Tennessee_Valley_Vipers

Tennessee Valley Vipers

The Tennessee Valley Vipers are a professional arena football team, currently playing in af2, the minor league for the Arena Football League, where they are the 2008 defending ArenaCup champions. They play their home games at the Von Braun Center. They are coached by Dean Cokinos who was the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers in 2003 and the Nashville Kats Offensive Coordinator and Director of Player Personnel from 2005 - 2007.

Team history

af2

The team played in af2 for four years, from 2000-2004, and during that period was one of the league's most competitive teams. The then owner and operator of the team was Art Clarkson. However, following the 2004 season the team left the af2 and joined the United Indoor Football (UIF) league, changing their name to the Tennessee Valley Pythons.

United Indoor Football (UIF)

After legal threats from the AF2 for using the "snake" motif, the team changed its name again, this time to the Tennessee Valley Raptors. The Raptors, after an attendance decline in Huntsville, moved operations to Rockford, Illinois in 2005 and became the Rock River Raptors.

Return to af2

Meanwhile, the af2 returned to Huntsville in 2006. The new team, originally owned by HSV Sports, LLC (who also owns the local hockey team), was granted the rights to the Vipers name, trademarks, and history that had been vacated by the previous franchise. The team has since been sold to Texas AF2 Holdings, LLC, though it is still operated in conjunction with HSV Sports, LLC.

Season-by-season

|- |2000 || 10 || 6 || 0 || 2nd AC || Won Round 1 (Tulsa)
Won Semifinal (Augusta)
Lost ArenaCup I (Quad City) |- |2001 || 14 || 2 || 0 || 1st NC South Central || Won Round 1 (Tallahassee)
Lost NC Championship (Richmond) |- |2002 || 13 || 3 || 0 || 1st NC South || Lost NC Round 1 (Birmingham) |- |2003 || 14 || 2 || 0 || 1st AC South || Won AC Semifinal (Mohegan)
Lost AC Championship (Macon) |- |2004 || 12 || 4 || 0 || 1st AC Mid-South || Lost AC Semifinal (Florida) |- |2005 || colspan="6" align="center" | played as Tennessee Valley Raptors (UIF) |- |2006 || 3 || 13 || 0 || 6th AC South || -- |- |2007 || 7 || 9 || 0 || 4th NC South || -- |- |2008 || 10 || 6 || 0 || 2nd AC South || Won AC Round 1 (Florida)
Won AC Semifinals (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton)
Won AC Championship (Manchester)
Won ArenaCup IX (Spokane) |- !Totals || 91 || 50 || 0 |colspan="2"| (including playoffs) |}

Roster

#	Name	Position	Height	Weight	College
1	Demetrius Derico	WR/DB	5-10	190	Alabama State
2	Jeremy Stephens	WR	5-8	180	Tennessee State
3	Desmond Foster	WR/DB	5-9	190	Alabama State
4	Alonzo Nix	WR	6-1	185	UT-Chattanooga
5	Michael Johnson	WR	6-2	190	UT-Chattanooga
6	Maurice Brown	WR	6-2	210	Iowa
7	Travis Blanchard	WR/DB	5-11	182	University of Mississippi
8	Henry Freeman	WR	5-10	180	Alabama A&M
9	Eric Scott	OL/DL	6-2	285	Southern Mississippi
10	Eric Crosby	LB	6-3	210	Albany State
11	Rajohn Myles	FB/LB	6-0	255	UAB
12	Kevin Eakin	QB	6-0	225	Fordham
14	Tony Colston	QB	6-3	205	Tusculum College
16	Nick Hayes	K	6-0	215	UAB
19	Gary Elliott	WR/DB	5-9	170	Midwestern State
21	Darren Garrigan	DB	6-1	85	West Texas A&M
30	Matt Webber	FB/LB	6-1	255	Murray State
33	Tyrell Ellston	OL/DL	6-3	265	Sewanee
42	Rico Reese	OL/DL	6-2	252	Western Carolina
44	Lance Ancar	FB/OL	6-1	305	North Alabama
55	John Simmons	OL/DL	6-0	285	Delta State
72	Calvin Ousby	OL/DL	6-5	320	Jackson State
77	Willie Hall	OL	6-6	315	Middle Tenn. State
85	Germayle Franklin	OL/DL	6-4	328	Middle Tenn. State
90	Benji McDowell	OL/DL	6-1	290	Lenoir-Rhyne College
99	Terrance Ford	OL/DL	6-3	320	Southern Mississippi