Mississippi Hound Dogs

The Mississippi Hound Dogs were a professional indoor football team based in Tupelo, Mississippi. The Hound Dogs played their home games at the BancorpSouth Arena as a member of the Ultimate Indoor Football League's Southern Conference.[1][2]

Mississippi Hound Dogs
Established 2011
Folded 2012
Played in Tupelo, Mississippi
at the BancorpSouth Arena
League/conference affiliations
Ultimate Indoor Football League (2012)
  • Southern Conference (2012)
Current uniform
Team colorsBlue Suede, Sky Blue, Cream      
Personnel
Owner(s)UIFL
Head coachMartino Theus
Team history
  • Mississippi Hound Dogs (2012)
Championships
League championships (0)
Conference championships (0)
Division championships (0)
Home arena(s)

The Hound Dogs name is an homage to Tupelo's best-known native, the "King of Rock 'n Roll" Elvis Presley, in particular his cover version of "Hound Dog", which became that song's best-known version and one of Presley's best-known recordings in general.[3] (They are the second football team to use the name in homage to Presley; the first, the Memphis Hound Dogs, was a proposed NFL expansion team that was not accepted to the league upon its expansion in 1995.)

The Hound Dogs were the third indoor football team to play in Tupelo, after the Tupelo FireAnts of the National Indoor Football League (2001–2004) and the Mississippi MudCats of the American Indoor Football Association (2007).

Franchise history

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On August 16, 2011 the team announced that Martino Theus would be the team's first ever head coach.[4] On March 20, 2012, head coach Martino Theus was fired after an 0-3 start for the Hound Dogs.[5] Former indoor player, Eric Bingham was hired as his replacement.[6] However, when the UIFL stepped in when owner Marty Cooper couldn't afford the team, the UIFL took over the team and named Martino Theus the head coach once again.[7] The Hound Dogs cancelled all remaining home games, but fulfilled all their remaining road games.

On April 24, 2012, the league announced that it had taken over operations of the Mississippi Hound Dogs due to financial difficulty,[8] and modified their schedule to make them a travel-only squad.[9]

There were several changes to the schedule made when the league took over operations of the Hound Dogs. The May 14 game against the Western Pennsylvania Sting was cancelled, and the May 26 game against the Florida Tarpons was originally scheduled to be a home game, but the schedule was changed to play the game in Florida.

Final roster

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2012 Mississippi Hound Dogs roster
Quarterbacks
  • -- Jeremy Dixon
  • -- Michael Leadbetter
  • -- Richard McFadden

Running backs

  • currently vacant

Wide receivers

  • -- Reggie Ellis
  • -- Roderick Jefferson
  • -- Taurean Rhetta
  • -- Jeremy Satchel
  • -- Sperguron
Offensive linemen
  • -- Desmoine Ware

Defensive linemen

  • -- Sterling Williams
Linebackers
  • -- Brandon Bruce
  • 14 Devon Lewis

Defensive backs

  • -- Cordney Sanders
  • -- Corey Sanders]
  • -- Arthur Williams

Kickers

  • -- Tyler Lorenz
Injured Reserve
  • -- Josh Smith WR

Exempt List

  • currently vacant

Practice squad

  • currently vacant
  • rookies in italics
  • Roster updated October 4, 2011
  • 16 Active, 1 Inactive, 0 PS

Head coaches

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Name Term Regular season Playoffs Awards
W L T Win% W L
Martino Theus 2012 0 6 0 .000 0 0
Eric Bingham 2012 1 3 0 .250 0 0

Season-by-season results

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League Champions Conference Champions Division Champions Wild Card Berth League Leader
Season Team League Conference Division Regular season Postseason results
Finish Wins Losses Ties
2012 2012 UIFL Southern 5th 1 9 0
Totals 1 9 0 All-time regular season record (2012)
0 0 - All-time postseason record (2012)
1 9 0 All-time regular season and postseason record (2012)

References

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  1. ^ "Tupelo, MS Announced as 4th Uifl Expansion Team". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. June 13, 2011. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  2. ^ John L. Pitts (June 13, 2011). "Indoor football returning to Tupelo". www.djournal.com. Daily Journal. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  3. ^ Gene Phelps (September 27, 2011). "Ain't nothin' but Hound Dogs". www.djournal.com. Daily Journal. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  4. ^ "Tupelo Gets Its Man". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. August 16, 2015. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  5. ^ John L. Pitts (March 23, 2012). "Hound Dogs' head coach surprised by abrupt firing". www.djournal.com. Tupelo Daily Journal. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  6. ^ John L. Pitts (March 23, 2012). "Hound Dogs back with new coach". www.djournal.com. Tupelo Daily Journal. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  7. ^ John L. Pitts (April 24, 2015). "League steps in; Hound Dogs through in Tupelo". www.djournal.com. Tupelo Daily Journal. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2015.
  8. ^ "League steps in on Mississippi". www.oursportscentral.com. OurSports Central. April 24, 2012. Retrieved April 29, 2012.
  9. ^ Montrose, Dave (28 April 2012). "Tarpons clinch playoff spot with win over Dogs". Fort Myers News-Press. Retrieved 29 April 2012.[permanent dead link]
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