The Sugar Skulls didn’t have to look far for their next head coach.
Tucson’s Indoor Football League franchise announced the hiring of head coach Rayshaun Kizer, who replaces former head coach and general manager Billy Back. Kizer was Tucson’s defensive coordinator for two seasons under Back.
“I am super excited to be leading the Tucson Sugar Skulls in 2026 as their head coach,” Kizer said in a news release. “The goal is to keep the core group together and build around that. A huge thanks has to go to (co-owner Edmund Marquez) and the rest of the ownership group for giving me the right resources to win on and off the field for next season.
“With a strong ownership group in my corner, I know the Tucson Sugar Skulls will be successful for many years to come. We are ready to compete in a very talented western division and also looking forward to competing for a championship.”
Tucson Arena is set to host the next two IFL championships in 2026 and ’27.
Earlier this month, co-owner Cathy Guy said, “Getting our team to the national championship game in the next two years is a high priority for us.”
The Tucson Sugar Skulls promoted defensive coordinator Rayshaun Kizer to head coach after the franchise parted ways with former head coach and general manager Billy Back.
“We feel we have the resources and community and fan support to get that done,” she added.
Kizer hails from an indoor football-playing background. After a career at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio, Kizer signed with the New York Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2007 and then played two seasons with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League. Following his NFL and CFL career, he played with the Green Bay Blizzard of the Arena Football 2 in 2009 and carved out a nine-year career in the Arena Football League. He also played for the Arizona Rattlers in 2015.
As a coach, Kizer led the Omaha Beef of Champions Indoor Football to an undefeated season and the CIF championship in 2023. Kizer joined the IFL and became an assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Massachusetts Pirates.
In 2021, the Pirates had the top defense in the IFL, allowing 31.7 points per game, and beat the Rattlers for the United Bowl. Kizer was promoted to head coach in 2022 and led the Pirates to an 11-5 record before falling in the first round of the playoffs. Kizer left for Omaha after one season.
Kizer was the Sugar Skulls’ defensive coordinator in 2024 and ’25 under Back, who went 8-24 in two seasons and missed the playoffs both years. The Sugar Skulls haven’t had an IFL postseason appearance since 2023. The 2025 season was punctuated with a 55-18 loss to the Vegas Knight Hawks.
Kizer is the fifth head coach for the Sugar Skulls since the franchise joined the IFL in 2019. Other Sugar Skulls coaches include Marcus Coleman, Dixie Wooten, Hurtis Chinn — who was the offensive coordinator of the Vegas Knight Hawks, which recently won the IFL championship in Tucson — and Back.
The IFL hasn’t released the Sugar Skulls’ 2026 schedule.
