| Founded | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Team history |
|
| Based in | Tucson Arena in Tucson, Arizona |
| Home arena |
|
| Mascot | Bones |
| League | Indoor Football League (2019–present)
|
| Colors | Black, gold, red, white |
| Personnel | |
| Head coach | Rayshaun Kizer[1] |
| Team president | Edmund Marquez |
| Owners | Edmund Marquez Ali Farhang |
| Playoff appearances (3) | |
| |
| Website | tucsonsugarskulls.com |
| Current uniform | |
 | |
The Tucson Sugar Skulls are a professional indoor football team based in Tucson, Arizona, that competes in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Sugar Skulls began play in the 2019 season as an expansion team. The team plays its home games at Tucson Convention Center's Tucson Arena. The franchise is led by owners Edmund Marquez and Ali Farhang.
History
The franchise was announced by the ownership group led by Kevin and Cathy Guy at a press conference held on August 23, 2018, at the Tucson Convention Center.[2] As Kevin Guy was also the head coach of the Arizona Rattlers, Cathy was named the majority owner of the Tucson team to oversee primary operations along with Mike Feder and Ali Farhang.[3] The team announced Marcus Coleman as its first head coach on September 12, 2018.[4] The team name was revealed on September 20, 2018, after a name-the-team contest originating from the local tradition of creating sugar skulls for Día de Muertos (Day of the Dead) and the Roman Catholic holiday of All Souls Day.[5]
The team qualified for the playoffs in their first season with a 7–7 record. They lost to the eventual league champion Sioux Falls Storm 50–47 in the first round. After the season, the Sugar Skulls hired two-time IFL coach of the year Dixie Wooten away from the Iowa Barnstormers as head coach and general manager for the 2020 season.[6] However, the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic before the Sugar Skulls played any games.[7]
In October 2025, the Tucson Sugar Skulls indoor football franchise was acquired by a group of Tucson investors led by community leader-businessman Edmund Marquez, and attorney-sports booster Ali Farhang.
The sale — approved by the Indoor Football League (IFL) — became effective on October 13, 2025. Under the new ownership, Marquez serves as team president and hold a 25% ownership stake.
Farhang, who had been a minority owner and the team’s general counsel since its founding, increased his stake to 20%. Other minority investors — including former majority owners Kevin Guy and Cathy Guy — now each hold smaller minority shares (approximately 5% each).
As part of the reorganization, the team offices were relocated from the Kino Sports Complex to a building at 2719 N. Campbell Avenue owned by Marquez.
Statistics
Season-by-season results
| League champions | Playoff berth | League leader |
| Season | League | Conference | Regular season | Postseason results | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||||
| 2019 | IFL | 6th | 7 | 7 | 0 | Lost first round (Sioux Falls) 47–50 | |
| 2020 | IFL | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||||
| 2021 | IFL | 9th | 6 | 8 | 0 | ||
| 2022 | IFL | Western | 3rd | 9 | 7 | 0 | Lost first round (Northern Arizona) 30-49 |
| 2023 | IFL | Western | 3rd | 9 | 6 | 0 | Lost first round (Bay Area) 46-34 |
| 2024 | IFL | Western | 8th | 2 | 14 | 0 | |
| Totals | 33 | 42 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2019–2024) | |||
| 0 | 3 | 0 | All-time postseason record (2019–2024) | ||||
| 33 | 45 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2019–2024) | ||||
Head coaches
Note: Statistics are correct through the 2022 IFL season.
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | Win% | W | L | |||
| Marcus Coleman | 2019 | 7 | 7 | .500 | 0 | 1 | |
| Dixie Wooten | 2020–2022 | 15 | 15 | .500 | 0 | 1 | |
| Hurtis Chinn | 2023 | 9 | 6 | .600 | 0 | 1 | |
| Billy Back | 2024-2025 | 8 | 24 | .250 | 0 | 0 | |
References
- ^ "Sugar Skulls announce Rayshaun Kizer as Head Coach". Sugar Skulls. September 23, 2025. Retrieved September 29, 2025.
- ^ "Tucson Indoor Football". Facebook.com. August 23, 2018.
- ^ Richard Obert (August 23, 2018). "Tucson joins Indoor Football League with Rattlers coach Kevin Guy and wife as co-owners". azcentral.com.
- ^ "Tucson's Indoor Football League team has its first coach — and he's a reigning champion". Tucson.com. September 12, 2018.
- ^ Ryan Finlay (September 20, 2018). "Sweet: Tucson's new Indoor Football League team picks a name with local significance". tucson.com.
- ^ "Sugar Skulls Hire Championship Coach". OurSports Central. September 18, 2019.
- ^ "IFL Cancels Remaining 2020 Games". IFL. April 13, 2020.
External links
- Official website
