Ron James (born April 28, 1964) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach. He is the head football coach for Northern Arizona Wranglers of the

Indoor Football League The Indoor Football League (IFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional indoor American football league in the United States. The league comprises 14 teams, divided equally between the Eastern Conference (EC) and Western Conference ...

. He was the head coach of the

Atlantic City Blackjacks The Atlantic City Blackjacks were a professional arena football team based in Atlantic City, New Jersey, that played in the Arena Football League (AFL) in 2019. History Home games were played at Boardwalk Hall. The team was operated by Trifecta ...

of the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

(AFL) in 2019. He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Siena College Siena College is a Private college, private Franciscan college in Loudonville, New York, United States. It was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937 and is named after the Franciscan friar Bernardino of Siena. The college enrolls approxi ...

. He has been a football coach since 1986. Before becoming the Blackjacks' head coach for their inaugural 2019 season, James coached for the Las Vegas Gladiators from 2005 to 2006, the

Utah Blaze The Utah Blaze was a professional arena football team based in Salt Lake City, Utah and competed in the West Division of the Arena Football League. Home games were played at the EnergySolutions Arena. In 2013, the team did not submit proper ...

from 2010 to 2013, the

Pittsburgh Power The Pittsburgh Power were a professional arena football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team belonged to the East Division (AFL), East Division of the American Conference in the Arena Football League. Founded in 2010, the Power was t ...

in 2014, the

Portland Steel The Portland Steel were a professional arena football team based in Portland, Oregon and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team started as the Portland Thunder, joining the AFL in 2014 as an expansion team along with the Los Ange ...

in 2016, and the

Tampa Bay Storm The Tampa Bay Storm were a professional arena football team based in Tampa, Florida, US. It played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Originally the team was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and operated as the Pittsburgh Gladiators. The ...

in 2017. James grew up in

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...

, where he played football at Christian Brothers Academy. He then enrolled at Siena College, and played offensive line on the

Siena Saints football : ''For information on all Siena College sports, see Siena Saints'' The Siena Saints football (formerly the Siena Indians) program was the intercollegiate American football team for Siena College located in Loudonville, New York. The team comp ...

team from 1982 to 1985.

College career

James accepted a scholarship offer from

, where he was an

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

offensive lineman.

Coaching career

After multiple stops coaching in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

and assistant jobs in the

(AFL), James was named the head coach of the Las Vegas Gladiators in 2004. After a he compiled a 12–18 record, James was let go and joined the

staff. After

Danny White Wilford Daniel White (born February 9, 1952) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback and punter for 13 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He was the third major franchise qu ...

resigned in 2008, James was promoted to head coach of the Blaze. The Blaze folded following the 2013 season and James was hired after week one of the 2014 season by the

when they fired head coach

Derek Stingley Derek Stingley Jr. (born June 20, 2001) is an American professional football cornerback for the Houston Texans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the LSU Tigers and was selected by the Texans third overall in ...

. The Power folded at the end of the season. On January 30, 2016, James was hired as the new head coach and general manager of the team that became the

, replacing

Andy Olson Andy Olson (born November 6, 1952) is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Oregon. He served in the Oregon House of Representatives for District 15, representing parts of Linn and Benton counties, including the city of Albany. Ols ...

. The Steel folded after the 2016 season. On October 25, 2016, he was named the head coach of the

. He helped the Storm to a 10–4 regular season record and a berth in

ArenaBowl XXX ArenaBowl XXX was the championship game of the 2017 Arena Football League season. The game was broadcast on AFLNow, Twitter and WPVI-TV. It was played between the Philadelphia Soul and Tampa Bay Storm at the Wells Fargo Center Wells Fargo Center ...

, where they lost to the

Philadelphia Soul Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia (TSOP), is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush string and horn arrangements. The ...

by a score of 44–40. The Storm, who finished with a 2–14 record in 2016, became the first team in AFL history to have a winning percentage of less than .200 in a season and then earn an ArenaBowl berth the next season. James was named the AFL Coach of the Year in 2017. The Storm folded in December 2017. In 2018, James was hired as a senior analyst for the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

. He returned the AFL in 2019 as the inaugural head coach of the expansion

References

External links

ArenaFan profile
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Pittsburgh Power bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:James, Ron 1964 births Living people American football offensive linemen Army Black Knights football coaches Cleveland Gladiators coaches Hartwick Hawks football coaches High school football coaches in Utah Houston Thunderbears coaches Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers football coaches Las Vegas Gladiators coaches Pittsburgh Power coaches Portland Steel coaches Siena Saints football coaches Siena Saints football players St. Lawrence Saints football coaches Tampa Bay Storm coaches Utah Blaze coaches Saskatchewan Roughriders coaches Coaches of American football from New York (state) Players of American football from Albany, New York