Iowa Football Coach Fired After Historically Awful Season

After a historically awful season, the worst in the franchise's 30-year history, the Iowa Barnstormers have fired their head coach after four seasons with the team.

The Barnstormers announced via press release that they've fired head coach Dave Mogensen, who had been the team's skipper since 2022. The Barnstormers went 1-15 in the Indoor Football League (IFL) this season, the worst in the entire league.

Here's some context: most people probably know/remember the Iowa Barnstormers as an Arena Football League (AFL) team. Yes, the Arena Football League is "back," despite a turbulent 2024 campaign that led to them rebranding again as Arena Football One. However, since 2015, the Iowa Barnstormers have been a part of the Indoor Football League.

Despite reaching great heights from 2017 - 2019, including a "United Bowl" championship in 2019, the Barnstormers have struggled to find consistent success. The 2025 season under Mogensen was their third losing season in a row. At 1-15 this year, the Barnstormers successfully had their worst season in franchise history.

Under Mogensen, the Barnstormers had two of their worst seasons, having gone 3-13 in 2023. Prior to that, the Barnstormers never had fewer than four wins in a season. Mogensen's tenure with the team culminated in an overall record of 18-46, his most successful season being his first with the team, which ended with a 9-7 record and a first-round playoff loss.

A quick glance at the season overview shows that the Barnstormers were somewhat competitive week-to-week, losing close games to Tulsa twice in a month (62-57, 56-51, respectively). Their lone win came during a Week 4 game against Fishers Freight. They went on to lose 12 in a row after that, including a mollywhopping by Vegas in late June (82-46) before ending the year with an 81-40 loss against Fishers.

The Iowa Barnstormers President Joe Lamberti thanked Mogensen via a press release from the team:

We want to thank Coach Mogensen for his commitment to the Barnstormers over the past four years. After internal discussions, we have agreed that a coaching change is in the best interest of the team. This was a difficult decision, but we believe it is time for a new direction - Iowa Barnstormers President Joe Lamberti, per the Iowa Barnstormers' website

Read more about Joe Mogensen's time with the Iowa Barnstormers coming to an end on the team's official website.