St. Louis Eagles

2024 St. Louis Eagles Season
The St. Louis Eagles are a virtual American football team that plays in the Valiant Football League, as a part of the Atlantic Conference, where they are a member of the Atlantic Conference Central Division. The team was formerly known as the Chicago Steam from the inception of the league in 2014 until the original Chicago Steam ended operations in the city in 2017 to relocate to St. Louis, Missouri. After the relocation of the team, the Steam re-branded into the Eagles and became the first team to play in the state of Missouri, (as the Kansas City Core play home games in Kansas City, Kansas, United States.)
Since their inception in the 2014 UFL season, the St. Louis Eagles have never won a league championship or a conference championship, and since being included in the Atlantic Conference Central Division, have never won a divisional championship. Despite having a 2-4 record during the 2018 UFL season, the St. Louis Eagles made the postseason for the first time since the 2014 UFL season as the Chicago Steam.
The team was coached by former Indianapolis Colts player Reggie White from 2014 until 2019, earning a 15-31 record over his six-season tenure as the inaugural coach of team. After a poor campaign during the 2019 UFL Season, the Eagles would fire head coach Reggie White and hire former CSU-Pueblo head coach Hunter Hughes to serve as the team's head coach.
The team currently plays their home games at the Dome at America's Center. The team previously played at Soldier Field from their inception in 2014 until 2017 after they relocated from Chicago.
== History ==
=== Chicago Steam era (2014-2017) ===
Before the 2014 UFL Season, the Chicago Steam drafted former Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kevin Kolb to lead their offense going into the 2014 UFL season. This draft choice would prove to be a good one, as the Chicago Steam would finish the season with a 3-3 record, earning the third and final playoff spot in the Atlantic Conference via a tie-breaker with the 3-3 Baltimore Capitals. However; the Steam would be eliminated in the divisional round of the postseason by the second-seeded New York Sentinels, ending their season in disappointment.
During the 2014 UFL offseason, quarterback Kevin Kolb would retire before going into the 2015 UFL season, forcing the Steam to give control of the offense to former Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback David Garrard, which would prove to be a costly decision as Garrard would fall to a hamstring injury in the fourth week of the season, with the team standing at a 2-2 record. The final two games of the season would see the Steam offense being lead by former Cleveland Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden, which would find the team splitting the final two games to end the season at 3-3, losing out on a postseason berth via tie-breaker to the 3-3 Kansas City Core and the 3-3 Connecticut Stampede, ending their season once more.
Before the 2016 UFL Season, the Steam would find themselves at the center of relocation controversy as the St. Louis Rams relocating to Los Angeles, bring up conversation of the Steam moving south to Missouri to play as the St. Louis Steam. However; the relocation controversy would be concluded with the UFL allowing the team to relocate to Missouri, with the 2016 UFL season being the final season the future-Eagles would play in Chicago. The final season of the Steam in Chicago would end in a 2-4 record after the team's offense was lead by former Baltimore Ravens quarterback Kyle Boller, missing the postseason as the second-worst team in the UFL during the team's final season. Despite much of the media portraying the relocation as a slap in the face to the city of Chicago, many fans attended the final game of the season to thank the Steam for playing in Chicago, which would prove to be a promising moment for the city as the support for the Steam lead to the league promising that the city of Chicago would get a team placed back in the city in the future of the league.
=== Relocation to St. Louis and Shane Buechele era (2017-2018) ===
During the inaugural season for the St. Louis Eagles, the team would be lead by first-year quarterback Shane Buechele, who would play well despite the team finishing the season with a 2-4 record on the year, which would be the fourth-worst record in the league. The team was also incorporated into the newly-formed Atlantic Conference Central Division alongside the Kansas City Core, Atlanta Bravehearts, and Detroit Stingers the following year.
In the 2018 UFL Season, Shane Buechele would seriously digress in his role as the starting quarterback of the team, leading the St. Louis Eagles to another 2-4 record, finishing in third place in the Atlantic Conference Central Division. Despite finishing with a poor record, the St. Louis Eagles would earn the fifth and final seed in the Atlantic Conference, making the postseason for the first time since the 2014 season, being eliminated in the wildcard round to the New York Sentinels in a poor outing. This season outcome would prove to be the final straw for the management team in St. Louis, who would release Shane Buechele following the season in favor of bringing in former Cincinnati Lynx quarterback and future UFL Hall of Fame quarterback Skyler Howard to lead the offense.
=== Skyler Howard era and Rebuilding (2018-present) ===
Going into the 2019 UFL Season, hope was riding high for member of the team's fanbase with the addition of Skyler Howard, only for the hopes to be dashed when Howard would have an awful first five weeks of the season. After the sixth game of the expanded 2019 UFL season, general manager Elite Carlsson would trade for Los Angeles Bolts halfback Mark August despite a poor outing over his first year and a half in the UFL. The team would finish the season with a league-worst 3-13 record, putting the future of the team in jeopardy. The team would then proceed to fire head coach Reggie White, offensive coordinator Jacob Austin and general manager Elite Carlsson. This would prove to be the starting point of a rebuilding process, which would find the team hiring Hunter Hughes as the team's second head coach, as well as Matt Storm to serve as the team's offensive coordinator and Dan Blume to serve as the team's general manager, bringing the future of the team into better lights.