1. History
    Founding  1983 season  1983 Schedule  1983 USFL Draft  Transaction with the Chicago Blitz  1984 season  1984 Schedule  1984 Arizona Wranglers Roster  Merger with the Oklahoma Outlaws 

2. Single season leaders

3. Season-by-season

4. Head coaches

5. References

6. External links

The Arizona Wranglers were a professional American Football team in the United States Football League that, name-wise, existed from late 1982 to mid-1985. They played at Sun Devil Stadium on the campus of Arizona State University in Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix.

History

Founding

The team that would eventually become the Arizona Wranglers was originally supposed to be the USFL's Los Angeles franchise. The team's planned original owner, Alex Spanos, pulled out of his USFL commitment and instead bought a minority stake in the NFL's San Diego Chargers.

The owners of the Oakland Invaders, Bay Area real estate executives Jim Joseph and Tad Taube, flipped a coin to decide who would take action to become the new owner of the USFL's Los Angeles franchise. Joseph won the flip and got the USFL rights to Los Angeles, while Taube retained full ownership of the Invaders.

A few months later, fate shuffled the deck. The owners of the USFL's San Diego franchise, cable television pioneers Bill Daniels and Alan Harmon, could not secure access to Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego. (The USFL would never be able to successfully negotiate a lease to the Chargers' home stadium, a situation that would force a second USFL team, the Outlaws, to leave San Diego for another city before playing a down.)

USFL officials felt that Daniels and Harmon's ties to the cable industry would be better suited for the country's second-largest market. The league forced Joseph to surrender rights to Los Angeles to Daniels and Harmon, whose franchise became the Los Angeles Express. Joseph finally settled on a move to Phoenix, bringing professional football to that Arizona city for the first time.

1983 season

Joseph appeared to hold fast to the USFL's original blueprint. He aggressively marketed the team in Arizona while keeping a tight rein on spending (including player salaries). The results were a mixed bag. The roster was a young team with some talent at the skill positions, but fewer quality starters in the starting lineup and less depth of talent than their opponents. Due to a weaker product, the ticket sales were only in line with most other teams in the league.

The Wranglers were quite competitive at first, posting a 4-4 record and moving into a four-way tie for first in their division. However, they lost their last 10 games—tied for the longest losing streak in league history—finishing in a tie for the worst record in the league.

The 1983 Wranglers featured some talent on offense including the League's 6th ranked passer in rookie QB Alan Risher, 12th ranked rusher in 3rd year vet Leon Calvin Murray, and the league's #7, #10, #11 receivers (1983 rookies TE Mark Keel, WR Jackie Flowers, and WR Neil Balholm, respectively).

Their defense was not as strong, although it looked fairly strong on paper before the season. The Wranglers signed San Francisco 49er ILB Jeff McIntyre and ILB Glen Perkins from the University of Arizona. But during pre-season McIntyre, who had a personal services contract with Joseph, asked to be traded because of contract issues. Perkins suffered a knee injury that slowed his play and development.

The Wranglers probably benefited early on from the league's decision not to have a preseason. When the rest of their opponents reached mid-season form, the undermanned Wrangler defense appeared to have trouble keeping the games within reach of the offense. The Wranglers gave up 442 points, easily the most in the league. The Wranglers only scored more than 23 points once all season --- in their week 2 upset of George Allen's Chicago Blitz.

In hopes of avoiding Arizona's often-oppressive summer heat, the league scheduled 6 Wranglers home games in the first half of the season. The team only played 3 of their last 9 games at home.

1983 Schedule

Sources^[1][2][3]

1983 USFL Draft

Transaction with the Chicago Blitz

Joseph lost millions of dollars in the 1983 season. Like most of the other owners, he'd bought into the league knowing to expect years of losses. However, he was disappointed in the team's attendance and unwilling to stick it out in Arizona.

In a stroke of luck for Joseph, Chicago Blitz owner Dr. Ted Diethrich (a Phoenix resident and founder of the Arizona Heart Institute) wanted a chance to move closer to his business interests in the Phoenix area. Despite fielding a team that had come up one game short of the USFL title game, the Blitz' attendance had been lackluster at best. Diethrich had lost millions of dollars, and didn't believe those losses justified an investment that far from home.

Diethrich thought he had a solution to both his and Joseph's problems—an unprecedented swap of franchises. Diethrich sold the Blitz to fellow surgeon James Hoffman, then bought the Wranglers from Joseph. Allen, who had been chairman and head coach of the Blitz, took the same posts in Arizona. Hoffman and Diethrich then engineered a swap of assets in which the Blitz coaching staff and most of the Blitz players moved to Phoenix while most of the Wranglers roster moved to Chicago. (The most notable exception was that Wrangler quarterback Alan Risher stayed in Arizona to back up former Blitz quarterback Greg Landry). The deal allowed Allen to keep virtually all of the NFL veteran-loaded Blitz roster that he had painstakingly assembled in 1983.

Diethrich wanted to take the Blitz name with him to Arizona, but Hoffman rebuffed him. As a result, Diethrich rebranded his team as the "New" Arizona Wranglers.While the USFL was active, the league considered the 1983 and 1984 Wranglers to be the same franchise, even though almost all the players were different.

The deal transformed the Wranglers from a cellar-dweller to a league powerhouse almost overnight. However, trading a team that had been, at worst, the third-best team in the league for a lesser version of one of the worst teams in the league raised questions about the USFL's credibility—especially in Chicago. The Blitz would never recover, and would be effectively euthanized at the end of the season (Eddie Einhorn was awarded a replacement Chicago franchise, but it never played a down).

1984 season

The 1984 Wranglers finished in a tie for first in the Western Division. In the playoffs, they upset the powerful Houston Gamblers, then defeated the Los Angeles Express for the conference title. Although the Express had a better record, the game was played at Sun Devil Stadium because the Express' home field, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, was being readied for the 1984 Summer Olympics. To accommodate the oppressive summer heat in the state, as well as the ABC Sports television schedule, the game kicked off at 8:30 p.m. local time (11:30 p.m. Eastern time).

The Wranglers' run ended in the championship game with a 23-3 defeat by the Philadelphia Stars in what would be Allen's last game as a professional coach. QB Greg Landry retired after the season. Allen retired as coach in September 1984, but remain involved with the team. Allen named assistant coach Paul Lanham as head coach. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1891&dat=19840928&id=vq4fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=fdYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1306,4657534]

The Wranglers intended to change to red jerseys for the 1984 season, but the league office had put in a rule that stated any team changing jersey colors (in this case, blue to red) had to wait one season before doing so. {{citation needed|date=March 2014}}

1984 Schedule

Sources^[4][5][6]

1984 Arizona Wranglers Roster

(Games Played/Games Started in parenthesis), Height, Weight, Age, College

1. MINNIFIELD, Frank CB (18/15), 5.09, 180, 24, Louisville; 38 tkl, 13 ast, 7 PDs, 2 FR, 4 ICs/74 yds

2. JOHNSON, Trumaine WR (18/18), 6.03, 193, 23, Grambling; 90 receptions, 1,269 yds, 14.1 avg, 13 TDs

3. CORRAL, Frank K/P (18/0), 6.02, 210, 28, UCLA; 11/21 FGM, 63/65 PATs, 96 pts, 69 punts, 41.4 avg, 58 long, 6 TB, 17 In-20

7. RISHER, Alan QB (18/0), 6.02, 190, 23, Louisiana State; 64/104, 61.5%, 728 yds, 3 TDs, 7 ICs

8. PORRAS, Tom QB (IA/18G), 6.02, 193, 26, Washington

11. LANDRY, Greg QB (18/18), 6.04, 207, 37, Massachusetts; 283/449, 63.0%, 3,534 yds, 26 TDs, 15ICs

20. McNair, David FS (15/0), 6.00, 190, 22, University of Florida; 13 tkl, 3 ast, 2 FR

21. DENNISON, Doug RB (13/0), 6.01, 200, 32, Kutztown State, 8 car., 48 yds, 1 TD, 30 rec., 244 yds

22. SHIELDS, Lance CB (18/6), 6.00, 175, 23, Drake; 27 tkl, 10 ast, 2 PDs

24. JOHNSON, Randy RB (7/0), 5.11, 205, 21, Texas-Arlington; 13 car., 53 yds

25. Barbieri,Ryan (safety) SS/LB (5/4) 5.11, 224,scottsdale community college

26. BROWN, Eddie SS (16/4), 5.11, 190, 31, Tennessee; 31 tlk, 17 ast, 4 PDs, 1 FR, 2 INT, 20 PR, 11.0 avg.

27. BRADLEY, Luther FS (18/18), 6.03, 197, 28, Notre Dame;

28. SCHWARTZ, Don SS (IA/2G), 6.01, 195, 28, Washington State

29. WALTON, Ted SS (11/1), 5.10, 198, 26, Connecticut

32. ALLEN, Carl CB (11/11), 6.00, 175, 28, Southern Mississippi

33. LONG, Kevin FB (18/18), 6.01, 219, 29, South Carolina

40. LAIRD, Bruce SS (13/13), 6.01, 195, 33, American International

42. CLARK, Allan RB (18/0), 5.10, 190, 26, Northern Arizona

43. BOATNER, Mack FB (18/0), 6.00, 220, 25, Southeastern State (La.)

44. SANCHEZ, Lupe CB (9/4), 5.10, 197, 22, UCLA

46. SPENCER, Tim RB (18/18), 6.01, 216, 23, Ohio State

50. OHTON, Dave LS (5/0), 5.10, 220, 22, Arizona State

51. SULLIVAN, Gerry C (18/18), 6.04, 250, 31, Illinois

52. WHITE, Stan LB (18/18), 6.01, 225, 34, Ohio State

53. MELONTREE, Andy LB (18/0), 6.03, 214, 26, Baylor

54. CASEY, Derrick LB (5/0), 6.01, 230, 23, San Francisco State

55. FAHNHORST, Jim LB (18/18), 6.04, 230, 25, Minnesota

56. SMITH, Ed LB (18/18), 6.02, 218, 26, Vanderbilt

57. FIELD, Doak LB (14/0), 6.02, 224, 25, Baylor

58. GHEESLING, Bruce LB (18/0), 6.01, 212, 23, Furman

59. PIETTE, Tom LS (17/0), 6.04, 243, 23, Michigan State

61. THAYER, Tom G (16/16), 6.04, 261, 22, Notre Dame

62. KEHR, Rick G (IA/2G), 6.03, 270, 24, Carthage

63. BUBEN, Mark DE (18/1), 6.03, 260, 27, Tufts

64. LEE, John DE (18/17), 6.02, 261, 31, Nebraska

65. KIEWEL, Jeff G (IA/18G), 6.04, 254, 23, Arizona

67. STADNIK, John T (13/10), 6.04, 278, 24, Western Illinois

68. HUFFMAN, David G (18/18), 6.07, 255, 26, Notre Dame

70. LATHROP, Kit DT (18/18), 6.04, 254, 27, Arizona State

71. LORCH, Karl DE (18/18), 6.04, 235, 33, Southern California

72. HICKMAN, Dallas DE (14/0), 6.06, 234, 28, California

73. STEVENSON, Mark G (IA/3G), 6.03, 276, 28, Western Illinois

74. EHRMANN, Joe DT (14/9), 6.03, 248, 34, Syracuse

75. TAYLOR, Rob T (18/18), 6.06, 280, 23, Northwestern

76. GIDDENS, Frank T (15/8), 6.07, 320, 24, New Mexico

77. THOMAS, Todd T/LS (5/0), 6.06, 270, 24, North Dakota

79. SMITH, Robert DE (4/0), 6.07, 256, 22, Grambling

80. HILL, Al (IA/8G), 6.03, 205, 24, Arizona

81. WRIGHTMAN, Tim TE (IA/9G), 6.03, 225, 24, UCLA

82. DOUGLAS, Larry WR (16/2), 6.01, 192, 26, Southern

83. LOCKLIN, Kerry TE (2/0), 6.04, 235, 30, New Mexico State

85. BROWN, Clay TE (2/0), 6.03, 220, 25, Brigham Young

85. TOLBERT, Mark WR (10/0), 5.09, 175, 25, Cal-Poly Pomona

86. RICKER, Paul TE (18/18), 6.03, 233, 27, Norwich

87. COZEN, Doug TE (4/0), 6.04, 241, 26, Illinois

88. BUGGS, Wamon WR (4/4), 6.02, 198, 23, Vanderbilt

89. WILLIS, Lenny WR (18/14), 5.11, 188, 30, Ohio State

91. EPPS, Nick DE (4/0), 6.03, 247, 21, Illinois

99. YOUNG, Wilbur DT (15/9), 6.06, 285, 34, William Penn

HEAD COACH: GEORGE ALLEN

Quarterbacks Coach: Roman Gabriel

Offensive Line: John Payne

Secondary: Donald "Deek" Pollard

Defensive Line: John Teerlinck

Offensive Backs: Ray Wietecha

Strength & Conditioning: Warren Anderson

Merger with the Oklahoma Outlaws

Despite making it to the Championship game, Diethrich was bleeding in red ink. He expected his all-star team's attendance to be much greater than the 25,776 fans per game the no-name Wranglers averaged in 1983. However, as had been the case a year earlier, Phoenix-area fans viewed the Wranglers mostly with indifference. Despite fielding a winning team, the Wranglers' 1984 attendance figures (25,568 fans per game) were actually lower than the 1983 numbers, as fans were slow to warm to the new players.

After losing millions for the second year in a row, Diethrich decided to get out. He found a willing buyer in Oklahoma Outlaws owner William Tatham, who was looking for a larger market with an acceptable stadium. The two men reached a deal in which Tatham acquired the Wranglers' assets. Since Tatham acquired all the Wranglers' player contracts, the deal was widely reported as a merger. Tatham relocated the Outlaws to Arizona for the 1985 season, merging the rosters into the Arizona Outlaws.

Single season leaders

Rushing Yards: 1207 (1984), Tim Spencer

Receiving Yards: 1258 (1984), Trumaine Johnson

Passing Yards: 3534 (1984), Greg Landry

Season-by-season

• Assistance to Greece and Turkey Act
• Assist animal
• Assistant at the pontifical throne
• Assistant at the Pontifical Throne
• Assistant Attorney General
• Assistant Bishop of Newcastle
• Assistant Chief of Air Staff
• Assistant Coach
• Assistant coach of the year
• Assistant commandant of the marine corps
• Assistant Commandant of the United States Marine Corps
• Assistant Commandant of the US Marine Corps
• Assistant commissioner
• Assistant Commissioner of Police (India)
• Assistant curate
• Assistant D.A.
• Assistant Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Open Source
• Assistant deputy director of national intelligence for open source
• Assistant Director Alvin Kersh
• Assistant Director Kersh
• Assistant director of nursing
• Assistant director of Nursing
• Assistant directors
• Assistant Director Skinner
• Assistant Director Walter Sergei Skinner