Omaha Beef

Omaha originally played in the Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) in 2000 and 2001 as an expansion team. The Beef made the playoffs their first and second seasons, advancing to the 2001 IPFL Championship.[1]

The IPFL folded after the 2001 season and the Beef moved to the National Indoor Football League (NIFL) on October 10, 2001.[2] After three seasons in the NIFL, the Beef joined the United Indoor Football (UIF) in 2005 as a charter member.

In 2008, the UIF merged with the Intense Football League to create the Indoor Football League (IFL). From 2009 to 2011, the organization went through several general manager and head coaching changes, but still finished near the top of the league. In 2009, James Kerwin was head coach of the Beef and led the team to a 12–2 record and to the second round of the IFL playoffs. The Beef continued their consecutive playoff qualification streak, which ended after 14 years across five leagues when the Beef failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2014.

The organization entered their thirteenth year of existence and fourth year as a member of the IFL in 2012. Despite constant expansion and contraction changes within the league, the Beef were a constant and competitive member. During the 2012 season, ownership of the team was then taken over by the league. The head coach was fired during season and several other changes were made to cut costs. Despite this, Andy Yost and James Kerwin took over as co-head coaches. The Beef finished in a tie for the last conference spot in the playoffs but did not qualify because of a lower point differential, resulting in the end of a 12-year playoff appearance streak.

In December 2012, the Omaha Beef were bought by Cornhusker Beef, Inc. On December 6, 2012, the Beef announced the new ownership group composing of Rich Tokhiem, Gerard Daly, and Jim Tokhiem.[3] In December 2012, the Omaha Beef was accepted by the Champions Professional Indoor Football League (CPIFL) to begin play in March 2013.

In their first season in the CPIFL, the Beef hired Andy Yost as head coach, who had finished the previous season as interim co-head coach. Yost led the Beef to a 10–2 record and qualified for the playoffs, as they finished second, in a three-way tie (Sioux City (1), Wichita (3)) in the league. The Beef fell to Wichita 31–25.

After leading the team to the playoffs in 2013, Yost moved from head coach to quarterback coach for the 2014 season. The Beef hired Steve Heimann as head coach and he coached the Beef to a win in their 2014 exhibition game. However, he then resigned before coaching a regular season game. The Beef promoted defensive coordinator Dan Thurin to head coach. The Beef finished with a record of 4–8, which was an all-time franchise worst at that time.

On January 7, 2015, the Beef announced that former Cornhusker and NFL veteran Cory Ross would be the head coach for the 2015 season.[4] Ross previously coached the Lincoln Haymakers of the CPIFL, also owned by Beef owner Rich Tokhiem, which ceased operations after the 2014 season.

In 2015 season, the Beef started playing in Champions Indoor Football (CIF), created by the merger of the CPIFL with the Lone Star Football League (LSFL).

Omaha opened 2015 with their worst start in franchise history at 0–5. On April 1, defensive coordinator Demetrius Ross opined that the Beef's poor start was in part due to preparations beginning in January instead of October and that the coaches did not get to select the players that they wanted.[5] The Beef finished the 2015 season with a record of 1–11, their worst record in franchise history. The Beef also finished in ninth place in the nine-team CIF, marking the first time the Beef ever finished last in a league. In their 11 losses, the Beef lost by an average of 25.0 points per game, were last in the league in points with given up at 672 (56.0/game), points scored at 395 (32.9/game), and a turnover differential of –16.

In 2016, the Omaha Beef took advantage of their schedule to improve their record to 7–5. Omaha played six of their 12 games against first year franchises (Chicago Eagles and Salina Liberty) in which the Beef recorded five of their seven wins. Omaha only had one win over a team with a winning record when they played (Wichita Force 4–1 on April 16) and only played three games all season against teams that came into the contest with a winning record. In the Beef's seven wins, the opponent's combined 2016 records were 29–54. Despite playoff expansion for the CIF in 2016, where half of all teams in the league qualified for the playoffs, the Beef failed to make the playoffs for the third year in a row, the longest playoff drought in franchise history.

The 2017 season saw the team return to the playoffs. The Beef took advantage of an again increased playoff field, where the top four of seven division teams qualified for the playoffs, a schedule with five of 12 games against first-year expansion teams and a division with three, first-year expansion teams, to qualify for the 2017 playoffs. Omaha was outscored by their opponents during the regular season and only played four games against teams with winning records at the time of the game, winning only one (Bloomington on March 18) and dropping three (Sioux City on March 31, Sioux City on May 27, and Dallas on June 3). Omaha's seven regular season wins came against teams with a combined 2017 record of 25–59. The Beef's wins during the 2016 and 2017 seasons came against teams with a combined 54–113 record. Omaha qualified as the North Division representative for the CIF Championship game. The South division saw six of the seven teams post winning regular season records as the Texas Revolution came out of the tougher division for the Champions Bowl III bid. Texas controlled most of the championship game, never trailing. The Revolution played conservatively in the fourth quarter, with a 30-point lead to defeat the Beef 59–49 and claim the league title.

Prior to the 2018 season, and for the second time under this ownership, after qualifying for the playoffs, the head coach left the position before the following season. On August 16, 2017, head coach Cory Ross was announced as the head coach for the CIF expansion Quad City Steamwheelers. Victor Mann was named head coach, who had led the Texas Revolution to the league championship in 2017. Despite being a centerpiece in the Beef's off-season marketing campaign, days before the opening of the 2018 season, the Omaha Beef announced that Mike Bonner would be head coach for the upcoming season[6] with Mann never coaching a game for the Beef. Four games into the 2018 season, though a public announcement was not made by the organization at the time, players confirmed that Mike Bonner was removed from the head coach position and Rod Miller, the assistant head coach and former Beef head coach, was appointed head coach before Omaha's fifth game of the season. Bonner was head coach for only four games, posting a 1–3 record, including losing the last three by a combined five points. Miller became the seventh person to hold the position over the previous six seasons. Midway through the season, Omaha suspended starting quarterback Anthony Iannotti. Iannotti led the Beef to the 2017 Champions Bowl, where he started 14 out of 15 games. Iannotti was later released. Omaha finished the season losing four out of the last five games and posting a 4–8 record, tied for second worst in franchise history with the 2014 season. The Beef failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourth time in five seasons, the longest stretch in franchise history.

During the 2018 offseason, the Beef were for sale. On October 24, 2018, the Beef announced the new owners as Ricky Bertz, a founder of the CIF, and Craig Tirey. On November 6, 2018, the Beef announced that James Kerwin would return as head coach for the 2019 season.

In July 2023, after winning two of the three previous CIF championships, the Beef announced they were leaving the CIF for a new league along with the Sioux City Bandits and the Topeka Tropics.[7] On August 9, 2023, the team announced they had joined the National Arena League (NAL) beginning with the 2024 season.[8]

Known as the "I-29 Rivalry," the Beef and the Sioux City Bandits have been rivals since their time in the National Indoor Football League (NIFL) starting in 2002,[9] becoming one of indoor football's oldest rivalries, the only breaks in their rivalry coming in 2011 and 2012 during the Bandit's two years in the American Professional Football League (APFL) and again in 2020 when the CIF season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2023, the Beef hold a series lead of 26–24 and the teams have met fourfold in the postseason. The Beef won the 2004 meeting, 46–40 in a game that was host to controversy related to fan interference,[10] before falling to the Billings Outlaws in a 59–68 shootout in the very next round.[11] Thirteen years and four different leagues came between the two I-29 adversaries until the 2017 postseason, as the Beef prevailed over the Bandits to claim the 2017 North Conference championship with a 55-45 victory,[12] but lost the championship to the Texas Revolution in Champions Bowl III 59–49.[13]

Dating back to the Beef's time in the NIFL, United Indoor Football (UIF), and Indoor Football League (IFL), the rivalry with the Sioux Falls Storm was one-sided with the Storm holding a 17–6 series lead (including three postseason victories). However, during the 2008 season, the Beef defeated the Storm 34–18 and ended the Storm's then-record 40 game winning streak, which had begun with a 51–41 win over the Beef in the 2005 season.[14] The rivalry came to an end after the conclusion of the 2012 season, when the Beef left to form the Champions Professional Indoor Football League.

The Billings Outlaws held a 12–3 series lead over the Beef before folding after the conclusion of the 2010 season. The rivalry was renewed over a decade later after a new Outlaws franchise joined the CIF for the 2022 season. Since then, the Beef have a 3–1 series lead, including a 42–6 win in the 2023 CIF playoffs to secure their third straight Champions Bowl appearance.[15]

The 2020s has seen a new rivalry emerge for the Beef in the form of the Salina Liberty. From 2021 to 2023, the league's championship games have been played by the Beef and the Liberty. As of 2023, the Beef have a 10–7 series lead over Salina. The two teams have an even a 2–2 record in the postseason, with Omaha, winning Champions Bowl VI and Champions Bowl VIII, and Salina winning Champions Bowl VII .[16]

The following is a list of all Beef players who have won league Awards