The Wisconsin Wolfpack was 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 ...

franchise based in

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The Wolfpack name and brand was used for two teams: an indoor football team in the

Continental Indoor Football League The Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL) was an indoor American football, indoor American football, football league based along the Midwestern United States region that played nine seasons from 2006 to 2014. It began play in April 2006 as ...

and a traditional (outdoor) football team in the Mid Continental Football League. The indoor team played its home games at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

in its inaugural season of 2009, but moved to the Hartmeyer Arena for the 2010 season. The outdoor team was somewhat

nomadic Nomads are communities without fixed habitation who regularly move to and from areas. Such groups include hunter-gatherers, pastoral nomads (owning livestock), tinkers and trader nomads. In the twentieth century, the population of nomadic pa ...

throughout its history with regards to where it played its home games, however, outdoor games were generally played in the

Milwaukee metropolitan area The Milwaukee metropolitan area (also known as Metro Milwaukee or Greater Milwaukee) is a major metropolitan area located in Southeastern Wisconsin, consisting of the city of Milwaukee and some of the surrounding area. There are several defini ...

Indoor history

Prior to the Wolfpack franchise's 2008 outdoor campaign, the

Milwaukee Bonecrushers The Chicago Knights were a professional indoor football team based in Loves Park, Illinois. The Knights were founded in 2010 as a member of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL), playing their home games at the Victory Sports Complex. ...

of the

approached the Wolfpack coaches and staff and asked them to assist with the completion of their 2008 season following

Gilbert Brown Gilbert Jesse Brown (born February 22, 1971) is an American former professional American football, football nose tackle who played for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (1993–99, 2001–03), Brown played 125 Packers games ...

's decision to resign as head coach and the resulting resignation of most of the Bonecrushers' staff. Kopac assumed the role of general manager for the Bonecrushers, and brought with him the core coaches of the Wolfpack outdoor team that would later become the core of the Wolfpack indoor team. Kopac led the team to its only win, a 51–46 victory of the Muskegon Thunder. With infrastructure already in place from the outdoor team, and following the previous year's experience with the Bonecrushers, Wolfpack management announced in early 2009 it would field both indoor and outdoor teams that year. To start the indoor team, Kopac coordinated with Lowe Entertainment, owners of the

Rock River Raptors The Rock River Raptors were a professional indoor football team based in Rockford, Illinois. The team was most recently a member of the Continental Indoor Football League. The franchise was established in 2000 as the Tennessee Valley Vipers, a ...

, also in the CIFL, to have Lowe run the indoor franchise while retaining Kopac as head coach. The Wolfpack were Madison's second indoor football franchise and the first to call Madison home since the

Madison Mad Dogs The Madison Mad Dogs were an indoor football team that played in the Professional Indoor Football League ( PIFL) in 1998, and in the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 1999 & 2000."Silly arena football is Mad Dog-gone fun" The Capital Times from M ...

folded in 2001. The Wolfpack played its inaugural season's home games at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum on the campus of the

Alliant Energy Center Alliant Energy Center is a multi-building complex located in Madison, Wisconsin. It comprises of greenspace and includes the Exhibition Hall, the 10,000-seat Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the Willow Island, several multi-use pavilions, and the A ...

and used

AstroTurf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for pitch (sports field), playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a pile (textile), short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Si ...

previously belonging to the Pensacola Barracudas of

AF2 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 r ...

. In its inaugural season, the team finished 7–5 and qualified for the CIFL Playoffs, The team started 5–1 but struggled late in the season after former All-American UW-Platteville quarterback Tom Stetzer was lost to injury. The Wolfpack would fall to the eventual undefeated CIFL champion

Chicago Slaughter The Chicago Slaughter were an American professional football team based in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Having been inactive since 2013, the franchise was a part of the CIFL from 2007 to 2009, winning the championship in 2009. The Slaughter joine ...

in the 2009 CIFL Western Conference Championship Game, 63–19. For 2010, the Wolfpack chose to move its home games to the Hartmeyer Arena on the northeast side of Madison. 2010 also saw the team stock its roster with more players from the nearby

Wisconsin Badgers The Wisconsin Badgers are the College athletics in the United States, athletic teams representing the University of Wisconsin–Madison. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I ...

football program. Joining defensive lineman Kurt Ware and linebacker James Kamoku from the 2009 Wolfpack would be tight end Andy Crooks, safety Josh Nettles, defensive lineman Ricky Garner, offensive lineman Kenny Jones and, following a season-ending injury to quarterback Brian Ryczkowski, Matt Schabert. Under Schabert's guidance, the Wolfpack had its most successful season to date, indoor or outdoor, finishing the regular season 8–2 and becoming the only team to defeat the then-undefeated

Cincinnati Commandos The Cincinnati Commandos were a professional indoor football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The team suspended operations for the 2013 season, with hope of returning in 2014. They began play in 2010 as an expansion team in the Continental Ind ...

. The Wolfpack would win its first-ever home playoff game, beating the

Fort Wayne FireHawks The Fort Wayne FireHawks were a professional indoor football team based in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The team joined the Continental Indoor Football League as an expansion team during the 2010 season. The FireHawks were the fourth attempt at indoor ...

, 25–24, before falling to the Commandos in the 2010 CIFL Championship Game, 54–40, in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

Season-by-season

, - ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, , 7 , , 5 , , 0 , , 2nd, Western , , Lost Western Division Championship (

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

) , - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , 8 , , 2 , , 0 , , 2nd , , Won Semifinals (

Fort Wayne Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 United S ...

)
Lost

CIFL Championship Game The CIFL championship game was the annual championship game of the Continental Indoor Football League (CIFL). In 2006, it was the meeting of the two semifinal game winners. Following the 2007 and 2008 season, the game was between the Great Lakes ...

(

) , - !Totals , , 16 , , 9 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Outdoor Wolfpack

Season-by-season

, - , 2008 , , 8 , , 2 , , 1 , , NAFL: 2nd, Dells , , Won Round 1 ( Kane County)
Lost Round 2 (

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

) , - , 2009 , , 3 , , 5 , , 0 , , MCFL: 3rd, North , , , - , 2010 , , 1 , , 6 , , 0 , , MCFL: T-7th , , Mid-States Tournament
Won Round 1 ( Chicago Falcons)
Won Round 2 ( Michigan Gators)
NFE Florida Bowl
Lost (Orlando Rage) , - !Totals , , 15 , , 15 , , 1 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Racine Raiders merger

After much speculation, the Racine Journal Times reported on December 9, 2010, that Jordan Kopac would return to coaching the Racine Raiders in 2011. This effectively marked the end of the Wolfpack as a franchise.

References

{{Wisconsinsports 2009 establishments in Wisconsin 2010 disestablishments in Wisconsin American football teams established in 2009 American football teams disestablished in 2010