The Destroyers are coming back to Columbus, and they have a new head coach.
The new Columbus Arena Football League team will have the same name of the franchise that played in Columbus from 2004 until the league folded in 2008, the team announced on Friday.
Guess who's back... pic.twitter.com/fKVtGWTpgp
— Columbus Destroyers (@AFLDestroyers) February 22, 2019
The team also named its head coach: former Utah State quarterback and longtime AFL coach Matthew Sauk.
Sauk started two seasons at Utah State in 1996 and 1997 before joining the AFL beginning in the 2000 season. He played in the arena league for eight seasons before joining the coaching ranks in the 2008 season as a quarterbacks and wide receivers coach for the Spokane Shock.
When the league returned in 2010, Sauk served as an offensive coordinator for two seasons before getting his first head coaching career in with the Portland Thunder in 2014. Sauk spent two more seasons as an offensive coordinator before he took his most recent head coaching job with the IFL's Salt Lake Screaming Eagles in 2017.
When with the Screaming Eagles, Sauk's quarterback was former Ohio State wide receiver Verlon Reed in a league where fans voted to call the plays, as detailed by our own Colin Hass-Hill during his time at The Lantern.
There is no announced roster yet, but games will begin in late March with home games played in Columbus' Nationwide Arena.
