San Diego Strike Force

The team was initially announced as a 2019 Indoor Football League expansion team in November 2018 and was owned by Roy Choi, who was also the owner of the IFL's Cedar Rapids River Kings.[6] The team announced their colors as black, navy blue, silver, as well as their initial staff on December 17, 2018.[7] Brian Cox, a former sports agent and quarterback, was hired as the general manager, while ex-Chargers defensive end Burt Grossman was named head coach.[8][9]

The Strike Force struggled throughout its inaugural season with Grossman remarking the games were like he was "Southwestern College going to play Clemson or something."[10] In their season opener against the Quad City Steamwheelers, they allowed 43 points in the first half and lost 67–49;[11] Grossman attributed the team's struggles to a lack of headsets for the coaches. He eventually fired the defensive coordinator and released four players on defense; the offensive coordinator had also been fired two weeks prior, though Grossman noted both coaches were on the staff prior to his arrival.[12] The Strike Force's first home game, a 65–44 defeat by the Tucson Sugar Skulls,[13] saw a poor playing field consisting of carpet pieces held together with duct tape; four additional players were released a day later.[14] After a 0–3 start, owner Choi brought in the River Kings' general manager Ryan Eucker to replace Cox.[15] The team finished the season with a 1–13 record and last place in the league; their lone win was a 40–34 victory over the River Kings.[16]

Following the 2019 season, Eucker announced the team would undergo a minor rebrand with a new logos and colors, choosing more military tones in olive green, black, silver, and brass to better represent the city.[17] After playing one game, a 50–36 win over the Bismarck Bucks,[18] the rest of the 2020 season was canceled due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Strike Force also withdrew from the 2021 season due to continued pandemic restrictions in California.[19] During the hiatus, Eucker left the team and was replaced by football operations director Geno Gerbo as interim general manager by April 2021.[20] In May 2021, Vivian Lin was announced as the team president and claimed to be the first Asian American woman to be a president of a professional football team.[21][22]

By November 2021, Gerbo had left the organization and Todd Durkin was named general manager.[23] while Grossman was replaced as head coach by former Christian High School athletic director and football offensive coordinator, David Beezer.[24] In March 2022, it was announced that the team had been sold to a new group of local investors, with Vivian Lin as the controlling owner, when Choi no longer wanted to be the owner.[25] However, by December 2022, Lin was no longer listed on the team website and former coach Burt Grossman was listed as team president.[26]

• Official website