The Washington Wolfpack: Building a Legacy Through Turbulence, Tenacity, and Transformation

Two years ago, the Arena Football League relaunched with renewed ambition, hoping to restore the excitement that once defined indoor football. The 2024 season, however, unfolded under difficult circumstances. A mix of long-standing franchises navigated operational challenges, ownership shifts, and the natural turbulence of a league still finding its footing. Even as teams rose and fell around them, one organization in Everett refused to be shaken from its course. 

Origins of the Wolfpack

One of those teams, founded in 2023, reached an agreement with the Angel Of The Winds Arena. They were originally named Everett Arena Football Club LLC, under an ownership group led by Mike Thomas. Thomas was the owner of the semi-pro Everett Royals, an outdoor football team that was part of the West Coast Pacific Minor League. 

JR Wells, a former player for the Everett Hawks and offensive coordinator for the Royals, was announced as the team’s first head coach. A poll was released to select the team’s name in mid-October of 2023, with options including the Night Howlers, the Wolfpack, Cascades, and the Werewolves. 

On October 26, 2023, the Wolfpack was born. At the event to announce the team, co-owner Mike Thomas said the Wolfpack won out by a single vote over the Werewolves. He was quoted by HeraldNet, an Everett, Washington news source, stating, “I’m very excited that they picked Wolfpack. With us being the Washington Wolfpack, it means a lot to me because of how wolves travel in a pack. We’re going to attack it as a family, as a unit, as unified.”

During the event, the team colors, blue, teal, and purple, were announced, and the logo was revealed. The AFL’s creative team designed the wolf’s head. However, the team added the evergreen trees inside the wolf’s ears as an homage to the team’s Pacific Northwest location. 

The release party also included the signing of their first player, former University of Montana cornerback J.R. Nelson. The night, however, was taken over by the energy of their announced head coach, JR Wells. 

“The Washington Wolfpack, we are live!” he yelled, followed by his extended wolf howl. The beginning of a Wolfpack legacy was taking shape, and JR Wells was the man to lead the charge. 

2024 Recap

Sometimes, in smaller leagues that are gaining their footing, Survival became its own form of success.  That’s exactly what the Wolfpack did.

The 2024 AFL Season was then scheduled to begin in April of 2024. While the league was overshadowed by problems and controversies, everybody did their best to survive. There were cancelled games, abrupt departures, and the closing of franchises that were trying their best to get going. After Week 3, however, Jeff Fisher was named interim commissioner, and things began to turn around. 

Sure, only half of the teams survived the season. However, it wasn’t all doom and gloom in Everett. Their season didn’t go as they had planned, but they survived. Not only did they survive, but they started to piece together a foundation. 

The season also delivered a landmark moment in Arena League history. In their game against the West Texas Desert Hawks, history was made by the Washington Wolfpack. This game marked history for the Arena Football League as kicker Melissa Strother completed her first extra point in the season, making her the first female player to score a point in the league.  

The Wolfpack would lose their debut game 40-47 on the road to the Oregon Blackbears. However, as I learned when interviewing Coach Wells in this article, they looked at all losses as lessons. Every setback became a lesson, and each lesson pushed the franchise another step forward.

“You have to stay humble, and we’ve been humbled for sure. We’ve taken a bunch of losses, which we don’t call losses. It’s more lessons. Don’t worry, we’re going to come back, and we’re going to come back stronger,” Coach Wells said of the team. 

Like all lessons, there is always something to look at that’s positive. Over the next few home games, something started to happen. Maybe it was the kids showing up with their hair painted teal. Maybe it was the way the players stuck around afterward to sign anything the crowd wanted. The team started to become a fixture. A fixture that turned into a habit and then, slowly, part of Everett’s weekends. All of a sudden, the record didn’t matter. Not then. They were simply becoming “The Wolfpack”. 

The season had some great moments, including a June 22nd game against the Southwest Kansas Storm. With time ticking down, the Storm were driving on the Wolfpack. On the 12 yard line, they ran a 4th and third play with just 10 seconds left. The Woflpack defense held strong. 

The season seemed lost. They had only won one game at this point. However, they never ruled themselves out of any game. They took over on downs with just 10 seconds and the whole field to go. They refused to yield. The offense took the field, and quarterback DeAndre Burrell took the snap. He evaded pressure, unleashed a bomb, and nailed Jordan Pouncy for a 49-yard touchdown pass with four seconds left to tie the game. Melissa Strother kicked the extra point to give the Wolfpack a lead of 47-46 with just four seconds left. It was a back-and-forth game that was a prime example of the Wolfpack’s resiliency. The good news is, you can re-live that game. Watch it on YouTube here!

While the 2024 season started with sixteen teams, it ended with just eight. However, Washington was one of those eight teams left standing. The eight teams would move on to form the Arena Football One league under the guidance of commissioner Jeff Fisher, who was setting everything on the right track. 

2025 Recap

There were more growing pains in 2025 for both the Wolfpack and the league. It was a fresh start for the league and its teams, although that fresh start came with its own challenges. AF1, much like its franchises, was learning to find its stride. For the Wolfpack, the year became a test of resilience and adaptability. 

The Wolfpack were still there, though, and Coach Wells continued to figure out the foundation of the team and was curating the philosophy. There were some new opponents, new rules wrinkles, and new problems. Make no mistake, the season didn’t unfold gently for the Wolfpack. A 2-7 start can take the shine off of anything. 

Though this is where Wells did some of his best work. Beyond the X’s and O’s, he demonstrated unwavering steadiness. He was up coaching the players and building the foundation on which his team would stand. He benched some players, brought in new faces, and shuffled lineups like puzzle pieces. The team kept fighting. We’ve all seen it in football, no matter how big the league. Once the losses, or lessons rather, start piling up, caring becomes a decision. A choice. This team and this coach still cared. It was very evident. 

Adam Kruse, Joseph Hess, Ed Crouch, Rodney Raines, Dominique Shoffner, Kobe Martin, and Kobe Gatson. If you missed it last year, you may be wondering if those are standout players from the 2025 season. Those are the names of quarterbacks who played for the Washington Wolfpack. In a game that’s built on timing, chemistry, and game-planning, Coach Wells had his hands full looking for an answer at quarterback. 

Yet still, they beat their West Coast rival, the Oregon Lightning, twice in the season. And, most importantly, the doors stayed open, and the Wolfpack crowd filed in to join the community that was being built. 

Even more importantly, Coach Wells learned more about what he wanted the foundation of his team to look like and what he would build on that foundation. 

Most importantly, as we once again saw teams struggle to survive, the Wolfpack did just that. They survived. They finished the season.

“You see some programs that have been around that are no longer here,” Coach JR Wells said. “We’re still here. We started to build a foundation, and we’re locked in with what our foundation looks like, what our culture looks like, and most importantly, what our standard is here. 

Despite the constant turnover at the quarterback position, you could see Coach Wells' offense taking shape. The ideas and philosophies he was putting on the field each week. In fact, one of his 2025 receivers, Deshon Williams, was ninth in receiving yards with 444. Not an easy feat with seven different quarterbacks. 

It wasn’t just on offense either. Defensive linemen Chei Hill led the league in sacks with 13. You may look at the record and say it didn’t matter. However, those who have been on a team that took more losses, or lessons as they call them, than wins know just how hard it is to keep going every week. It takes a leader as a coach to keep everyone motivated and the motors turning to put up the effort that leads to leading the league in sacks. 

A Look Ahead

While the pieces kept moving, Coach Wells kept everybody motivated. He’s not done motivating either. He’s making major changes and shaking everything up at almost every spot on the roster. 

“There aren’t a lot of the same players returning,” he said. “One thing I’ve learned through my coaching career is that you have to get the wrong guys off the bus and the right guys on. It goes back to the foundation, the standard, the culture.” 

Coach Wells has certainly been working feverishly to make new contacts with scouts, agents, and other coaches, and to bring guys in that fit their culture. He’s brought in tall and fast receivers like Moe Strong and shifty guys like Justin Olibrice. Bruising fullbacks like Bernard McCall, who I have a feeling will do much more than just be a fullback. Coach Wells explained his vision of this team, which will be hard to cover because of all the weapons. You’ll see them score a lot of points. 

It’s not just on offense either. After bringing in a former teammate and a respected defensive coordinator in Coach Myles, he’s bringing in some nice pieces on defense, too. That includes linebacker Justice Wallin, who squats 705 pounds and is a hard-nosed, old-school linebacker who can knock your head right off of your shoulders. 

The offensive line has been tweaked as well. While Tairiq Stewart’s departure to the CFL just a week ago left a hole, they have re-signed talented linemen like Jake Olphinat and brought in Shamari Williams, who has experience playing in the arena for the Iowa Barnstormers. 

Of course, Coach Wells has looked at the quarterback position in depth, too. Part of the change has been bringing in Vincent Espinoza. Espinoza has experience in the 50-yard game. He’s played for teams like the Billings Outlaws and Salina Liberty while they were part of the CIF. He was in the IFL with the Tulsa Oilers in 2023, where he threw for 23 touchdowns in six games. He’s been with the Oregon Blackbears and Tucson Sugar Skulls as well as the Columbus Lions and Fisher Freight. 

In a fast-paced arena game, the quarterback's arm is important, but so are his feet. Espinoza is a true dual-threat quarterback who will help guide this offense under Coach Wells' tutelage. They’ll also have Giovanni Sanders at quarterback, who has experience in the 50-yard game as well. 

The Wolfpack that takes the field this year will look dramatically different from the team fans saw in 2024 and in 2025. However, the foundation, the philosophy, culture, and standard all remain firmly in place. Wells has been deliberate and strategic, assembling a roster that reflects his exact vision for what Woflpack football should be. 

For the first time, the Wolfpack are positioned not merely to endure a season, but to thrive in one. Their growth is no longer measured by survival but by potential. When the season begins, the shift will be immediately evident. The Wolfpack will be faster, stronger, more cohesive, and unmistakably built with purpose.