Matt Shaner couldn’t keep his eyes off a small television screen while eating dinner at Damon’s Grille in State College, Pennsylvania. It was 2008 and former Philadelphia Soul owner Jon Bon Jovi was being interviewed during an AFL telecast.

“He was talking about expanding the League. That caught my interest,” Shaner said.

Shaner was intrigued. He had spent the past year campaigning for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Shaner, who was the CEO of Shaner Investments L.P. and former Vice President of Development of the Shaner Hotel Group, needed a change.

Immediately, Shaner contacted David Baker, the AFL’s Commissioner at the time. He was able to setup a meeting with Baker and the two met at a steakhouse near the AFL Headquarters, formerly situated in New York. It wasn’t the first time Pittsburgh had an AFL franchise. The Pittsburgh Gladiators were one of the AFL’s four original teams in 1987 but moved to Tampa Bay to become the Storm in 1991.

Contemplating awarding Pittsburgh a franchise, Baker invited Shaner to a Board of Directors meeting in New Orleans just before ArenaBowl XXII to present a plan to build the would-be franchise.

Eager for the franchise, Shaner began preparing for the presentation.

“I had the money backing,” Shaner said. “I was putting in a lot of money and my family was supporting me. I wanted the credibility though and needed a big name onboard.”

Because of his involvement with Penn State University and Pennsylvania politics, Shaner had mutual connections with Pittsburgh Steelers great Lynn Swann. Shaner tracked down his number and gave him a call.

“He told me about his idea of wanting an AFL franchise in Pittsburgh,” Swann said. “He wanted to know if I had an interest in being a part owner in the team that he was putting together. I was able to offer Matt something with me living in Pittsburgh and my relationships in Pittsburgh. That’s what he was looking for. He thought that we would make a good team.”

Swann was interested. With Swann onboard, Shaner was able to lure other community leaders to the impending franchise.

“It was still a matter of getting the franchise,” Swann said.

And after making his presentation to the Board of Directors, Shaner was awarded an expansion team in Pittsburgh.

“The deal was done, the group was in and we started from there,” Swann said. “We had a relatively short period of time to put the team together. We had to get a coach and start building the organization. “

The process, however, was abruptly put on hold. Following the 2008 season, play was suspended. The League took a year off and was restructured under the leadership of Jerry B. Kurz.

“After the League took a year off in 2009, Brett Bouchy called me in the spring of 2010 and asked if I still wanted to bring back a team in Pittsburgh,” Shaner recalled. “I called Lynn and he told me that he was still interested. The others I spoke to were on board too. We decided to move forward.”

And the League’s restructure may have helped the Power.

“At the end of the day, it made some of this possible in terms of the single entity and the model that was put into place by Commissioner Kurz,” Swann said.

As the process renewed, Shaner eyed the brand new, state-of-the-art Consol Engery Center as the home of the Power. Because of the League’s hiatus, construction on the new arena was almost complete. With that, he needed to negotiate with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

“I wanted to have a long-term contract with the Penguins. I didn’t want to have a one-year deal. I wanted it to be long-term. That was crucial,” Shaner said.

One day before the franchise was publicly announced during ArenaBowl XXIII in Spokane, Washington in 2010, Shaner closed a six-year deal with the Penguins and Consol Energy Center.

“We had a brand new arena. Now, we had to get a coach and start building the organization,” Swann said.

The franchise contacted Chris Siegfried, a veteran AFL Offensive Coordinator and former af2 Head Coach. After numerous interviews, Siegfried was hired as the Power’s Head Coach.

“We believe that Western Pennsylvania is rich in football talent,” Swann said. “We were able to find and hire a very good football coach in Siegfried. He understood the talents in the League.”

Because of his experience in the AFL and af2, Siegfried had developed close relationships with a number of players.

“Recruiting in the first year was mainly through my past relationships. I wanted to bring in guys that I knew or had been in contact with in the past. The second part was entrenching myself in Western Pennsylvania. I wanted to tap into those local guys,” Siegfried said.

Soon, recruiting turned into a sales job for Siegfried.

“I’m used to the grind of selling. You have to go after players that are hungry and committed. Our philosophy in Pittsburgh is a great draw to players. It’s a city that is renowned for football, at every single level. That part of it is an easy sell,” Siegfried said. “You can’t just give them a contract and say, ‘come play with us.’ You have to tell them why the AFL is an elite league. You are recruiting against other AFL teams and have to sell them on coming to Pittsburgh as opposed to Cleveland or Philadelphia. You have to sell them on what’s so great about your organization and city.”

Siegfried sold players on the Consol Energy Center and soon, his “sales job” got easier.

The Power secured a state-of-the-art practice facility, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sportsplex in Pittsburgh’s Southside, the headquarters of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Behind the scenes, Shaner continued to grind. He hired President Peter Hill, Chief Operating Officer Michael Gorham, Head of Management and Operations Justin Gold and Calvin Jackson in ticketing.

The group secured top-notch player housing, meals and a number of team partners.

“There is a reason why players want to play for certain organizations and stay in different cities for a long period of time. They like it there. Ownership likes them, it’s a good setup and it’s a good city. Everything is related,” Siegfried said.

Because the AFL is a quarterback-driven League, Siegfreid’s goal was to find a quarterback to lead the team. Keying in on local products, he heavily recruited a versatile, sophomore quarterback in Bernard Morris. Morris was a three-year starter at Marshall University, just a four-hour trek from Pittsburgh. Morris became the only player in school history to pass for 5,000-yards and rush for 1,000-yards.  

“I knew we could get Bernard Morris to start our franchise out the right way,” Siegfried said.

Siegfried built a solid squad around Morris.

“It helps when you have a NFL Hall of Famer on board,” Siegfried said. “I think we have the ultimate trump card with Mr. Swann compared to anybody else in the League.”

As the 2011 season quickly approached, the Power still had a lot of work to do.

“We had a lot of moving parts,” Swann said.

The team needed to get their name out, sell tickets and market the organization.

“We were dead set on not having a game in a brand new arena that was empty,” Shaner said. “I have been very involved in politics for a long period of time. I called in some of my political people and asked if they wanted to switch over to the sports world too. They were pretty excited about that.”

Shaner brought in his advertising team, the BrabenderCox group, a nationally recognized Republican political consulting firm.

“We knew we had to spend the money. Money is on everything but getting the name out is important,” Shaner said.

Swann also worked his contacts.

“I think the positive and upbeat relationships we had in the city of Pittsburgh gave people a certain comfort that we were committing to Pittsburgh. We weren’t an organization that was going to establish a team and then move it somewhere or just looking to make money and exit in some kind of quick investment scheme. I think we gave it that credibility for people to embrace in our first year,” he said.

And those relationships seemed to work. When the Power opened up the 2011 season against the Philadelphia Soul on NFL Network on March 11, 2011, the Power drew nearly 14,000 fans.

“I’ve never milked a cow in my life but I know about a milking stool. You need three legs to make it sturdy. One is the football market. Is it going to support our team? The other is the building and the community that goes with it. The third, and as important as any other, is the ownership group. They have to be committed and involved in the community,” AFL Commissioner Jerry B. Kurz said.

The Power would go 7-4 in their first 11 games. The team, however, suffered from injuries, most notably at the quarterback position.

“Unfortunately for us, we had five different starting quarterbacks over the course of the season,” Siegfried said.

The team would finish 9-9, just missing a playoff birth.

Because of the team’s success both on and off the field, the franchise was awarded the Commissioner’s Award by AFL Commissioner Jerry B. Kurz.

“When they put their team together, they took their time in deciding when the right time to launch was. They made the community a part of everything they did. It wasn’t just the ownership group, their management team were community minded people. They didn’t just do football; they did community activities. I felt that needed to be recognized,” Kurz said.

Swann, however, didn’t view the team’s first season as a success.

“I view it as a process,” Swann said. “We’re trying to win a Championship. We want to put together a first class organization that is competitive. Every year, we want to look at winning the Championship. We want to do that in a manner that is consistent with being able to establish a foundation that allows us to do that.”

And the Power has plans for the future.

“People in Pittsburgh expect their athletes to perform on the field. We can advertise through the roof, which we will,” Shaner said. “But most of all, it will come down to performance on the field. And that’s what Pittsburgh expects.”

During the 2012 offseason, Pittsburgh parted ways with Bernard Morris, replacing him with Kyle Rowley. Rowley, who led the Spokane Shock to an ArenaBowl XXIII victory in 2010, played under Siegfried with the Shock and Arkansas Twisters while in the af2.

The Power also picked up the AFL’s reigning Ironman of the Year in PJ Berry. With the New Orleans VooDoo last season, Berry led the League in all-purpose yards with 3,708.

“All that we have done is upgrade and make this team better,” Shaner said.

The team also retained standout wide receiver Michael Washington and Lonnell Dewalt.