Five Things We Learned During the 2025 Arena Football Season

August 5, 2025 - Arena Football One (AF1) News Release

As we look back on the first year of Arena Football One, there were a great many lessons learned on and off the field. Players and Coaches balled out all season long, and we learned quite a bit about the great game of Arena Football. Here are the top five things that we learned after the dust settled on the 2025 Arena Football Season.

Special Teams Makes a Difference

All season long, we saw it. Making extra points, deuces, and field goals mattered. As an oft-neglected and underappreciated part of football, kickers thrive in Arena Football. The four playoff teams were teams that figured out their kicking situation and were able to put points on the board in the kicking game.

However, it does not just stop at the ability to convert kicks. Having a kicker who is a consistent threat to put the ball off the nets creates opportunities for chaos and allows teams the opportunity to swing games in your favor, just ask the Nashville Kats. Heading into the third quarter of their Week 9 showdown, they trailed the Firebirds 30-28. By the end of the third, it was 58-45 on the strength of turnovers and bar balls.

Bar balls create chaos. Rebound nets do too. These chances to put points on the board and swing momentum in your favor are critical to success. Without a kicker like Henry Nell, teams are leaving opportunities for points and momentum swings on the table. We saw many, many, games where a well-placed kickoff resulting in a scramble in the endzone swung the momentum towards the kicking team. Every coach in Arena Football emphasizes the ability to steal possessions, and the kicking game is one way teams can stall out an opponent and pile on the points.

But, special teams goes beyond just kicking. The return game also has the ability to level a game, and playing the ball cleanly off the net swung more than a few games. In fact, the Arena Crown hung on the ability of Albany to cleanly field the last kickoff. We saw electric returners like Josiah King, Maurice Ashley, and Marquel Wade give their teams sparks when needed. And all three were able to carry their return success over offensively. Getting the ball in playmakers' hands matters, and using them to spark a stagnating offense can swing a game.

Macs Matter

Building out a defense for Arena Football is challenging. In a game that is designed to spark high-scoring outputs and slant the game offensively, game-changing defenses are hard to come by. The biggest way for a defense to impact and slow down offenses during the 2025 season was a pass rush that consistently applied pressure. Disrupting quarterbacks' timing and putting them on the run was a surefire way for defenses to put offenses on their heels.

We also learned that Mac linebackers are the engine that can take a defense into top gear. Whether it was the rotational approach Albany used that saw edge rushers and Macs work interchangeably, or the more dedicated Mac rushers like in Washington and Salina, a strong Mac linebacker created havoc all season long.

Albany's approach of rotating various rushers from the Mac position created mismatches and unleashed havoc on offenses. In particular, there were times when Ezekiel Rose would bring pressure from the Mac position, and teams would have to change their whole game plan to deal with a big, physical rusher from the Mac. Either go big and put a sniffer in to deal with his physicality, or go quick and sacrifice passing yardage to keep the flexibility of keeping a running back in the game.

Coach Damon Ware is adamant that "In an offensive game, it is imperative to be able to get to the quarterback for sacks or pressures. We want versatile Defensive Linemen that can move around the box so we can be very diverse in the types of defense we can run. This ensures we get the stops we need to be competitive."

Several teams went a more traditional route of having a dedicated Mac, and that did give them some great results and helped generate a strong pass rush. Rushers like Chase Alisauckas and Chei Hill both were forces for their defenses, and both generated reliable pressure that helped their teams in close games. The poster child for the dedicated Mac was Salina's Kerry Starks. Starks was a relentless pass rusher who disrupted games and created havoc in the backfield. All season long, the Liberty defense kept them in games and generated turnovers and stops, and Starks' havoc in backfields was central to that.

The Run Game Matters

When you think of Arena Football, it brings to mind high-flying passing games and over-the-wall catches. While the aerial attack gets much of the highlights, the run game still makes an impact and can be the difference between an offense stalling or successfully continuing and finishing drives. In the last five yards, where things get congested and the linebackers are more impactful in coverage, the running game becomes a great equalizer. Whether it is the fullback/running back, the high motion man crashing through the A-gap, or the quarterback getting out to space, the ability to run the ball creates space for offenses and puts points on the board.

But a strong run game is not limited to the red zone and can open up an offense on the full field. In the open field, a dynamic rushing quarterback is often the biggest difference maker for an offense. Jalen Morton's ability to break off big runs and create plays when his receivers are covered was critical for the Southwest Kansas Storm's success this season. His deadly precision with the read option added another wrinkle to a potent Storm offense and kept defenses on their heels.

Across the Sunflower State, the Salina Liberty established the run game early and ran often. They used the high motion man and horizontal movement to create mismatches and use speed to set the edge and create space. Both Kansas teams set clear blueprints for Arena Football teams moving forward to unlock offenses and put pressure on defenses using the ground game.

Quarterbacks are King

In a game designed to spark offense, the leader of each team's offensive unit is of paramount importance. All season long, elite quarterbacks elevated their squads and led their teams to victory. Sam Castronova, Tyler Kulka, and Jalen Morton provided difference-making performances week in and week out for their squads, and there was a reason their teams made it to the playoffs. Through the air, all three carved up defenses and put on aerial displays that will be remembered for years.

Kulka and Castronova, in particular, put on clinically and ruthlessly efficient displays all season. Castronova threw three interceptions all season long, and Kulka threw two. Both put on perfect performances in the playoffs on their way to a collision course in the Arena Crown. With clinical precision, both moved their teams up and down the field and put points on the board whenever needed. Their Arena Crown duel was one for the ages, with Kulka in particular putting on a display for the ages. Throwing for 347 yards, 7 touchdowns, and completing 76.6% of his passes was one that the history books will talk about for generations.

Several teams found young quarterbacks who are beginning to establish themselves as candidates for the next generation of Arena Football stars. We've talked at length about Jalen Morton, but also arriving this season was Dalton Cole. Cole was prolific at times for the Oregon Lightning and showed flashes of being able to take the team to the next level. With young guns like Cole and Morton appearing poised to take the next steps in their careers, the future of Arena Football appears to be in steady hands, and we are all excited to watch them unleash their talents in 2026.

Defense Wins Championships

Arena Football is most often thought of in correlation with points and high-scoring offenses. But the 2025 Arena Football season reinforced the old adage that defense wins championships. The two best defenses on a points against per game ended up in the Arena Crown.

When we drill down into the nitty-gritty, the Arena Crown hinged on defensive plays. Two in particular stand out as being critical to Albany securing their championship. First is the pick two on Nashville's failed two-point conversion attempt. With a chance to swing the momentum and close the gap, Tyler Kulka's two-point conversion pass was picked off and taken to the house for a four-point swing. Shortly after that, Nashville was driving and was poised to put more points on the board when Prince Umanmielen came tearing into the backfield and put a massive hit on Kulka to stall the drive and halt the Kats' momentum, and stall a threatening drive as the first half expired.

All season long, we saw defensive plays swing momentum and make a difference in games. Every coach talked about the importance of getting stops and using defenses to swing games. Whether it is a fourth-down stop or a turnover, the defense forcing the offense off the field without points creates opportunities for teams to win games. Offense may be the name of the game, but Defense still wins championships.

Arena Football One Stories from August 5, 2025

The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.