The Nashville Venom were a professional indoor football team, one of eight franchises of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL).[1] Based in Nashville, Tennessee, the Venom were members of the American Conference. The team began play in 2014 as an expansion team. The team played at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, which opened in 1962.
| Nashville Venom | |
|---|---|
| Established 2013 Folded 2015 Played in Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee | |
 | |
| League/conference affiliations | |
Professional Indoor Football League (2014–2015)
| |
Current uniform | |
| Team colors | Green, Silver, Black, White |
| Mascot | Freddie Fangs |
| Cheerleaders | Snake Charmers |
| Personnel | |
| Owner(s) | Jeff Knight Terry Burns |
| General manager | Billy Back |
| Head coach | Billy Back |
| Team history | |
| |
| Championships | |
League championships (1)
| |
Conference championships (1)
| |
| Division championships (0) | |
| Playoff appearances (2) | |
| |
| Home arena(s) | |
| |
The Venom were the second indoor/arena football team to call Nashville home, and the first since the Arena Football League's Nashville Kats (1997–2001 and 2005–07).
After two seasons and the folding of the PIFL, the Venom ceased operations in 2015.
Franchise history
edit2014
editIn November, 2012, it was announced that the Venom would be the eighth and final expansion team of the Professional Indoor Football League for the 2014 season.[2] A few days after being introduced it was announced by Managing Partner Jeff Knight that Billy Back would be the first coach in Venom history.[3] The Venom began their inaugural season on March 29, 2014, in Huntsville, Alabama against the Alabama Hammers. Their first home game was on April 5, against the Harrisburg Stampede.[4] The Venom finished the regular season 10-2, the best record in the league, and won the American Conference regular season title. Their nine All-PIFL selected players were the most of any team.[5] In the American Conference Championship Game, the Venom defeated the Columbus Lions 44-39 to advance to PIFL Cup III.[6] On July 12, 2014, the Venom won their first PIFL Cup Championship, defeating the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks 64-43.[7]
2015
editFollowing the 2015 PIFL season, the league folded and the franchise folded soon afterward.
Players of note
editFinal roster
edit| Nashville Venom roster | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Quarterbacks.
Running backs
Wide receivers
|
Offensive linemen
Defensive linemen
|
Linebackers
Defensive backs
Kickers
|
Reserve lists
| |||
Awards and honors
editThe following is a list of all Venom players who have won league awards:
| Season | Player | Position | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Phillip Barnett | WR | Offensive Player of the Year |
All-League players
editThe following Venom players have been named to All-League Teams:
- WR Phillip Barnett, Jordan Jolly (2)
- OL Chris Thompson, Stanlee Bradley
- DL Wayne Daniels, James Frazier, Walter Thomas
- LB Cobrani Mixion, Douglas Rippy, Will Johnson
- DB Scooter Rogers, Corry Stewart (2), Kenny Veal
- K Christian Reed
- KR Mike Whittaker
Head coaches
edit| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Win% | W | L | |||
| Billy Back | 2014–2015 | 17 | 6 | 0 | .739 | 2 | 1 | PIFL Coach of the Year (2014) |
Coaching staff
edit| Nashville Venom staff | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Front office
Head coach
|
Offensive coaches
Defensive coaches
| |||||
Season-by-season results
edit| League Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | Wild Card Berth | League Leader |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||||||||
| 2014 | 2014 | PIFL | American | 1st | 10 | 2 | 0 | Won American Conference Championship 44–39 vs. Columbus Won PIFL Cup III 64–34 vs. Lehigh Valley | |||
| 2015 | 2015 | PIFL | 3rd | 7 | 4 | 0 | Lost Semi-Finals 35–54 vs. Richmond | ||||
| Totals | 17 | 6 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2014–2015) | |||||||
| 2 | 1 | — | All-time postseason record (2014–2015) | ||||||||
| 19 | 7 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2014–2015) | ||||||||
* Season currently in progress
References
edit- ^ Hester, Matthew. "PIFL Sinks Their Fangs Into Nashville." Archived 2013-11-11 at the Wayback Machine Professional Indoor Football League. November 11, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
- ^ J. R. Lind (November 9, 2013). "Indoor football set to return to Nashville". www.nashvillepost.com. SouthComm Inc. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
- ^ Audra Martin (November 12, 2013). "Indoor football returns to Nashville". www.wkrn.com. WorldNow and WKRN. Retrieved December 30, 2013.
- ^ "2014 Regular Season Schedule." Archived 2014-12-11 at the Wayback Machine Nashville Venom. 2013. Retrieved on November 11, 2013.
- ^ "2014 All-PIFL Teams Announced". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. July 7, 2014. Retrieved July 14, 2014.
- ^ Lauren Moore. "Nashville Venom advance to PIFL title game". www.tennessean.com. The Tennessean. Retrieved July 7, 2014.
- ^ Lauren Moore (July 13, 2014). "Nashville Venom win first indoor football title". www.tennessean.com. The Tennessean. Retrieved July 14, 2014.