Angel City Swans

2024 Angel City Swans Season
The Angel City Swans are a virtual American football team that plays in the Valiant Football League, and play in the Pacific Conference as a member of the Pacific Conference Coastal Division. The team was founded in 2014 as the Los Angeles Bolts.
From 2014 until 2020, the Swans were coached by former NFL wide receiver Eric Decker before he was fired following the 2020 Season. The Swans would then hired former Atlanta Bravehearts Offensive Coordinator Elliot Henderson to become the new head coach ahead of the 2021 season, only to fire him after a 3-16 record. Following that, the Swans would hire Houston Baptist coach Vic Shealy to serve as the franchise's third head coach.
The Swans have won one league championship and one Pacific Conference championship, both in 2015. Since 2018, the Angel City Swans have been members of the Pacific Conference Coastal Division, and have won the division twice, in 2022 and 2024. The team has made the postseason six times, with those postseason berths taking place in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022, and 2024.
The team currently plays their home games at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
== History ==
=== Inception and first League Championship (2014-2015) ===
Before the start of the UFL's inaugural season, the Swans hired NFL Tight End Eric Decker to coach the Angel City Swans, and Decker's first move with control of the Swans roster would be to sign quarterback Jason Eason to lead the offense going forward into the first week of play in the UFL. Despite a promising start to the season, with Jason Eason leading the Swans to a 2-2 record, the Swans would drop the final two games of the season to miss the postseason with a 2-4 record, falling to the second-worst record in the league. Despite the disappointing conclusion to the season, the Swans would re-sign Jason Eason to an extension throughout 2019 to remain the starting quarterback of the Angel City Swans.
The re-signing of Eason would prove to be the right decision and pay off for the team immensely, as the Swans would finish the 2015 campaign with a league-best 5-1 record, earning the top seed in the Pacific Conference going into the first playoff berth in franchise history. Following a victory in the Pacific Conference Championship Game, the Angel City Swans would meet the Atlantic Conference champion New York Sentinels in the league championship game, where Jason Eason would throw for over 400 yards on route to a victory to give the Angel City Swans their first league championship in franchise history. After a successful showing during the 2015 UFL Season, the Angel City Swans would re-sign head coach Eric Decker to a new deal throughout 2018 to remain as the head coach for the franchise.
=== Post-League Championship and Struggles (2016-2018) ===
Following their league championship victory during the 2015 UFL Season, the Angel City Swans would reload during the 2015 UFL offseason before beginning their follow-up campaign. Despite being favored to repeat as the league champions, Jason Eason and the Angel City Swans would finish the season with a 4-2 record, only good enough for the third and final seed in the Pacific Conference postseason picture. Despite a strong showing during the Pacific Conference Wildcard Round, the Angel City Swans would fall to the second-seeded and eventual league champion Vegas Demons in the Wildcard Round, ending their season. However; the Angel City Swans would remain favored to return to the postseason and contend for the league championship going into the 2017 UFL Season.
With hope that the 2017 UFL Season would see the Swans return to league championship glory, the team would stagger out of the gate, eventually finishing the season with a 1-5 record, tied for the league-worst alongside the 1-5 expansion franchise Detroit Stingers and the 1-5 expansion franchise Vancouver Outlaws, missing the playoffs for the first time since their inaugural season. Following the disappointing 2017 campaign, Jason Eason would still be signed to an extension to remain the starting quarterback of the Swans going into the 2018 UFL Season.
With hopes of rebounding back into playoff contention in the 2018 UFL Season on hand, the Angel City Swans would receive the first pick in the 2018 UFL Draft, and they would use that pick to draft former Holy Cross and UCAA multi-time champion halfback Mark August, who was expected to be a generational-talent in the UFL at the halfback position for the Angel City Swans. Despite high hopes during the 2018 campaign, the Angel City Swans would finish the season with a 2-4 record, earning the fifth and final playoff spot in the Pacific Conference postseason picture, with rookie halfback Mark August struggling to adjust to Eric Decker's offense and the UFL style of play. Despite being favored to lose to the 2-4 Seattle Avengers in the Pacific Conference Wildcard Round, the Swans would pull off an upset to advance to the Pacific Conference Divisional Round, where they would be eliminated from the postseason by the top-seeded and eventual league champion Tampa Silverstars.
=== Final Years of the Jason Eason era and Trading Mark August (2018-2019) ===
Following a disappointing campaign during 2018, the Swans would continue to show faith in starting quarterback Jason Eason, allowing him to remain the starting quarterback during the team's 2019 UFL Season. After a slow start out of the gate, the Swans would bench Jason Eason in favor of then-AAF quarterback Mike Bercovici to run the offense, which would allow them to improve going towards the end of the season, which would see the Swans finish with a 9-7 record to earn the fifth and final spot in the Pacific Conference postseason picture. However; former first-round draft pick Mark August would not be involved in the Swans' playoff push, as he would be traded to the St. Louis Eagles following Week 8 of the 2019 UFL Season, ending his lackluster year-and-a-half tenure with the Swans. Despite a promising start in the Pacific Conference Wildcard Round, the Swans would fall to the eventual league champion Arizona Copperheads to end their season in disappointment.
Following the 2019 UFL Season, the Swans would confirm that they would be sticking with Mike Bercovici going into the 2020 UFL Season, allowing Jason Eason to leave the team during the 2019 UFL Free Agency period, eventually signing to become the starting quarterback of the Vegas Demons. Despite the promise to roll with Mike Bercovici for the 2020 UFL Season, the Angel City Swans would use their second round pick in the 2020 UFL Draft to select quarterback Evan Orth, bringing him in as Mike Bercovici's backup quarterback as he learned the playbook, though also adding pressure onto Bercovici to deliver as the quarterback of the team in order to keep from being benched in favor of Orth later in the 2020 UFL Season.