Meet the New Coach of the Columbus Destroyers
Joe Couch
Friday March 1, 2019
Last Friday was a monumental day for the Columbus AFL team. They held a press conference to announce that their team nickname would, in fact, be the Destroyers. The memories from the previous years would carry over with the organization. Also, they announced that their team colors would change to black, silver, and white. However, the biggest announcement of the afternoon came when the Columbus Destroyers introduced their new head coach of their team, Coach Matt Sauk.
Matt Sauk is an AFL wizard, especially on the offensive side of the ball. Coach Sauk played football in high school for Detroit Catholic Central High School and Woodbridge High School. His talents of playing quarterback were good enough to get him into Orange Coast College and allow him to continue to play the game that he loved. As a collegiate quarterback, Sauk put up huge numbers at Orange Coast College, earning him a scholarship at Utah State University. Wearing that Utah State Aggies uniform, Sauk started two years, getting honored as a 2nd team All-Big West Conference in 1997. Also, that same year, the Aggies earned a trip to a postseason bowl called the Humanitarian Bowl.
Coach Sauk wanted to continue his career in the Arena Football League. He signed with the Nashville Kats in 2000. The breakout year of his professional career came in 2001 with the Tennessee Valley Vipers. The Vipers were part of the af2 league and Sauk went to the organization and stuffed the stat sheets. Sauk played so well that he earned the honors of af2 Rookie of the Year. Sauk continued his career in Arena Football until 2008. He played for many organizations during that time period that includes the Los Angeles Avengers, again with the Tennessee Valley Vipers, the Louisville Fire (earning the honors of being named af2 Offensive Player of the Year), the Philadelphia Soul, the Grand Rapids Rampage, and the Arizona Rattlers. A huge achievement in the career of Matt Sauk came in 2009, where he became an af2 Hall of Fame inductee after an eight-year playing career that saw him throw for over 17,000 yards and 345 touchdowns.
In 2008, the Spokane Shock hired Sauk as a quarterback and wide receivers’ coach. Sauk then became the Shock’s offensive coordinator in 2010. One of the biggest accomplishments of Sauk’s coaching career occurred that year, as he led the Shock and their offensive unit to an ArenaBowl title. The Utah Blaze hired Sauk as an offensive coordinator in 2011, earning the Net10 Assistant Coach of the Year and helping their quarterback, Tommy Grady, win the MVP award.
Sauk got a chance to become an AFL coach in 2014 with the Portland Thunder. He earned a playoff berth. The following year, the LA Kiss hired Sauk to be their offensive coordinator. The Orlando Predators hired him the next year to also be their offensive coordinator. The Salt Lake Screaming Eagles, of the IFL League, saw how great of a mastermind Coach Sauk was and hired him in 2017 to become their head coach.
Now, the Columbus Destroyers are very fortunate to have the intelligence of Matt Sauk on their side. Not many people can produce the offensive results in the AFL as coach Sauk has produced over the years. Free agency starts March 4th and training camp begins April 5th. When Coach Sauk gets his offensive players on the team, this offense can start learning and developing under the mind of Matt Sauk. Destroyers fans should be very excited this upcoming year, as the offense should be one of the best units in the league.
