiate athletic conference whose member institutions participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The conference was originally formed on July 1, 1969, as the Pacific ...

in 1997, while leading the Aggies to the

1997 Humanitarian Bowl The 1997 Humanitarian Bowl was the inaugural edition of the bowl game now known as the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. It featured the Cincinnati Bearcats of Conference USA and the Utah State Aggies of the Big West Conference. This was Cincinnati's first ...

Professional career

Sauk spent parts of eight seasons bouncing between the

and

. In 2001, he was named the af2 Rookie of the Year while playing for the Tennessee Valley Vipers. In 2005, he was named the af2 Offensive Player of the Year while playing for the

Louisville Fire The Louisville Fire was an arena football team that played its home games at the Brown-Forman Field in Freedom Hall in Louisville, Kentucky. They were a 2001 expansion team of the af2. Their owner/operator was former Pro Bowl lineman and Louisv ...

Coaching career

Spokane Shock

Sauk joined the

Spokane Shock The Spokane Shock were a professional indoor American football team based in Spokane, Washington, that played their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The team was initially a member of arenafootball2 (af2), the Shock won divisio ...

in 2008 as a quarterback and wide receivers coach. After taking 2009 off, Sauk rejoined the Shock in 2010 as the team's offensive coordinator. The Shock won ArenaBowl XXIII under Sauk's offensive guidance.

Utah Blaze

Sauk joined the

in 2011 as the team's offensive coordinator. During his first two seasons with the Blaze, Sauk was named the Net10 Assistant Coach of the Year, helping quarterback

Tommy Grady Thomas Grady (born March 18, 1985) is an American football quarterback who primarily played in the Arena Football League (AFL). After a standout high school career at Edison High School, Grady signed with the University of Oklahoma to continu ...

win the 2012

Arena Football League Most Valuable Player Award The Arena Football League Most Valuable Player Award (AFL MVP) is an award given by the Arena Football League (AFL) to the arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized ...

Portland Thunder

On October 8, 2013, Sauk was named the head coach of the

that began play in 2014. Sauk was let go following a disappointing 5–13 season and a playoff berth.

Los Angeles KISS

Sauk was hired by the Los Angeles KISS in 2015 to be the team's offensive coordinator.

Orlando Predators

On October 19, 2015, Sauk was hired to become 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 ...

's offensive coordinator.

Salt Lake Screaming Eagles

On March 6, 2017, Sauk was hired to become the Salt Lake Screaming Eagles's head coach after the third week into the IFL season.

Columbus Destroyers

On February 22, 2019, Sauk was named Head Coach of the

for the team's return to the Arena Football League for the 2019 season.

AFL head coaching record

References

External links

Matt Sauk (coach) at ArenaFan OnlineMatt Sauk (player) at ArenaFan OnlineOfficial Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sauk, Matthew 1976 births Living people American football quarterbacks Spokane Shock coaches Arizona Rattlers players Grand Rapids Rampage players Los Angeles Avengers players Louisville Fire players Orange Coast Pirates football players Philadelphia Soul players Tennessee Valley Vipers players Utah State Aggies football players Utah State University alumni Orlando Predators coaches Los Angeles Kiss coaches Indoor Football League coaches Portland Thunder coaches Columbus Destroyers coaches Utah Blaze coaches