The Canton Cougars were a professional indoor football team based in

Canton, Ohio Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...

. The team began play in 2011 as a charter member of the

Ultimate Indoor Football League The Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) was a regional professional indoor football league that began its inaugural season on February 18, 2011 as the Ultimate Indoor Football League before playing as the United Indoor Football League in 2012 ...

(UIFL) for its inaugural 2011 season. The Cougars played their home games at the

Canton Memorial Civic Center The Canton Memorial Civic Center is a multi-purpose arena located in Canton, Ohio, United States. Built in 1951, previous sports teams that have played at the center include the Canton Legends indoor football team, Canton Invaders indoor socc ...

. The Cougars were Canton's second indoor football team; their first since the

American Indoor Football Association American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

's Canton Legends, which played from 2005 until 2008 (winning the AIFL championship in 2006).

History

2011

The Cougars were formed by the head of the

, Andrew Haines. Haines made the hire of Rashan Hall to become the Cougars first ever head coach. The Cougars played their first ever game on February 20, 2011 against the

Huntington Hammer The Huntington Hammer were a professional indoor football team that began play as a charter member of the Ultimate Indoor Football League (UIFL) for its inaugural 2011 season. The Hammer were based in Huntington, West Virginia, with home games ...

, a game in which the Cougars lost 41-26. With the team getting off to a rough 0-3 start, Haines issued a guarantee to the people of Canton, saying that the revamped Cougars roster would defeat the

Saginaw Sting The Saginaw Sting was a professional Indoor Football team based in Saginaw, Michigan. The team was most recently a member of American Indoor Football (AIF). They began play in 2008 as an expansion team in the Continental Indoor Football League ...

during their week 4 meeting. The Cougars didn't make their owner a liar, defeating the Sting 53-52. Their victory over the Sting proved to be the lone bright spot for the Cougars, who would lose 9 straight before firing their Hall, and replacing him with Paul Farrah. Farrah would lose the game, with less than a week to prepare. The Cougars finished with a 1-13 record, and finished last in the UIFL.

2012

On June 16, 2011, it was announced that Michael Taylor and Andrew Hines had sold their controlling state in the Cougars to Tim Clark. Clark was the former owner of the Johnstown Generals, but the commute was becoming a hassle. Once he gained ownership, he made several personnel changes including, naming Paul Farrah as its new head coach. Farrah was recently hired as the director of football operations. He also hired Canton South High School

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Mo Daniska as the new defensive coordinator, while Louisville High School

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator (DC) is a coach responsible for a gridiron football team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, offensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's coaching structure, wit ...

Troy Davis will serve as the director of community relations, focusing on developing youth football camps and clinics. Former head coach Rashaun Hall has been retained as an assistant coach and will also serve as director of player personnel. They also announced and hired seasoned operations executiv
David Lopez
as the new director of sales and marketing. The new group made plenty of signings for the 2012 season, and lasted until January when the franchise suspended operations.

Notable players

Final roster

All-League selections

* WR Ryan Brinson * DL Antonio Reynolds * LB Cody Smith

Head coaches

Season-by-season results

References

External links

* 2010 establishments in Ohio 2012 disestablishments in Ohio American football teams established in 2010 American football teams disestablished in 2012 {{Ohio-sport-team-stub