MUSKEGON – The West Michigan Ironmen have won many more games than they have lost over the past decade.

That’s why it seems so strange for the Ironmen to be kicking off the 2025 season on the heels of a disappointing defeat.

But it happened last June, when the Ironmen hosted the Michigan Avengerz in the Great Lakes Arena Football championship game and lost 32-12.

When you ask Terry Mitchell, the team’s second-year head coach, if that loss is providing major motivation for the new season, he says “yes and no.”

Of course the players returning from last season would love to get a win on Friday night in their season opener and put the memory behind them, but there is also a big group of talented newcomers who did not experience the agony of that defeat, and are only thinking about the future.

And that group, which comprises about half of the 25-man roster, is pretty special, according to Mitchell.

“We loaded up,” the coach said.  “We went out and recruited some really good players.”

Friday will be a very special night for the Ironmen, as they kick off their 10th season, and mark their return to American Indoor Football, the same league they belonged to in their first season back in 2016.

The opponent will be the Coralville Chaos, an Iowa-based squad that includes several former Ironmen players, including the very talented receiver John Ross.

For the first quarter or two, the Ironmen roster may not be much more familiar to the home fans than the Coralville roster.

For years, the Ironmen have depended on a very solid nucleus of returning veterans who came back to Muskegon, season after season, to carry on the team’s success.

But 10 years have gone by, time has taken its toll, and now more new guys are arriving to play crucial roles.

That doesn’t mean there won’t be some familiar facies in the starting lineup, including star quarterback Alex Carder, who has been with the Ironmen since their first season, except for one year.

Carder was injured early in last year’s championship game, which kept the offense from doing much of anything, but he’s fully healthy and ready to roll for another season, Mitchell said.

“He looks good,” the coach said. “We got him some new weapons to throw to, and he’s completely healthy now. He’s been around since day one, and he knows his stuff. He knows the ins and outs and what it takes to win a championship. When you love football, it’s hard to walk away from it, particularly when you still have a lot in the tank.”

Some other key players are back as well, including defensive lineman Ryan Armstrong, defensive backs Hakeem Stokes and Bo Shanks, running back DaVeon Taylor, offensive lineman Anthony Younger, and several more.

But the new guys are expected to bring attention to themselves very fast, because they have the potential to be so good, according to Mitchell.

“I would say maybe half are new, and we’re very excited about them,” the coach said. “I use the resources I have – relationships with a lot of college coaches – and I contact players to see if they are interested in playing here. Our other coaches do the same thing, and we got some really good guys to come to camp this year. We really enjoyed it. It was so competitive. There were some guys we didn’t want to cut, but at the same time it’s a numbers game, and now we’re ready to put on a show for the fans in Muskegon.”

The list of new guys includes defensive linemen Hunter Charneski, a former Grand Valley State University standout; defensive lineman Ian Hall, who played at Ferris State University; defensive lineman Tony Curry, a Ravenna grad who also played at Ferris State; defensive lineman Jadis Heyward (6-foot-4, 305), from Benedict College; defensive back Ahmad Butler from Franklin College; and linebacker Jalon Simpson from the University of Arkansas.

On the offensive side of the ball, the new Ironmen include wide receivers Toni Sok (no school listed), Tyler Hunt from Michigan State, and Jeremiah Dault, a Muskegon High School grad. Ammarco Fields, out of Ferris State, will bring his 6-foot-5, 320 pound frame to the offensive line.

Former Ironmen head coach and general manager Nate Smith has seen a lot of the rookies in practice, and raves about several of them.

He says Charneski is “going to be a superstar,” Hall is “incredibly technical,” Hunt will have a “huge upside in the indoor game” and Dault “can make you miss in a phone booth” – and that’s just a few of the newcomers.

Overall Smith thinks the rookies are the best new group the Ironmen have had in quite a long time.

“This new group of Ironmen has the potential to be very special,” said Smith, who remains in a consulting role with the team. “They have an incredible amount of experience playing at a high level. As they learn the indoor game, I believe they will be a problem for teams that we play. It’s going to be an exciting year to watch them play.”