Name Ron James Undrafted: 1986 Role Coach | Regular season: 57-52 (.523) Postseason: 1–2 (.333) Position Offensive lineman | |
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Date of birth: (1964-04-28) April 28, 1964 (age 51) Team coached Pittsburgh Power (Head coach, since 2014) | ||
Ron James (born April 28, 1964) is an arena football head coach for the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League (AFL). He played his college football at Siena College. He has been a football coach since 1986. He was head coach of the Las Vegas Gladiators from 2005 to 2006, the Utah Blaze from 2009 to 2013, the Pittsburgh Power in 2014 and the Portland Steel in 2016.
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James grew up in Albany, New York where he played football at Christian Brothers Academy. Ron then enrolled at Siena College, and played offensive line on the Siena Saints football team from 1982-1985.
College career
James accepted a scholarship offer from Siena College where he was an All-American offensive lineman.
Coaching career
After multiple stops coaching in the NCAA and assistant jobs in the Arena Football League (AFL), James was named the head coach of the Las Vegas Gladiators in 2004. After a he compiled a 12–18 record, and the Gladiators announced their move to Cleveland, Ohio, James was let go and joined the Utah Blaze staff. After Danny White resigned in 2008, James was promoted to head coach of the Blaze. After the Blaze folded following the 2013 season, James was left without a job. However, following week one of the 2014 season, the Pittsburgh Power fired head coach Derek Stingley and hired James to replace Stingley.
On January 30, 2016, James was hired as the new head coach and general manager of the new Portland AFL Team (as of February 3, 2016, formerly known as the Portland Thunder) replacing Andy Olson who had previously been hired to replace Mike Hohensee. The team's name was later announced as the Portland Steel. They folded after the 2016 season.
On October 25, 2016, he was named the head coach of the Tampa Bay Storm. He helped the Storm to a 10–4 regular season record and a berth in ArenaBowl XXX, where they lost to the Philadelphia Soul 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.