Nashville Knights (football)

The Nashville Knights were a women's American football team of the Legends Football League (LFL) based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team played its home games at Nashville Municipal Auditorium in downtown Nashville.

This article is about the Legends Football League franchise. For the defunct ECHL hockey franchise that were originally named the Nashville Knights from 1989 to 1996, see Pensacola Ice Pilots.
Nashville Knights
EstablishedDecember 2017 (franchise)
April 2018 (competition)
FoldedJanuary 2020
Based inNashville, Tennessee
Home fieldNashville Municipal Auditorium
Head coachYuri Howard
LeagueLegends Football League (2018–2019)
DivisionEastern Conference
ColoursSky blue, navy, white
     
Legends Cup winsnone
Division titlesnone
Websitelflus.com/nashvilleknights

The Knights were the 22nd and final expansion team in the history of the LFL's U.S. league. The team was to become a franchise of the Extreme Football League (X League) in 2020,[1] but missed several deadlines and the league suspended the team.[2] The league replaced them with the Kansas City Force.[3]

History
The Nashville Knights used when the team was an LFL franchise from 2018 to 2019.

In 2010, the then-Lingerie Football League almost established a franchise for the Nashville area, but the plans were canceled due to a successful petition by locals to keep it out of the area. This was due to the controversy of the uniforms worn by LFL players when the league started. The league was renamed to reflect the fact that the uniforms became less revealing after the 2011–12 season.

Seven years later, the now-Legends Football League made the announcement that they would expand to include a Nashville-based franchise to be named as the Nashville Knights in April 2018. Former Seattle Mist tight end and middle linebacker Danika Brace was named the Knights' head coach.[4] This makes Brace the first female coach in the history of the LFL, and the first female to coach any kind of professional sports team in the Nashville area, as well as the state of Tennessee.[5][6][7] Brace also served as the general manager.

The Knights replaced the Pittsburgh Rebellion as the fourth Eastern Conference team because the Rebellion began searching for a new home venue.[8]

In December 2019, the LFL was rebranded as the Extreme Football League (X League). The Knights were the only LFL team to not change names in the transition to the X League and were scheduled for games against the Omaha Red Devils, Chicago Blitz, Los Angeles Black Storm, and the Seattle Thunder.[9] However, on January 7, 2020, the league announced that the Knights had missed several procedural deadlines for participating in the 2020 season and was replaced by a new franchise, the Kansas City Force.[2]

Seasons

2018 season
See also: 2018 LFL US season

Open tryouts were held at D1 Sports in Franklin on December 9, 2017.[10] The Knights' recruitment proceedings resulted in a rule change concerning free agency. The team recruited seven of the starters from defending champion Seattle Mist, where head coach Danika Brace also played in the previous season, essentially transplanting the Mist's lineup to a new team nearly intact. This move prompted the league to institute a rule only allowing five free agents per team. As a result of this rule change, the Knights franchise was forced to turn away two of their free agency recruits who returned to Seattle. Further controversy ensued when the Mist's former coach Chris Michaelson, who had retired in the off-season, reappeared as the offensive coordinator of the Knights.

The Knights went undefeated in the franchise's inaugural regular season with wins against Austin, defending Legends Cup champion Seattle, Denver, and Omaha. The road game against Seattle, however, was dubbed by Seattle Mist fans as the "Traitor Bowl" due to several former Seattle players now playing for the new Nashville team, including the likes of Stevi Schnoor, Dominiqué Malloy, Jade Randle, and K.K. Matheny.[11][12] The team's inaugural season was a high-performing season for the Knights as the offense scored a league-high of 268 points over the four-game regular season, while the defense allowed the second-lowest number of points by opponents. As the top seed in the Eastern Conference Championship game, the Knights had their first loss when they fell to the Chicago Bliss, who would eventually win the Legends Cup two weeks later.

Schedule
Date[13] Opponent Location Result[14] Record
April 21 vs. Austin Acoustic Municipal Auditorium Won, 51–26[15] 1–0
May 19 at Seattle Mist ShoWare Center Won, 43–24 2–0
June 23 vs. Denver Dream Municipal Auditorium Won, 94–20[16][17] 3–0
July 7 at Omaha Heart Ralston Arena Won, 80–0[18] 4–0
Eastern Conference Championship
August 25 vs. Chicago Bliss Toyota Park Lost, 6–18[19][20] 4–1

2019 season
See also: 2019 LFL US season

Open tryouts were held at Boost Fit Club in Nashville on December 8, 2018 in preparation for the 2019 season. The Knights 2019 schedule basically mirrors that of last year, except in reverse, but instead of Seattle, the schedule includes a rematch of the 2018 Eastern Conference Championship game against the Chicago Bliss. Yuri Howard was named new head coach for this season, with Danika Brace now serving as assistant coach and defensive coordinator.

Schedule
Date[21] Opponent Location Result Record
June 1 at Omaha Heart Ralston Arena Lost, 25–49 0–1
June 22 vs. Denver Dream Nashville Municipal Auditorium Won, 14–12[22] 1–1
July 20 at Chicago Bliss Sears Centre Arena Won, 8–6 2–1
August 10 vs. Austin Acoustic Nashville Municipal Auditorium Lost, 18–20 2–2

References
  1. "A NEW ERA IN WOMEN'S EMPOWERMENT, THE X LEAGUE". extfl.com. December 17, 2019. Archived from the original on September 24, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  2. "X LEAGUE STATEMENT ABOUT STATUS OF NASHVILLE KNIGHTS". extfl.com. January 10, 2020. Archived from the original on January 13, 2020. Retrieved January 13, 2020.
  3. "X LEAGUE ANNOUNCES KANSAS CITY FORCE TO KICKOFF 2020 SEASON". extfl.com. January 7, 2020.
  4. Teague, Cass (November 17, 2017). "The Sporting Life: Nashville Knights LFL Edition". Nashville PRIDE, Inc. Archived from the original on December 14, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
  5. "HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENTS AS NASHVILLE KNIGHTS ARE UNVEILED AND FIRST-EVER FEMALE COACH IS HIRED". LFL360. November 8, 2017. Archived from the original on January 15, 2018. Retrieved November 14, 2017.
  6. Lohuis, Liz (November 12, 2017). "Lingerie Football League comes to Nashville under new name". WSMV-TV. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  7. "Legends Football League announces Nashville team". WTVF. November 14, 2017. Archived from the original on February 22, 2023. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  8. "Weekly Sports League Franchise Report". OurSports Central. November 13, 2017. Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved November 16, 2017.
  9. "X League 2020 Schedule". extfl.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  10. Danielle, Allen (December 9, 2017). "Female athletes audition for Legends Football League". WSMV-TV. Retrieved December 12, 2017.
  11. LFL Commissioner’s Corner Episode 119. Legends Football League – via YouTube.
  12. LFL--The Story--Traitor, The Explanation and Aftermath. Legends Football League. June 5, 2018 – via YouTube.
  13. LFL-2018-Schedule.pdf Archived 2019-04-01 at the Wayback Machine. LFLUS.com. Retrieved July 10, 2018.
  14. "Schedule". Legends Football League. Archived from the original July 17, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  15. "NASHVILLE IN TUNE WITH 51-26 WIN OVER ACOUSTIC". LFL360.com. April 28, 2018. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  16. NewsChannel 5 at 10 PM. WTVF. June 23, 2018.
  17. "DENVER FALLS APART IN MUSIC CITY, 94-20". LFL360.com. June 25, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  18. "HEART GET DOES OF REALITY, COURTESY OF NASHVILLE 80-0". LFL360.com. July 9, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  19. "KNIGHTS BLISSFUL INAUGURAL SEASON, COMES TO AN END WITH 18-6 LOSS TO CHICAGO". LFL360.com. September 13, 2018. Retrieved September 27, 2018.
  20. Davidson, Neil (September 11, 2018). "Lingerie to Legend: Coquitlam's Schnoor knows the score". Vancouver Sun. Archived from the original on April 30, 2019. Retrieved December 18, 2018.
  21. "2019-printable-schedule.pdf" (PDF). LFLUS.com. Retrieved December 17, 2018.
  22. "NASHVILLE SURVIVES AND KEEPS PLAYOFF HOPES ALIVE DEFEATING DENVER 14-12". LFL360.com. June 29, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
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