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Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States. Located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa and west of Orlando, it is the most populous city in Polk County. As of the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal city of the Lakeland–Winter Haven Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is sometimes locally referred to by the nickname "Swan City" due to its sizeable population of swans, all of whom are descendants of two mute swans given to Lakeland by Queen Elizabeth II in 1957.
The RP Funding Center is a multipurpose entertainment complex in Lakeland, Florida, comprising a convention center, arena and theater. Formerly, it was the home of the Lakeland Magic, the Orlando Magic's affiliate in the NBA G League and the Florida Tropics SC of the Major Arena Soccer League.
Quinn Fordham Gray Sr. is an American football coach and former player. He is the head football coach for Albany State University in Albany, Georgia, a position he has held since 2023. Gray played professionally as a quarterback four seasons in the National Football League (NFL) and one season each in the United Football League (UFL) and NFL Europe. He played college football at Florida A&M University.
Todd Matthew Yoder is a former American football tight end. Yoder was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2000. He played college football at Vanderbilt. He has also been a member of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Washington Redskins. He now resides in Clearwater, Florida, coaching high school football at Calvary Christian High School.
The Palm Beach Phantoms were a professional indoor football team that were members of the National Indoor Football League in 2006. A new team with the same name played two replacement games for the Ultimate Indoor Football League in 2012.
Perry Fewell is an American football coach. He currently serves as the senior vice president of officiating administration for the National Football League (NFL)'s officiating department. Previously, he served as the defensive backs coach or defensive coordinator for eight NFL teams between 1998 and 2019. He also served as the interim head coach for the Buffalo Bills in 2009 and for the Carolina Panthers in 2019. Fewell won Super Bowl XLVI as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, a position he held for five seasons.
Antonio C. Gilbert is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the inside linebackers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as an assistant coach at the University of Central Florida, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, John Milledge Academy, Auburn University and the University of Georgia.
Corey Mayfield is a former American football offensive lineman/defensive lineman and coach of the Arena Football League (AFL). Mayfield is currently the defensive coordinator of the Texas Revolution of Champions Indoor Football (CIF). Mayfield played in the National Football League (NFL) and the Arena Football League.
Charles Rene Strong is an American football coach who was most recently the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at the University of Miami. He recently served as the assistant head coach and inside linebackers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) in 2021 and also previously served as a defensive analyst at the University of Alabama in 2020.
Lakeland Senior High School, opened in 1902, is the oldest public high school in Lakeland, Florida, United States. The school was originally located on North Florida Avenue and was destroyed by fire in 1927. It is part of Polk County Public Schools. Lakeland Senior High School was the original high school in the city. It also shares its campus with Lois Cowles Harrison Center for the Visual and Performing Arts. Harrison students attend academic classes at Lakeland Senior High School.
Brian VanGorder is an American football coach and former player. He was the defensive coordinator at Bowling Green State University, a position he assumed in 2019. Prior to that, he was defensive coordinator at the University of Louisville. He served as the head football coach at Wayne State University from 1992 to 1994, and Georgia Southern University in 2006, compiling a career college football record of 19–25. VanGorder was the defensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons of the National Football League (NFL) from 2008 to 2011, and also worked in the same capacity for the University of Georgia (2001–2004) and Auburn University (2012). VanGorder is married to the former Ruth Jones. His children are Molloy, Morgan, Mack, Montgomery, Malone, and Freddie.
Jay Michael Gruden is an American football coach and former quarterback. He previously served as the head coach of the Washington Redskins from 2014 to 2019 and as offensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals and Jacksonville Jaguars. During his time in the Arena Football League (AFL), he won four ArenaBowls as a player and two more as a head coach. Gruden is the younger brother of former NFL head coach Jon Gruden and was an assistant coach of the 2002 Buccaneers team that won Super Bowl XXXVII.
Kolby Kendrall Smith is a former American football running back and coach who is an offensive assistant for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft after he played college football at Louisville. Smith was also a member of the Denver Broncos and Jacksonville Jaguars. After his playing career he began coaching in the college ranks and as 2020 he returned to the NFL as a coach with the Dolphins.
Ernest Pastell Givins Jr., is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 10 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Houston Oilers.
Jerry D. Anderson, also known by his nickname "Red Anderson," is an American former college football player and coach.
Vance Juano Bedford is an American football coach who last served as defensive coordinator at the University of Texas at Austin for head coach Charlie Strong. He is also a former professional player, with one season each as a defensive back in the NFL and USFL.
Nathan Brown is an American football coach and former player. He is head football coach at the University of Central Arkansas, a position he has held since the 2018 season.
The Florida Tarpons were a professional indoor football team based in Lakeland, Florida, out of the RP Funding Center. Originally established in Estero, Florida, and playing out of Germain Arena, they began play in 2012 as an expansion team of the Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL). The Tarpons joined the X-League Indoor Football (X-League) during the 2015 season when the UIFL merged with the X-League. They played in the Arena Pro Football (APF) league in 2017 before the league became the American Arena League (AAL) for 2018. For 2019, there was an ownership transition that formed their own Florida-based league, called the A-League, and the team rebranded as the Lakeland Tarpons. The team was removed from the A-League schedule at the start of the 2019 season.
The Central Florida Jaguars, commonly known as the Jags, were a professional indoor football team based in Lakeland, Florida.
Florida Tropics SC is a professional soccer club based in Lakeland, Florida. They are owned by Central Florida Sports Ventures, LLC, led by Dr. Panos Iakovidis, and former USL commissioner and Rochester Rhinos owner Chris Economides. The organization was originally founded in 2015 as a team in the Major Arena Soccer League before expanding into other leagues.
