The Mississippi Fire Dogs were a professional

indoor American football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American football, American or Canadian football, Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standa ...

team based in

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

. They played their home games at the

Mississippi Coast Coliseum Mississippi Coast Coliseum is an 11,500-seat reserved seating, 15,000 festival seating, multi-purpose arena in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was built in 1977. It hosted the World Championship Wrestling, WCW Beach Blast in 1993 and the Sun Belt Confere ...

. They were a charter member of the

Indoor Professional Football League The Indoor Professional Football League (IPFL) was the new incarnation of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL), which started in 1998. Two of its teams (the Madison Mad Dogs and the Green Bay Bombers) left the league and their owner ...

. They played from in the 1999-2000 IPFL seasons before joining the

National Indoor Football League The National Indoor Football League (NIFL) was a professional indoor football league in the United States. For their first six years, the league had teams in markets not covered by either the Arena Football League or its developmental league, ...

in 2001. Their final season was in 2002.

History

During their first two years, the Fire Dogs went 9-7 and third in the league, yet it was their second season that proved to be a glorious year by winning the IPFL championship title. When the IPFL folded, the Fire Dogs joined the new

as a charter member and won the inaugural Indoor Bowl against the

Wyoming Cavalry The Wyoming Cavalry are an American professional indoor football team based in Gillette, Wyoming. The Cavalry began play in 2000 as an expansion member of the original Indoor Football League as the Casper Cavalry. The Cavalry became a charter ...

. However, they couldn't repeat the same success in 2002. Afterwards, the franchise folded. During the 1999 & 2000 IPFL seasons, the most notable member for the Fire Dogs was head coach/general manager/player(QB) John Fourcade, formerly of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. Since 1975, the team ...

. Fourcade was followed as head coach in 2001 & 2002 by Irvin Favre, the late father of legendary Green Bay Packers quarterback

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former professional American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 cons ...

. Irvin Favre was also a minority owner for the Fire Dogs. In 2024, plans were put in place to bring the Fire Dogs back to the Gulf Coast. Team owner Luke Gray says the Fire Dogs will return to the field in 2026 and the team has a focus on being involved in the community. The new team gives players a chance to play in a developmental league aimed at promoting the higher leagues.

2000 IPFL Season

Week 1 - Mobile Seagulls 33, at Mississippi Fire Dogs 57 Week 2 – Portland Prowlers 42, Mississippi Fire Dogs 41 Week 3 - Idaho Stallions 35, at Mississippi Fire Dogs 22 Week 4 - Mississippi Fire Dogs 23, at Mobile Seagulls 30 Week 5 - Mississippi Fire Dogs 37, at Louisiana Rangers 50 Week 6 - bye Week 7 - Shreveport-Bossier 17 at Mississippi Fire Dogs 57 Week 8 - bye Week 9 - Mississippi Fire Dogs 51, at Idaho Stallions 28 Week 10 - Mississippi Fire Dogs 56, at Louisiana Rangers 44 Week 11 - Mobile Seagulls 40, at Mississippi Fire Dogs 30 Week 12 - Mississippi Fire Dogs 30, at Mobile Seagulls 16 Week 13 - Mississippi Fire Dogs 49, Omaha Beef 46 Week 14 - Louisiana Rangers 34, at Mississippi Fire Dogs 53 Week 15 – Mississippi Fire Dogs 39, Portland Prowlers 36 Week 16 - bye Week 17 - Shreveport-Bossier 34 at Mississippi Fire Dogs 49 Week 18- Mississippi Fire Dogs 37 at Shreveport-Bossier 41 Week 19 - Omaha Beef 44, Mississippi Fire Dogs 38 Semifinals - Mississippi Fire Dogs 43, Omaha Beef 40 IPFL Championship – Mississippi Fire Dogs 53, Portland Prowlers 48

Season-By-Season

, - , colspan="6" align="center" , Mississippi Fire Dogs (IPFL) , - , 1999 , , 9 , , 7 , , 0 , , 3rd League , , -- , - , 2000 , , 9 , , 7 , , 0 , , 2nd League , , Won Semifinals (Omaha)
Won IPFL Championship (Portland) , - , colspan="6" align="center" , Mississippi Fire Dogs (NIFL) , - , 2001 , , 13 , , 1 , , 0 , , 1st Southern Division , , Won Round 1 (Johnstown)
Won Semifinals (Ohio Valley)
Won Indoor Bowl I (Wyoming) , - , 2002 , , 3 , , 9 , , 0 , , 2nd Eastern Division , , -- , - !Totals , , 34 , , 24 , , 0 , colspan="2",

References

External links

2001 NIFL Season Stats
{{Indoor Professional Football League National Indoor Football League seasons Indoor Professional Football League teams Sports in Biloxi, Mississippi American football teams in Mississippi American football teams established in 1999 American football teams disestablished in 2002 1999 establishments in Mississippi 2002 disestablishments in Mississippi