The Connecticut Coyotes were an

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

franchise based in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since t ...

. The Coyotes played in the Eastern Division of the National Conference in 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 ...

History

On June 22, 1994, the

awarded the state of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

an expansion franchise, and chose the name "Coyotes" in October of the same year. After a tough first season, in which the Coyotes finished 1-11, team president Robert B. Dixon announced that the team would be up for sale. On October 26, 1995, Connecticut Development Authority sold the Coyotes to Ben Morris and Scott Gerard for $750,000. Morris wasted no time hiring

Lary Kuharich Joseph Lawrence "Lary" Kuharich Jr. (December 20, 1945 – November 13, 2016) was an American football coach who was most recently the offensive coordinator of the Arena Football League's Columbus Destroyers. He was the son of former Notre Dame F ...

to become the second coach in Coyotes history. However, a horrendous record of only 3 wins in 26 games over 2 seasons led to a disbandment of the team following the 1996 season, after Morris failed to sell the franchise to the

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylv ...

. The city of Hartford would receive another team in 1999 when the

New York CityHawks The Toronto Phantoms were a professional arena football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The team was a member of the Eastern Division of the National Conference of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team also previously operated in New York C ...

became the New England Sea Wolves. However, this team's tenure in the city would also be short-lived, as the team moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

following the 2000 season.

Season-by-season

, - , 1995 , , 1 , , 11 , , 0 , , 3rd NC Eastern , , -- , - , 1996 , , 2 , , 12 , , 0 , , 3rd NC Eastern , , -- , - !Totals , , 3 , , 23 , , 0 , colspan="2", (including playoffs)

Notable players

All-Arena players

The following Coyotes players were named to All-Arena Teams: * FB/LB Les Barley (1)

Notable coaches

Head coaches

''Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the

1996 Arena Football League season The 1996 Arena Football League season was the tenth season of the Arena Football League. It was succeeded by 1997. The league champions were the Tampa Bay Storm, who defeated the Iowa Barnstormers in ArenaBowl X. The AFL finally stabilized its sch ...

.''

References

External links

Connecticut Coyotes at ArenaFan.com
{{Defunct Arena Football League franchises American football teams established in 1995 Sports clubs disestablished in 1996 American football teams in Connecticut 1995 establishments in Connecticut 1996 disestablishments in Connecticut