Carolina Cobras (NAL)
American indoor football team
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 First Horizon Coliseum at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex.[1]
at the First Horizon Coliseum
Mark Francis
Darren S. Hunter
Theron Davis
Paul C. Marquardt Sr.
| Carolina Cobras (NAL) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Current season | |||
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| General information | |||
| Founded | 2017 | ||
| Headquartered | Greensboro, North Carolina at the First Horizon Coliseum | ||
| Colors | Black, silver, white | ||
| CarolinaCobras.com | |||
| Personnel | |||
| Owners | John Kane (Majority) Mark Francis Darren S. Hunter Theron Davis Paul C. Marquardt Sr. | ||
| Head coach | TBA | ||
| Team history | |||
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| Home fields | |||
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| League / conference affiliations | |||
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| Championships | |||
League championships: 1
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| Playoff appearances (5) | |||
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]
On September 22, 2022, head coach and general manager Josh Resignalo stepped down to "explore other opportunities". The next day, on September 13, the Cobras announced that their offensive coordinator and arena football veteran James Fuller would be tapped as only the team's third head coach in franchise history.[10]
On September 5, 2023 a decision to not retain Coach Fuller was made. He proceeded to take a position with the San Antonio Gunslingers of the IFL. The Cobras moved forward with hiring long time assistant and 2023 National Arena League Assistant Coach of the Year, Brandon Negron. In his first season, Negron led the Cobras to a 6-4 record (5-1 at home) but the team failed to make the playoffs losing two straight to close out the 2024 season. A decision to retain Negron was made for the upcoming season amidst ownership changes, league expansion and commitment by the team to remain in Greensboro for another season. The Omaha Beef poached Negron from the Cobras one month into the 2025 season.[11] On April 24, 2025, the Cobras announced that head coach Mike Bonner resigned effective immediately. The next day, the Cobras announced the cancellation of the remainder of their season, citing "unforeseen circumstances."[12] On May 21, 2025, the team ownership announced that they had begun discussions with a private equity firm.[13]
Season-by-season results
| League champions | Playoff berth | League leader |
| Season | League | Regular season | Postseason results | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | |||||
| 2018 | NAL | 1st | 10 | 5 | Won Semifinal (Jacksonville) 73–48 Won NAL Championship (Columbus) 66–8 | ||
| 2019 | NAL | 2nd | 9 | 5 | Won Semifinal (Massachusetts) 30–26 Lost NAL Championship (Jacksonville) 48–52 | ||
| 2020 | NAL | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic | |||||
| 2021 | NAL | 4th | 3 | 5 | Lost Semifinal (Albany) 41–55 | ||
| 2022 | NAL | 2nd | 9 | 5 | Won Semifinal (Columbus) 65–51 Lost NAL Championship (Albany) 20–47 | ||
| 2023 | NAL | 2nd | 10 | 4 | Won Semifinal (San Antonio) 52–36 Lost NAL Championship (Jacksonville) 45–54 | ||
| 2024 | NAL | 3rd | 6 | 4 | |||
| 2025 | NAL | DNF | 2 | 4 | Team announced dormancy with six weeks left remaining in the regular season | ||
| Totals | 49 | 32 | All-time regular season record | ||||
| 5 | 4 | All-time postseason record | |||||
| 54 | 36 | All-time regular season and postseason record | |||||
Head coaches
Note: Statistics are correct through the 2024 National Arena League season.
| Name | Tenure | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | Win% | W | L | |||
| Billy Back | 2018–2019 | 19 | 10 | .655 | 3 | 1 | |
| Josh Resignalo | 2021–2022 | 12 | 10 | .545 | 1 | 2 | |
| James Fuller | 2023 | 10 | 4 | .714 | 1 | 1 | NAL Coach of the Year (2023) |
| Brandon Negron | 2024 | 6 | 4 | .600 | 0 | 0 | NAL Coach of the Year (2024) |
| Mike Bonner | 2025 | 2 | 4 | .333 | 0 | 0 | |