Kentucky Drillers
The Kentucky Drillers were a professional indoor football team based in Pikeville, Kentucky. The franchise started as the Eastern Kentucky Drillers and joined the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) in 2013 after playing their first two seasons as a charter member of the Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) for its inaugural 2011 season. The owner of the Drillers was Rick Kranz. The Drillers played their home games at the Eastern Kentucky Expo Center in Pikeville, Kentucky.
| Kentucky Drillers | |
|---|---|
| Established 2010 Folded 2013 Played in Pikeville, Kentucky at Eastern Kentucky Expo Center kentuckydrillers.com | |
 | |
| League/conference affiliations | |
| United Indoor Football League (2011–2012) Continental Indoor Football League (2013) | |
Current uniform | |
| Team colors | Black, yellow, white |
| Mascot | Digger |
| Cheerleaders | Drillbits |
| Personnel | |
| Owner(s) | Rick Kranz |
| President | Rick Kranz |
| General manager | Rick Kranz |
| Head coach | Rick Kranz |
| Team history | |
| |
| Championships | |
| League championships (0) | |
| Conference championships (0) | |
| Division championships (0) | |
| Home arena(s) | |
| |
Franchise history
2011
On November 26, 2010, the UIFL announced that the team in Pikeville, Kentucky, would be named the Eastern Kentucky Drillers.[1] The Owner of the team Rick Kranz and the Head Coach and Kirk Ramsey on the defensive side, Drillers lost their first game in franchise history, a 44–49 defeat to the hands of the Saginaw Sting.[2] Even in the defeat, two Drillers (Aric Evans and David Jones), won the first ever Offensive Player of the Week and Special Teams Player of the Week Awards in the history of the Ultimate Indoor Football League.[3] The following week, the Drillers played their first ever home game at Eastern Kentucky Expo Center, and in front of 3,500 fans, the Drillers won 37–26 over the Huntington Hammer.[4]
2012
The Drillers made few changes to their team going into 2012, but the hiring of defensive coordinator, Jimmy Brookins is going to be vital to another Ultimate Bowl run, as he looked to keep the Drillers atop the UIFL rankings for defense.[5]
2013
On July 19, 2012, it was announced that the Drillers would leave the UIFL and join the Continental Indoor Football League,[6] and change their name to the Kentucky Drillers.[7] During this season, Prestonsburg, Kentucky, mayor and Drillers' investor, Jerry Fannin, used city money to help fund the team. It was estimated he spent approximately $7,800 on the team and he was charged in February 2017.[8]
Awards and honors
The following is a list of all (Eastern) Kentucky Drillers players who won individual awards and honors.
| Season | Player | Position | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Aric Evans | WR | 1st Team All-UIFL |
| 2011 | Rashaud Mungro | OL | 1st Team All-UIFL |
| 2011 | David Jones | DB | 1st Team All-UIFL |
| 2011 | Jason Connor | DB | 2nd Team All-UIFL |
| 2011 | Butch Abshire | DB | 2nd Team All-UIFL |
| 2011 | Daniel Eidson | K | 2nd Team All-UIFL |
| 2012 | Maurice Douse | RB | 1st Team All-UIFL South |
| 2012 | Aric Evans | WR | 1st Team All-UIFL South |
| 2012 | Joe Parker | OL | 1st Team All-UIFL South |
| 2012 | George Jackson | DB | 1st Team All-UIFL South |
| 2012 | Allan Holland | QB | UIFL South Honorable Mention |
| 2012 | Lynell Suggs | WR | UIFL South Honorable Mention |
| 2012 | Phil Blaising | C | UIFL South Honorable Mention |
| 2012 | Ellery Moore | DL | UIFL South Honorable Mention |
| 2012 | Shawn Lewis | DL | UIFL South Honorable Mention |
| 2012 | Andre Hatchett | LB | UIFL South Honorable Mention |
| 2012 | Miquel Carodine | DB | UIFL South Honorable Mention |
| 2012 | Daniel Eidson | K | UIFL South Honorable Mention |
Notable coaches
Head coaches
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Win% | W | L | |||
| Lance Brown | 2011 | 8 | 6 | 0 | .571 | 1 | 1 | |
| Rick Kranz | 2012–2013 | 8 | 12 | 0 | .400 | 0 | 0 | |
Coaching staff
| Kentucky Drillers staff | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Season-by-season results
| League Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | Wild Card Berth | League Leader |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | |||||||||||
| Eastern Kentucky Drillers | ||||||||||||||
| 2011 | 2011 | UIFL | 3rd | 8 | 6 | 0 | Won UIFL semifinals (Hammer) 20-4 Lost Ultimate Bowl I (Sting) 69-86 | |||||||
| 2012 | 2012 | UIFL | South | 2nd | 6 | 4 | 0 | |||||||
| Kentucky Drillers | ||||||||||||||
| 2013 | 2013 | CIFL | 7th | 2 | 8 | 0 | ||||||||
| Totals | 16 | 18 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2011–2013) | ||||||||||
| 1 | 1 | — | All-time postseason record (2011–2013) | |||||||||||
| 17 | 19 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2011–2013) | |||||||||||
References
- "Pikeville, KY Team Name Announced: Eastern Kentucky Drillers". www.theuifl.com. UIFL. November 26, 2010. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
- "Saginaw Sting capture season opener". Midland Daily News. February 19, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
- "Drillers duo highlight weekly honors". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. February 26, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
- "Drillers Open with Win". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. February 28, 2011. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
- "Brookins Named EKY Defensive Coordinator". www.oursportscental.com. OurSports Central. September 23, 2011. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
- "Drillers returning for 2013 season". www.floydcountytimes.com. Floyd County Times. January 11, 2013. Archived from the original on March 13, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
- "Drillers making switch to Continental Indoor Football League". www.wkyt.com. WYMT. July 19, 2012. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
- "Ex-Prestonsburg mayor charged with using city funds for his arena football team". Lexington Herald-Leader. February 23, 2017.