The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) which was based in Tampa, Florida. The Bandits were a charter member of the USFL and was the only franchise to have the same principal owner (John F. Bassett), head coach (Steve Spurrier), and home field (Tampa Stadium) during the league's three seasons of play (1983–1985). The Bandits were one of the most successful teams in the short-lived spring football league both on the field and at the ticket booth. Spurrier's "Bandit Ball" offense led them to three winning seasons and two playoff appearances, and their exciting brand of play combined with innovative local marketing helped the Bandits lead the league in attendance. However, the franchise folded along with the rest of the USFL when the league suspended play after the 1985 season.
Prominent alumni from the Bandits include future NFL Pro Bowlers Nate Newton and Gary Anderson and coach Steve Spurrier, who spent 25 years coaching college football after his successful first stint as a head coach with the Bandits and was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame.
History
Preparing to play
Origins The Tampa Bay Bandits' primary founder was Canadian businessman John F. Bassett, who was still in litigation against the NFL over his previous Memphis Southmen franchise from the World Football League in the mid-1970s. Bassett was initially skeptical about getting into another football venture. However, he soon warmed up to the USFL after discovering that he was nowhere as well off as the other owners. While he had been by far the richest owner in the WFL, he realized that he would be one of the poorest owners in the USFL. Believing that the USFL was on far stronger financial ground than the WFL ever had been, he agreed to sign on. Bassett had a part-time home in the Tampa Bay Area, and when the USFL announced its twelve charter franchises in May 1982, Bassett was introduced as the majority owner of the as-yet unnamed team in Tampa along with Miami attorney Steve Arky.
Establishment in Tampa After it was decided that the franchise would play in Tampa, several minority owners bought stakes, among them Hollywood star Burt Reynolds, a former college football player at Florida State who was one of the most popular motion picture actors in the world. The team was soon dubbed the "Bandits", and although it was widely assumed that the name referenced Reynolds' role in the hit Smokey and the Bandit movies, Bassett said that the mascot had been chosen before Reynolds joined the ownership group and instead came from the name of Bassett's daughter's German Shepherd. Reynolds was prominently involved in the Bandits' early marketing campaigns, and the cover of the team's first media guide featured a photo of the actor wearing a Bandits jacket and trucker hat.
Also building interest was the hiring of Steve Spurrier as head coach and offensive coordinator in November 1982. Spurrier was well known in the area as a Heisman Trophy-winning college star for the University of Florida Gators and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' first starting quarterback, and had most recently spent three seasons as a record-setting offensive coordinator at Duke University before accepting his first head coaching job with the Bandits.The Miami News - Google News Archive Search Though Bassett had also considered several established coaches with NFL experience, he chose Spurrier due to his deep connections to the state of Florida and his reputation as an innovative young offensive coach; Spurrier was 37 when hired, making him the youngest head coach in professional football at the time. At Spurrier's introductory press conference, Bassett joked that he knew that he'd found the right coach when he discovered that the Spurrier family also had a dog named Bandit.
Bandit Ball The Bandits began play in 1983 in Tampa Stadium, and were immediately more successful than the area's NFL franchise, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with whom they shared a home field (though the Bucs played in the fall and early winter while the Bandits played in the spring and early summer). The Bandits narrowly missed the playoffs in their first season and made the postseason the next two years. Spurrier's aggressive offense was usually one of the best in the league; Bandits players are among the USFL career leaders in touchdown passes (John Reaves, 4th), touchdown receptions (Eric Truvillion, 2nd), and rushing touchdowns (Gary Anderson, 3rd). However, an average defense and Bassett's insistence on adhering to the USFL's original financial plan while other franchises spent millions on free agent signings kept the team from serious championship contention.
The Bandits were also successful off the field. They drew the highest average attendance over the three-year history of the USFL, coming in second in attendance in 1983 and leading the league in that category in 1984 and 1985 with over 40,000 fans per game.Lakeland Ledger - Google News Archive Search Also, their memorabilia outsold that of the Buccaneers in the Tampa Bay area. A fan-friendly atmosphere (including a theme song, "Bandit Ball", penned and sung by Reynolds' friend Jerry Reedhttp://www.usfl.info/bandits/trivia.html Tampa Bay Bandits trivia) was one factor. Another was the Bucs' futility during the period; they went 10–38 from 1983 to 1985—the start of a 12-year stretch of 10-loss seasons. Indeed, the Bandits were one of the few USFL teams that could have potentially driven their NFL counterparts out of town. Another key factor in the Bandits' success was the fact that there was no Major League Baseball team in Tampa at the time (the Tampa Bay Devil Rays would not debut for another decade), meaning that unlike other USFL teams, they did not have to compete with a baseball team for spectators. Due to broad local support, the Bandits were one of a very few USFL teams with a stable home and steady finances - they were the only franchise to have the same coach, owner, and home city throughout the league's three-year existence. from Sports Illustrated Due to these factors, the Bandits are considered one of the few USFL teams that had the potential to be a viable venture had the league been better run.Breakfast Bonus - Tom McEwen- from TBO.com Sports The Philadelphia Stars played Tampa Bay at Wembley Stadium in an exhibition game on July 21, 1984.
1984 season In week three of the 1984 season, the Bandits faced their inter-state rivals, the Jacksonville Bulls for the first time. Jacksonville was 1-1, after soundly defeating the Washington Federals and nearly beating the New Jersey Generals. Jacksonville, led by former Jets and Broncos quarterback Matt Robinson, raced out to a 12–0 lead. The Bandits stormed back to take a 25–18 lead. The Bulls came back to tie the game, but the Bandits won when Zenon Andrusyshyn kicked a field goal to give Tampa Bay a 28–25 lead.
When the season was over, quarterback John Reaves was the leading passer on the squad. Running backs Greg Boone and Gary Anderson ran for 1,009 and 1,008 yards respectively. Eric Truvillion lead the receivers with 1,044 yards on 70 catches and nine touchdowns.
1984 schedule and results Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1Bye 2 vs. Washington Federals W 28–9 1–0 Fort Lauderdale, Florida 17,225 3 Oklahoma Outlaws W 15–6 2–0 Tampa Stadium 42,247 4 vs. Philadelphia Stars W 22–17 3–0 Orlando, Florida 1 February 26 Houston Gamblers W 20–17 1–0 Tampa Stadium 42,915 2 at Arizona Wranglers W 20–17 2–0 Sun Devil Stadium 31,264 3 Jacksonville Bulls W 28–25 3–0 Tampa Stadium 51,274 4 March 18 at Denver Gold L 30–36 3–1 Mile High Stadium 19,173 5 Birmingham Stallions L 9–27 3–2 Tampa Stadium 37,899 6 April 1 at Philadelphia Stars L 24–38 3–3 Veterans Stadium 30,270 7 April 7 Oakland Invaders W 24–0 4–3 Tampa Stadium 58,777 8 at New Orleans Breakers W 35–13 5–3 Louisiana Superdome 35,634 9 at Michigan Panthers W 20–7 6–3 Pontiac Silverdome 31,433 10 Washington Federals W 37–19 7–3 Tampa Stadium 42,810 11 at Jacksonville Bulls W 31–13 8–3 Gator Bowl Stadium 71,174 12 Oklahoma Outlaws W 28–21 9–3 Tampa Stadium 45,116 13 May 20 New Orleans Breakers W 31–20 10–3 Tampa Stadium 42,592 14 at Memphis Showboats L 21–31 10–4 Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium 27,422 15 June 3 New Jersey Generals W 30–14 11–4 Tampa Stadium 45,255 16 Memphis Showboats W 42–24 12–4 Tampa Stadium 48,785 17 at Pittsburgh Maulers W 21–9 13–4 Three Rivers Stadium 16,832 18 June 24 at Birmingham Stallions W 17–16 14–4 Legion Field 24,500 DivisionalPlayoff July 1 at Birmingham Stallions L 17–36 0–1 Legion Field 32,000 Exhibition vs. Philadelphia Stars L 21–24 – Wembley StadiumLondon, England 21,000 Sourcesstatscrew.com 1984 Tampa Bay Bandits Game-by-Game Results Retrieved December 31, 2018usflsite.com 1984 USFL Season Retrieved December 31, 2018profootballarchives.com 1984 Tampa Bay Bandits (USFL) Retrieved December 31, 2018
1985 season
1985 schedule and results Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1Bye 2 New Jersey Generals W 21–7 1–0 Tampa Stadium 32,370 3 vs. Baltimore Stars W 28–26 2–0 Charlotte, North Carolina 20,000 1 Orlando Renegades W 35–7 1–0 Tampa Stadium 45,095 2 March 3 Houston Gamblers L 28–50 1–1 Tampa Stadium 42,291 3 March 10 at San Antonio Gunslingers W 31–18 2–1 Alamo Stadium 21,822 4 Arizona Outlaws W 23–13 3–1 Tampa Stadium 41,381 5 March 24 at New Jersey Generals L 24–28 3–2 Giants Stadium 41,079 6 at Memphis Showboats W 28–20 4–2 Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium 23,952 7 Jacksonville Bulls W 31–17 5–2 Tampa Stadium 51,286 8 Denver Gold W 33–17 6–2 Tampa Stadium 54,267 9 April 21 at Birmingham Stallions L 3–30 6–3 Legion Field 28,900 10 April 28 Baltimore Stars W 28–14 7–3 Tampa Stadium 41,226 11 at Los Angeles Express W 24–14 8–3 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum 4,912 12 May 12 at Jacksonville Bulls W 21–10 9–3 Gator Bowl Stadium 58,928 13 Memphis Showboats L 14–38 9–4 Tampa Stadium 44,818 14 May 26 New Jersey Generals L 24–30 9–5 Tampa Stadium 44,539 15 at Orlando Renegades L 7–37 9–6 Florida Citrus Bowl 26,847 16 at Portland Breakers L 24–27 9–7 Civic Stadium 15,521 17 Birmingham Stallions W 17–14 10–7 Tampa Stadium 42,131 18 June 23 at Baltimore Stars L 10–38 10–8 Byrd Stadium 12,647 Quarterfinal June 30 at Oakland Invaders L 27–30 0–1 Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum 19,346 Sourcesstatscrew.com 1985 Tampa Bay Bandits Game-by-Game Results Retrieved December 31, 2018usflsite.com 1985 USFL Season Retrieved December 31, 2018profootballarchives.com 1985 Tampa Bay Bandits (USFL) Retrieved December 30, 2018
The end of the Bandits and of the USFL Bandits' majority owner John Bassett was a strong proponent of the "Dixon Plan", which was an informal agreement among the USFL's founding owners to build a sustainable league through budgetary restraint and a commitment to spring football. However, to gain a competitive advantage and make a splash with fans, some teams almost immediately began to sign high-profile players to large contracts, sometimes entering into bidding wars with NFL teams with much deeper pockets. Because of this and other financial missteps, some USFL franchises lost substantial amounts of money. While Bassett and a few other owners refused to overspend on player contracts and kept their franchises relatively solvent, the league as a whole was increasingly unstable.
In April 1985, the USFL (led by New Jersey Generals owner Donald Trump) voted 12–2 to switch to a fall schedule for 1986, hoping to compete directly with the NFL and possibly force the more established league to accept a merger. Bassett, who had registered one of the two "nay" votes, immediately declared his intention to pull the Bandits out of the USFL and organize a new spring football league."Bassett will pull Bandits out of USFL" - St. Pete Times: April 30, 1985