2023 Berlin Thunder season

2023 Berlin Thunder (ELF) season
2023 Berlin Thunder (ELF) season
General manager	Diana Hoge
Head coach	Johnny Schmuck
Home field	Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark
Results
Record	8–4
Conference place	2nd
Playoff finish	Lost in wild-card to Frankfurt Galaxy 3–20
Uniform
	← 2022; Berlin Thunder (ELF); 2024 →;

The 2023 Berlin Thunder season is the third season of the Berlin Thunder team in the European League of Football.

Preseason[edit]

After missing the play-offs in the last game of 2022, the franchise extended the contracts of head coach Johnny Schmuck and defensive coordinator Christopher Kuhfeldt.^[1] The first roster move of the season was resigning team and league defensive player of the 2022 season Kyle Kitchens.^[2] Homegrown talent Max Zimmermann (Canadian football) was the first new signing for the Berlin Thunder.^[3]

Regular season[edit]

Standings[edit]

Eastern Conference v t e
Pos	Team	GP	W	L	CONF	PF	PA	DIFF	STK	Qualification
1	Vienna Vikings	12	12	0	10–0	414	180	+234	W12	Automatic playoffs (#2)
2	Berlin Thunder	12	8	4	7–3	378	188	+190	W2	Advance to playoffs (#5)
3	Panthers Wrocław	12	8	4	7–3	385	221	+164	W2	Advance to playoffs (#6)
4	Fehérvár Enthroners	12	3	9	3–7	218	424	–206	L2
5	Leipzig Kings	12	2	10	2–8	189	387	–198	L9
6	Prague Lions	12	1	11	1–9	155	441	–286	L7

Source: europeanleague.football

Schedule[edit]

Week	Date	Time (CET)	Opponent^[A]	Result	Record	Venue	TV^[B]^[C]	Recap
1	Sat, June 3	17:00	@ Fehérvár Enthroners	W 36–3	1–0	First Field		1
2	Sun, June 11	13:00	Vienna Vikings	L 24–27	1–1	Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark		2
3	Sun, June 18	16:25	Panthers Wrocław	W 36–27	2–1	Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark		3
4	Sun, June 25	16:25	@ Hamburg Sea Devils	L 17–37	2–2	Stadion Hoheluft
5	Sun, July 2	14:30	@ Leipzig Kings	W 39–14	3–2	Bruno-Plache-Stadion
6	Sun, July 9	13:00	Fehérvár Enthroners	W 60–6	4–2	Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark
7	Sun, July 16	13:00	@ Prague Lions	W 43–6	5–2	eFotbal Arena
8	Sat, July 22	18:00	@ Vienna Vikings	L 9–16	5–3	Hohe Warte Stadium
9	July 29/30	bye
10	August 5/6	bye
11	Sun, August 13	16:25	Prag Lions	W 40–7	6–3	Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark
12	Sat, August 19	17:00	@ Panthers Wrocław	L 12–15	6–4	Olympic Stadium Wrocław
13	Sun, August 27	Cancelled	Leipzig Kings	W 39–14	7–4	Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark
14	Sun, September 3	13:00	Hamburg Sea Devils	W 23–16	8–4	Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark

Source: europeanleague.football Archived 2022-05-28 at the Wayback Machine

Roster[edit]

Reference^[4]

**Berlin Thunder (ELF) roster**

	Quarterbacks 13 Donovan Isom Paul Stubbe Running backs 20 Albert Ahmad Khalife 48 Bola Moussa FB 24 Tim Schulz Jeremy Sommerwerk 22 Albert Wiesigstrauch Wide receivers 17 Emil Drossard 4 Aaron Jackson 12 Bais Kouanda 84 Maurice Rothenburg 82 Oliver Schmidt 7 Robin Wilzeck 5 Max Zimmermann Tight ends Yannis Binner 85 Nicolai Schumann		Offensive linemen Malik Ahmad 74 Daniel Binternagel 76 Marcel Camenz 66 Lawrence Cornwall-Baptiste 71 Gideon Grabert 75 Felix Lepper 72 Max Locke 79 Cedric Ouattara 70 Tobias Rodlauer 78 Philipp Weltzien 69 Jannik Werblow Defensive linemen 90 Ben Baierl DT 93 Christer Berg DT 44 Rick Baunacke DT 50 Hamsa El-Zein 1 Emil Hovde 99 Aaron Große Kleimann 45 Kyle Kitchens DE 98 Fabian Tchuda		Linebackers 18 Fery Bogard 41 Giancarlo Boone 53 Niclas Klopsch 55 Marius Markert ILB 11 Ludvig Myrén OLB 6 Simon Sperner 8 Paul Seifert OLB 25 Moritz Teuchert Defensive backs 31 Will Dill 2 Rico Geyer 3 Arne Gehrt S 9 Jonas Gacek 32 Viljo Lempinen 33 Felix Mohlberg S 30 Alex Spillum S 15 Moritz Thiele CB Special teams 26 Jonas Schenderlein K/P				Rookies in italics Roster updated 15 March 2023 52 active

Staff[edit]

**Berlin Thunder (ELF) staff**

	Front office Owner – FBG Football Berlin GmbH CEO – Levon Melikian General Manager – Diana Hoge Director of football – Björn Werner Head of operations – Marcus Döbler Head coach Head coach – Johnny Schmuck Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Henry Schlegel Quarterbacks – Darius Outlaw Running backs – Curtis Cooper Wide receivers/tight ends/fullbacks – Elijah Pope Offensive line – Ron Bauerfeind			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator – Christopher Kuhfeldt Assis. DC and defensive backs – José Schmitt Defensive line – Mario Baierl Linebackers – Simon Bohlmann Special teams coaches Special teams coordinator – Jörg Bauerfeind Assistant coaches Offensive assistant – Kyle Israel Mental coach – Fatima Yazici Strength and conditioning Head athletic coach – Christopher Kuhfeldt Staff updated 24 April 2023

Notes[edit]

^ Intra-Conference games are in bold text
^ All games can also be watched live on ELF Gamepass
^ Viewers in brackets if available

References[edit]

^ "Instagram: Easy choice". 12 September 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
^ Sven Schüer (1 December 2022). "SHELTON, KITCHENS UND CO. - WO HABEN DIE ALL-STARS UNTERSCHRIEBEN?". Touchdown24.de (in German). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
^ "Max Zimmermann - Foot Bowl". footbowl.eu (in German). Retrieved 2 December 2022.
^ "ELF: 2023 Berlin Thunder – A Complete Roster Breakdown". American Football International.

[4] Intra-Conference games are in bold text

[5] All games can also be watched live on ELF Gamepass

[6] Viewers in brackets if available

[1] "Instagram: Easy choice". 12 September 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.

[2] Sven Schüer (1 December 2022). "SHELTON, KITCHENS UND CO. - WO HABEN DIE ALL-STARS UNTERSCHRIEBEN?". Touchdown24.de (in German). Retrieved 2 December 2022.

[3] "Max Zimmermann - Foot Bowl". footbowl.eu (in German). Retrieved 2 December 2022.

[7] "ELF: 2023 Berlin Thunder – A Complete Roster Breakdown". American Football International.

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v t e Berlin Thunder
Founded in 2021 Based in Berlin, Germany
Franchise	Franchise
Stadiums	Amateurstadion Olympiapark Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Sportpark
Head coaches	Jag Bal (2021) Johnny Schmuck (2022–present)
Seasons	2021 2022 2023
Related	Orlando Thunder (1991–1992) NFL Europe team (1999–2007)