Kansas City Core

2024 Kansas City Core Season
The Kansas City Core are a virtual American football team that plays in the Valiant Football League, and they compete in the league's Atlantic Conference, being a member of the Atlantic Conference Central Division. The Core were formed in 2014 as one of the first twelve teams in the league.
Since their inception before the 2014 UFL season, the Kansas City Core have never won or appeared in the league championship game, nor have they ever won the Atlantic Conference championship. However; the Core have earned the top seed in the Atlantic Conference twice in both 2018 and 2019. The Core have also won the Atlantic Conference Central Division championship twice, also in both 2018 and 2019 with a 5-1 record and a 12-4 record respectively.
The team currently plays their home games at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas. Since 2022, the Core have been coached by Brent Vigen.
== History ==
=== Inception and Early Struggles (2014-2016) ===
During the inaugural UFL quarterback draft, the Kansas City Core would use the final pick in the first round of the draft to select former Texans quarterback Matt Schaub to lead their offense. In the following two rounds of the draft, the Core would select former Seattle Seahawks quarterback Charlie Whitehurst and former Minnesota Vikings quarterback John David Booty. During training camp, David Booty would officially retire from professional football, leaving Schaub and Whitehurst to battle for the starting quarterback role, which Whitehurst would win after impressing head coach Lawrence Maroney during the preseason, forcing Schaub into the backup quarterback role. After an uninspired first season that would see the Core finish the season with an Atlantic Conference-worst 2-4 record, the Core would go into the offseason releasing both Schaub and Whitehurst in favor of signing former Washington Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell. During the 2015 UFL season, Campbell would tear his rotator cuff in a Week 3-1 game against the Chicago Steam, thus forcing backup quarterback Vince Young to take over as the starting quarterback after a 1-2 start to the season under Campbell's leadership. Under Vince Young, the Core would finish the season with a 3-3 record, good enough to earn the second seed in the Atlantic Conference, marking the Kansas City Core's first playoff appearance in franchise history. The Core's season would come to a disappointing conclusion after losing to the Connecticut Stampede in the Divisional Round of the postseason, but head coach Lawrence Maroney would re-sign Young to a one-year extension after releasing former starting quarterback Jason Campbell.
Going into the 2015 UFL offseason, Lawrence Maroney would confirm in a media interview that Vince Young was the temporary solution, as the Core would continue their search for a younger franchise quarterback to build around going forward. This statement would be given leverage after the Core would use their first round draft pick in the 2016 UFL Draft to select then-Alabama starting quarterback Jalen Hurts to sit behind Vince Young for his rookie season going into the 2016 UFL season. Under Vince Young's leadership, the Core would continue their ways of finishing at .500, ending the season with a 3-3 record, but failing to make the postseason via a tie-breaker with both the 3-3 New York Sentinels and the 3-3 Atlanta Bravehearts. Following the season, the Core would release Vince Young, electing to continue into their future with sophomore year quarterback Jalen Hurts leading the offense.
Going into the 2017 UFL season, head coach Lawrence Maroney would be put on the hot seat by Core ownership to prove his worth to the franchise, which Maroney would accept as a challenge going into the 2017 UFL season. The challenge would prove to be one that Maroney would accept with joy as the Core would make a drastic leap on the offensive side of the ball under quarterback Jalen Hurts, ending the season with a 4-2 record in a season with four franchises added into the league through expansion, which would be good enough to earn the third seed in the Atlantic Conference, winning the seed via a tie-breaker over the 4-2 New York Sentinels, but losing out on the second seed in the Atlantic Conference via a tie-breaker with the 4-2 Connecticut Stampede. Though the season would be filled with exceeded expectations, the Core would fall to the aforementioned Connecticut Stampede in the divisional round to end the season in disappointing fashion. However; due to confidence from the coaching staff in his abilities to lead the offense after a successful sophomore outing, quarterback Jalen Hurts was given more control of the Kansas City Core offense going into the 2018 UFL season.
=== Consistent Playoff Contenders (2018-present) ===
The decision to give Jalen Hurts the keys to the offense would prove to be the right one, with the Core finishing the 2018 UFL season with an Atlantic Conference best, and a league-best 5-1 record, earning the top seed in the Atlantic Conference. Despite high expectations from experts that believed the Core would finally advance into the league championship, the Core would be upset in the divisional round by the 2-4 New York Sentinels, ending their season in a familiar disappointment to that of prior years. However; after another successful campaign in his third year at quarterback of the Core, Jalen Hurts would sign a contract extension with the Core for another three years, worth over $16M to remain the starting quarterback of the Kansas City Core. Going into the 2019 UFL Season, the Core began to become discussed as a choke-artist team, constantly playing great football in the regular season, only to disappoint in the postseason and never get past the divisional round. Going into a 2019 UFL season that would see the team go from playing six games a year to sixteen games per year, the Kansas City Core had nothing other than a league championship on their minds.
After being slotted into the Atlantic Conference Central Division alongside the Detroit Stingers, St. Louis Eagles, and Atlanta Bravehearts, the Kansas City Core would begin the season with a 6-1 record, eventually finishing the year with a 12-4 record, good enough to be the best record in the Atlantic Conference, earning the Core the top seed in the Atlantic Conference for the second consecutive year. However; the Core's season would end in disappointment once again after dropping a Divisional Round game to the eventual Atlantic Conference champions and Atlantic Conference Central Division rivals the Atlanta Bravehearts.