Rayshaun Kizer (born February 3, 1985) is an Defensive Coach for the

Duke City Gladiators The Duke City Gladiators are a professional indoor football team based in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, a suburb of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They began play in March 2015 as members of the Champions Indoor Football (CIF) league. The Gladiators played ...

of the Indoor Football League. He was the former Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator of the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League. He is also a former National Football League, Canadian Football League, and Arena Football League

Defensive Back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. He played his college football at Walsh University and graduated with his Bachelors Degree in Computer Science. He has been a member of the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

of the National Football League, Montreal Alouettes and

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

of the Canadian Football League, Orlando Predators, Philadelphia Soul,

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...

New Orleans VooDoo Louisiana Voodoo (french: Vaudou louisianais, es, Vudú de Luisiana), also known as New Orleans Voodoo, is an African diasporic religion which originated in Louisiana, now in the southern United States. It arose through a process of syncretis ...

, Los Angeles KISS and Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League and Green Bay Blizzard of the

Arena Football 2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

. He also served as the Assistant Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator and Special Teams Coach of the

Bismarck Bucks The Bismarck Bucks are an indoor American football team based in Bismarck, North Dakota. The Bucks joined Champions Indoor Football (CIF) as an expansion team in 2016, and began play for the 2017 season. The team moved to the Indoor Football Leagu ...

of the Indoor Football League.

Early years and college career

Kizer attended Euclid High School in Euclid, Ohio. He played for the Walsh University Cavaliers from 2003 to 2006. He recorded 14 interceptions for the Cavaliers, returning 5 for touchdowns. He was named First Team All-American and First Team All-Conference his senior year. He was also named Second team All-Conference as a junior and First team All-Conference as a sophomore. He was inducted into the school's Wall of Fame as part of the class of 2015.

Professional career

New York Jets

Kizer signed with the

on May 15, 2007 after going undrafted in the 2007 NFL Draft. He was released by the Jets on August 27, 2007.

Montreal Alouettes

Kizer was signed by the Montreal Alouettes on September 11, 2007. He was released by the Alouettes on October 7, 2008.

Green Bay Blizzard

Kizer played for the Green Bay Blizzard of the af2 during the 2009 season. He played in 17 games for the Blizzard, recording 65 tackles, 4 interceptions, 15 pass break-ups, one forced fumble, and 2 fumble recoveries. He was awarded Defensive Player of the Week honors in the American Conference Finals Game after sealing the victory with a game-ending interception.

Orlando Predators

Kizer played for the Orlando Predators from 2010 to 2011. He led the Arena Football League in interceptions with 12 his rookie year in 2010, earning First Team All-Arena honors. He set a new AFL record when he recorded 16 interceptions during the 2011 season. Kizer was also named First Team All-Arena for the second consecutive year.

Montreal Alouettes

Kizer was signed to the practice squad of the Montreal Alouettes on September 27, 2011. He was released by the Alouettes on October 6, 2011.

Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Kizer was signed to the practice squad of the

on October 15, 2011. He was released by the Tiger-Cats on November 2, 2011.

Philadelphia Soul

Kizer signed with the Philadelphia Soul on November 22, 2011. He earned Second Team All-Arena honors after recording 82 tackles and nine interceptions in 18 games with the Soul in 2013. He was named Second Team All-Arena for the second consecutive year after collecting 101.5 tackles and nine interceptions in 18 games in 2014.

Arizona Rattlers

On January 7, 2015, Kizer was assigned to the

New Orleans VooDoo

On March 23, 2015, Kizer, was traded to the

in exchange for future considerations.

Los Angeles KISS

On May 25, 2015, Kizer was traded to the Los Angeles KISS for future considerations. He earned Second Team All-Arena honors for the third consecutive year after recording 87.5 tackles and five interceptions in 2015. He became a free agent after the 2015 season. On November 6, 2015, Kizer was assigned to the KISS for the 2016 season. Kizer suffered a season ending ankle injury that kept him out for most of the 2016 season.

Qingdao Clipper

Kizer was selected by the Qingdao Clipper in the fourth round of the

2016 CAFL Draft Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film dir ...

Cleveland Gladiators

On January 9, 2017, Kizer was assigned to the Cleveland Gladiators.

Georgia Doom

In March 2018, Kizer was assigned to the Georgia Doom.

Bismarck Bucks

In January 2019, Kizer was assigned to the

of the Indoor Football League as the Assistant Head Coach, Defensive Coordinator and Special Teams Coach.

Massachusetts Pirates

In March 2020, Kizer was assigned to the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League as the Defensive Coordinator. Due to COVID in 2020 the Massachusetts Pirates season was cancelled. Following the next season in 2021, Kizer returned to the Massachusetts Pirates as the Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator. They then went on and win the 2021 IFL United Bowl Championship under strong leadership of Assistant Head Coach Kizer. Winners of 11 straight games that season and Kizer was the only Assistant Coach to receive votes for coach of the year. He also had the #1 Defense in the league that season keeping opponents under 31 points per game. In January 2022, Kizer was promoted to Head Coach of the Massachusetts Pirates. He had a successful first season as a Head Coach with an 11-5 record but unfortunately lost the first round of the playoffs at home against the United Bowl Contenders Quad City Steamwheelers.

Duke City Gladiators

In October 2022, Kizer was assigned to the

of the Indoor Football League.

References

External links

Just Sports StatsAFL Leaders in Interceptions for a seasonAFL Leaders for career InterceptionsAFL Leaders in Interceptions for TDsKizer 2022 Head Coaching Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kizer, Rayshaun Living people 1985 births American football defensive backs Canadian football defensive backs African-American players of American football African-American players of Canadian football Walsh Cavaliers football players New York Jets players Montreal Alouettes players Green Bay Blizzard players Orlando Predators players Philadelphia Soul players Arizona Rattlers players New Orleans VooDoo players Los Angeles Kiss players Cleveland Gladiators players Qingdao Clipper players Players of American football from Ohio People from Euclid, Ohio