Iowa's New Arena Football Team Fires Coach Before Start of Season

Last year, it was announced that the Arena Football League (AFL) would be resuming play following bankruptcy in 2019. 16 intended markets were announced, with Iowa being one of them. Later on, it was announced Iowa's team would be the Iowa Rampage; the team would play home games at Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, IA.

While the Rampage are still set to kickoff their inaugural season later this year, the team has hit a major snag in its first year after it was announced via social media yesterday that the Rampage had fired their head coach. This comes prior to the Rampage fielding a roster, let alone playing a single game.

Rampage head coach Brandon Henderson was relieved of his duties on January 9th, 2023, per a press release from the team made available on their social media outlets:

Iowa Rampage regrets to announce the departure of Brandon Henderson, Coach of the Iowa Rampage. After careful consideration and evaluation of the organization's strategic goals, the Iowa Rampage has decided to part ways with Henderson. - per the Iowa Rampage press release

Per The Daily Nonpareil, Henderson was fired because some of his strategic ideas for the team "did not line up." Henderson was initially hired as the coach for the RiverCity Rage, another arena football team that was looking at Council Bluffs as a home base. However, Rage ownership elected to relocate to Coralville and join the American Indoor Football League in 2025.

The decision to make a coaching change is never easy, but it was made in the best interests of the organization's future success. We appreciate Coach Henderson's efforts and wish him the best in his future endeavors. - per the Iowa Rampage press release

Now, the Iowa Rampage will begin searching for a new leader with the AFL season set to be underway at an undisclosed time this year. The AFL has also confirmed teams in Albany, New York; Orlando, Florida; Odessa, Texas; and Dodge City, Kansas, just to name a few.

To be clear, the Iowa Rampage has nothing to do with the Iowa Woo (formerly the Waterloo Woo) of The Arena League. The Arena League is a brand new football league that is also looking to begin play in 2024, with the Iowa Woo set to play at the Hippodrome.