The Connecticut Coyotes were an

arena football Arena football is a variety of gridiron football designed to be played indoors. The game is played on a smaller field than American or Canadian football, designed to fit in the same surface area as a standard North American ice hockey rink, an ...

franchise based in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

. 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 Arena Football League season, 1987 season, making it the third longest-runnin ...

History

On June 22, 1994, the

awarded the state of

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

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 (sport), coach who was most recently the offensive coordinator of the Arena Football League (AFL)'s Columbus Destroyers. He was the son o ...

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 Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

. The city of Hartford would receive another team in 1999 when the New York CityHawks 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 ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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 An All-Arena Team, an all-star team consisting of the best players of their position was selected every season in the Arena Football League (AFL). Teams * 1987 All-Arena Team, 1987 * 1988 All-Arena Team, 1988 * 1989 All-Arena Team, 1989 * 1990 Al ...

Teams: * FB/LB Les Barley (1)

Notable coaches

Head coaches

''Note: Statistics are correct through the end of the 1996 Arena Football League season.''

References

External links

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