The Bloomington Extreme began as an expansion team in United Indoor Football in 2006 led by head coach Ted Schmitz. They missed the playoffs in their first season, but improved to an 8–7 record in 2007 before losing to the Lexington Horsemen in the Eastern Conference championship. Schmitz was then named an assistant general manager and Kenton Carr was hired as head coach for 2008.[1] The Extreme went 7–7, but were first place in a weak Eastern Conference. They won their first conference title and went on to the United Bowl where they lost to the Sioux Falls Storm.
The UIF merged with the Intense Football League in the 2008 offseason to create new Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2009.
Indoor Football League: 2009–2012
The Extreme were added to the United Conference following the merger. The Extreme signed former Florida State and NFL wide receiver Peter Warrick signed a one-year contract. The team went 10–4 and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Wichita Wild. In the 2010 season, the Extreme started with a 3–5 record and fired head coach Kenton Carr. The team then finished the rest of the season undefeated under former coach Ted Schmitz before losing to Wichita again in the first round of the playoffs. In October 2010, team owner Ed Brady announced that Mike Murray was hired as the team's new head coach for the 2011 Bloomington Extreme season.[2] Murray had been the Extreme offensive coordinator in 2006. The Extreme went 9–5 and lost to the Omaha Beef in the first round of the playoffs.
In November 2011, the team was purchased by Jim Morris, who had been a minority owner of the team.[3] The team agreed with change the name of the franchise to the Bloomington Edge as a tie-in to the Ford Edge.[3] Morris hired Kenton Carr as the head coach for the 2012 Bloomington Edge season.[4] The Edge finished the regular season 10–4, earning the third seed in the United Conference playoffs. The Edge then ended with another first round loss in the playoffs the Green Bay Blizzard, 30–51.[5]
Champions Professional Indoor Football League: 2013–2014
Just 12 days after the conclusion of the 2013 season, Edge owner and team president, David Holt and head coach Kenton Carr mutually agreed to part ways.[8] Holt replaced Carr with John Johnson, who had been the team's offensive coordinator under Carr.[9] Under Johnson for the 2014 Bloomington Edge season, the team went 5–7 and still missed the playoffs.
X-League: 2015
The Edge announced they were joining X-League Indoor Football in October 2014.[10] The Edge were acquired by Omar Khokhar at the end of the 2015 season.[11] The team's season was abruptly ended and the league's X Bowl II championship game advanced to June 6 after the Cape Fear Heroes were suspended by the league.[12]
Champions Indoor Football: 2016–2017
On August 19, 2015, the Edge announced that they were moving to Champions Indoor Football (CIF).[13] The Edge returned to the postseason for the first time in four seasons, going 7–5. The Edge won their first round playoff game against the Sioux City Bandits 65–45, but lost in the North Division Championship 51–52 to the Wichita Force.
On September 9, 2016, it was announced that head coach John Johnson and the Edge had mutually agreed to part ways.[14] On September 13, 2016, the Edge announced that former Extreme linebacker and Spokane Empiredefensive coordinator, Ameer Ismail was named the team's new head coach.[15] Ismail lead the Edge to another 7–5 season, clinching another playoff berth. The Edge lost 30–43 to the Omaha Beef.[16] Twelve days later, Ismail and the Edge agreed to part ways citing "different visions."[17]
League issues and hiatus
On August 23, 2017, Nick Ruud was named the next Edge head coach.[18] On September 12, 2017, the Edge announced that they were moving back to the Indoor Football League.[19]
However, the CIF then attempted to sue the IFL and the Edge for leaving the CIF after the Edge had already signed league affiliation agreements with the CIF for 2018. While the CIF did drop the lawsuit against the IFL due to legal retaliation,[20][21] it filed for an injunction against the Edge from participating in the IFL for breaking the terms of their signed affiliation agreement. A temporary injunction from participation was granted on January 31, 2018, with the court ruling determining that the Edge had been in violation of their CIF league affiliation agreement.[22][23]
On February 6, the Edge announced that it would continue to operate independently of a league for the season.[24] In the same press release, the Edge also announced that John Johnson would return as head coach.[25] However, the court ruling prevented the Edge from playing any games during the spring of 2018 as long as the CIF season length, forcing the Edge to only schedule exhibition games during the summer.[26] After their summer season, Edge owner Omar Khokhar announced the franchise was for sale and could relocate.[27]
In 2019, the Wells Sports Group signed a letter of intent to purchase the Edge franchise. On October 22, 2019, they announced their intentions to join the American Arena League (AAL) for the 2020 season and were still in negotiations with Grossinger Motors Arena for a lease.[28] However, the arena instead agreed to a lease with the semiprofessional indoor football team, Midway Marauders, as the Marauders had been in negotiations with the arena before Wells had initiated any conversations, thereby halting the sale of the franchise.[29]
Logos and uniforms
The Extreme in a game against the Alaska Wild in May 2009.
From the team's inception until 2011, the team was known as the Bloomington Extreme, with the having been derived from a naming rights deal with local auto dealer Extreme Motors. In the 2011–12 offseason, the team was sold to Jim Morris (owner of a local Sonic Drive-In franchise and of the Premier Basketball League's Central Illinois Drive), with a naming rights deal with another auto dealer; this time Heller Ford would acquire said rights, giving the team its new Edge nickname (derived from the Ford Edge automobile).
