The Kent Predators of the professional Indoor Football League are looking for a new owner after a deal to sell the team to the Michael Tuckman-led West Coast Sports collapsed just two months before the start of the 2011 season.
The Predators also need a new coach. Heron O’Neal has resigned as coach just a month after a Nov. 18 press conference at the ShoWare Center that announced him as the new coach and Tuckman as team president.
Ken Moninski, the current owner of the Predators, confirmed in a phone interview Dec. 27 that the deal to sell the team to West Coast Sports, headed by Tuckman, fell apart.
“Our purchase agreement did not come to fruition,” Moninski said. “We are looking at other options but I can’t say what those are until I discuss them with the league.”
Moninski plans to have an announcement next week about the future of the team. The Predators are scheduled to open the season Feb. 25 at the ShoWare Center.
“We’re hoping to have a statement or news on all of this at the beginning of next week,” he said.
Moninski, of West Seattle, owns Tukwila-based Global Aircraft Services, a company that provides flight crews and logistics for the managed movement of commercial aircraft around the world. He declined to discuss why the deal to sell the Predators to West Coast Sports failed.
“My intent is to see the team play in 2011,” Moninski said.
What are the odds of the Predators playing in Kent next season?
“I’d like to think good at this point,” Moninski said. “There are other options in front of us. There are potential parties interested in seeing the team play in 2011.”
Moninski confirmed that O’Neal resigned as coach. Kent had hired O’Neal, the former Billings Outlaws coach, after the Billings team folded in early October. O’Neal coached the Outlaws to the 2009 and 2010 IFL titles.
West Coast Sports, under the leadership of Tuckman, recruited O’Neal to coach in Kent.
“I was not involved in that,” Moninski said.
O’Neal told the Billings Gazette from his home in Billings that he quit the Predators because Tuckman, who hired him, had left the team. He also told the paper he had not been paid for the three months he was on the job.
“I guess we’ll have to if we are going to play in 2011,” Moninski said about finding a new coach. “We’ll have to figure out who will coach.”
Kent has signed a lot of players for the 2011 season, although players are not paid until they play. They receive $225 per game. O’Neal signed several former Billings players to play for Kent. He told the Billings paper he doubted those players would stay with the Predators.
Tuckman tried to pump up the Predators and O’Neal at a Nov. 18 press conference. Tuckman described himself as the team president and said he planned to buy the team. He said the 300 current season ticket holders made buying the team worth the investment.
Tuckman could not be reached for comment Dec. 27.
The Predators finished the 2010 season with a 5-9 record. They were fourth out of five teams in the Pacific North Division and failed to make the 16-team playoffs in the 24-team league.
The Predators drew an average of about 2,000 fans per game at the city-owned ShoWare Center. They played seven home games from March through June at the 6,000-seat arena. They are scheduled to play seven home games in 2011 as well.
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