Carolina Cobras (NAL)

The Carolina Cobras are a professional indoor football team in the National Arena League (NAL) and that began play for the 2018 season. Based in Greensboro, North Carolina, the Cobras play their home games at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex.[1]

This article is about the team that began play in 2018 in the National Arena League. For the Arena Football League team of the same name that played from 2000 until 2004, see Carolina Cobras.
Not to be confused with the Greensboro Cobras, a team of the Tobacco Road Basketball League.
Carolina Cobras (NAL)
Established 2017
Play in Greensboro, North Carolina
at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex
CarCobras.com
Carolina Cobras (NAL) logo
League/conference affiliations
National Arena League (2018–present)
Team colorsBlack, silver, red, white
                   
Personnel
Owner(s)National Sports Ventures
Head coachJosh Resignalo
Team history
  • Carolina Cobras (2018–present)
Championships
League championships (1)
2018
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Playoff appearances (2)
NAL: 2018, 2019
Home arena(s)

The Cobras is the third indoor/arena team to call Greensboro home, following the Greensboro Prowlers of the af2 (2000–2003) and the Greensboro Revolution of the National Indoor Football League (2006–2007). A previous team called the Carolina Cobras played in the Arena Football League from 2000 until 2004. The AFL Cobras played three seasons in Raleigh and two in Charlotte before folding. The NAL Cobras use a logo similar in style to the defunct AFL Cobras' logo, but otherwise has no direct connection to the AFL franchise.

History

The Cobras were officially announced as members of the National Arena League (NAL) on December 4, 2017.[1] In their introductory announcement, the team named former Cincinnati Commandos, Texas Revolution, Nashville Venom and Wichita Falls Nighthawks head coach Billy Back as their new coach.[2]

The Cobras inaugural season finished with a regular season record of 10–5, taking second place in the league. The Cobras then defeated the Jacksonville Sharks in the playoff semifinal and earned the right to host the 2018 NAL Championship game at home after the first place Massachusetts Pirates lost their semifinal to the Columbus Lions.[3] With the Lions missing several starting players including their quarterback Mason Espinosa and all running backs,[4] the Cobras dominated Columbus in the championship game 66–8.[5]

In their second season, the Cobras again made it to the championship game, where they lost to the Sharks 52–48. Following the season, head coach Billy Back and most of his staff left the team to coach the relaunched Spokane Shock in the Indoor Football League when the NAL was announced to merge with Champions Indoor Football for the 2020 season.[6] The Cobras initially hired Massachusetts Pirates' head coach Anthony Payton after the Pirates withdrew from the league due to the merger.[7] However, the merger fell apart[8] and the team then hired former defensive coordinator Josh Resignalo as head coach in December 2019.[9]

Season-by-season results
League champions Playoff berth League leader
Season League Regular season Postseason results
FinishWinsLossesTies
2018 NAL1st1050Won semifinal (Jacksonville) 73–48
Won NAL Championship (Columbus) 66–8
2019 NAL2nd950Won semifinal (Massachusetts) 30–26
Lost NAL Championship (Jacksonville) 48–52
2020 NALSeason cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
Totals 19100All-time regular season record (2018–2019)
31—All-time postseason record (2018–2019)
22110All-time regular season and postseason record (2018–2019)

Current roster
Carolina Cobras roster
Quarterbacks
  •  1 Charles McCullum

Running backs

  • 76 Deshawn Johnson FB

Wide receivers

  •  4 Jordan Jolly
  • 10 Kyrin Priester
  •  9 Prince Shonola
 Offensive linemen
  • 72 Joe Harris
  • 79 Chad Kolumber
  • 50 Bill Vavau

Defensive linemen

  •  7 Sevon Pittman
  • 93 Micah Robinson
  • 33 Brandon Sutton
  • 77 Walter Thomas
 Linebackers
  • 14 Pasquale Vacchio

Defensive backs

  • 17 Michael Green
  •  3 Cedric Poole
  •  2 Ken Walton

Special teams

  • 47 Nick Belcher K
 Reserve lists
  • Rookies in italics
  • Roster updated January 6, 2020
  • 22 Active, 0 Inactive

→ More rosters

Head coaches

Note: Statistics are correct through the 2019 National Arena League regular season.

Name Term Regular season Playoffs Awards
WLTWin%WL
Billy Back2018–201919100.65531
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References
  1. "NAL Expansion Heads to North Carolina - Expansion Team in Carolina to be named Cobras". NationalArenaLeague.com. December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  2. "Cobras name Billy Back Head Coach - 2016 IFL Coach of the Year set to lead Carolina in 2018". NationalArenaLeague.com. December 4, 2017. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  3. "Cobras Playoff Victory Over Sharks". NationalArenaLeague.com. August 15, 2018.
  4. "Columbus Lions throttled in national championship game". Ledger-Enquirer. August 28, 2018.
  5. "Carolina Cobras win National Arena League football championship". Greensboro.com. August 27, 2018.
  6. "NAL and CIF merge to form new indoor football league". WTVM. September 26, 2019.
  7. "Carolina Cobras Announce Anthony Payton as New Head Coach". GreensboroSports.com. October 2, 2019.
  8. "National Arena League and Champions Indoor Football to Postpone 2020 partnership". NAL. October 10, 2019.
  9. "Cobras Hire Former Defensive Coordinator as New Head Coach". ABC45.com. December 6, 2019.
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