The Nashville Venom were a professional indoor football team, one of eight franchises of the

Professional Indoor Football League The Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) was a professional indoor football league that played four seasons from 2012 to 2015. Like the Lone Star Football League, the PIFL was mainly composed of teams formerly part of Southern Indoor Foo ...

(PIFL). Based in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, 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 The Nashville Municipal Auditorium is an indoor sports and concert venue in Nashville, Tennessee. It opened October 7, 1962 with both an arena and exhibition hall. The former exhibition hall has been permanent home to the Musicians Hall of Fame ...

in Nashville, which opened in 1962. The Venom were the second indoor/arena football team to call Nashville home, and the first since the

Arena Football League The Arena Football League (AFL) was a professional arena football league in the United States. It was founded in 1986, but played its first official games in the 1987 season, making it the third longest-running professional football league in ...

Nashville Kats The Nashville Kats were an Arena Football League team, located in Nashville, Tennessee. They were last coached by Pat Sperduto, who coached the team's original incarnation to two ArenaBowl appearances prior to the original franchise's move to A ...

(1997–2001 and 2005–07). After two seasons and the folding of the PIFL, the Venom ceased operations in 2015.

Franchise history

2014

In November, 2012, it was announced that the Venom would be the eighth and final expansion team of the

for the 2014 season. 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. The Venom began their inaugural season on March 29, 2014, in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in ...

against the

Alabama Hammers The Alabama Hammers were a professional indoor football team based in Huntsville, Alabama. The team played in the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL) from 2012 to 2015. The Hammers originally began play as an expansion team in the Souther ...

. Their first home game was on April 5, against the

Harrisburg Stampede The Harrisburg Stampede were a professional indoor football team based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Stampede participated in several different leagues over their history: the American Indoor Football Association in 2009 and 2010, the Southern ...

. 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. In the American Conference Championship Game, the Venom defeated the

Columbus Lions The Columbus Lions are a professional indoor football team based in Columbus, Georgia and are a member of the American Indoor Football Alliance. The were a founding member of the National Arena League (NAL) for the 2017 season. The Lions were ...

44-39 to advance to PIFL Cup III. On July 12, 2014, the Venom won their first PIFL Cup Championship, defeating the

Lehigh Valley Steelhawks The Lehigh Valley Steelhawks were a professional indoor football team based in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The Steelhawks began play as an expansion team in the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2011. The Steelhawks moved to the Professional Indoor ...

64-43.

2015

Following the 2015 PIFL season, the league folded and the franchise folded soon afterward.

Players of note

Final roster

Awards and honors

The following is a list of all Venom players who have won league awards:

All-League players

The following Venom players have been named to All-League Teams: * WR

Phillip Barnett Phillip Barnett (born June 3, 1990) is an American football wide receiver who is currently a free agent. He previously played for the Washington Valor of the Arena Football League (AFL) and played college football at the University of Toledo. ...

, 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

Franchise history

2014

2015

Players of note

Final roster

Awards and honors

All-League players

Head coaches

Coaching staff

Season-by-season results

References

External links