| 2012 CIFL season | |
| League: | Continental Indoor Football League |
| Sport: | Indoor Football |
| Duration: | March 10, 2012 – May 19, 2012 |
| Season: | Regular season |
| Season Champs: | Saginaw Sting |
| Mvp: | Tommy Jones |
| Finals: | 2012 CIFL |
| Finals Link: | CIFL Championship Game |
| Finals Champ: | Saginaw Sting |
| Finals Mvp: | Jeff Austin |
| Finals Mvp Link: | Most valuable player |
| Seasonslist: | List of Continental Indoor Football League seasons |
| Seasonslistnames: | CIFL |
| Prevseason Link: | 2011 Continental Indoor Football League season |
| Prevseason Year: | 2011 |
| Nextseason Link: | 2013 CIFL season |
| Nextseason Year: | 2013 |
The 2012 Continental Indoor Football League season was the Continental Indoor Football League's seventh overall season. The regular season started on Saturday March 10, with the expansion Port Huron Patriots defeating the expansion Chicago Vipers 52–49 at McMorran Arena,[1] and ended with the 2012 CIFL Championship Game, the league's championship game, on June 2, 2012, at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw, Michigan where the Saginaw Sting defeated the Dayton Silverbacks 35–7.
For the first time in the past 3 years, the league's schedule was unbalanced. Teams had been playing each team twice for a total for ten games, but in 2012 some teams will play one team 3 times, and another team just once.
Highlights of the 2012 schedule are a home and home battle for the Michigan Cup between the Patriots and Saginaw Sting. Those games will take place on April 14 in Port Huron and April 20 in Saginaw. The Indianapolis Enforcers and Evansville Rage will have a similar challenge as they meet three times during the season, March 17 and April 21 in Evansville and Mother's Day weekend on May 12 in Indianapolis.
The top four teams were supposed to qualify for the playoffs, which were to begin on the weekend of May 26. The playoff format would have #1 hosting #4 and #2 hosting #3. The 2012 CIFL Championship Game will be held on June 2. The playoffs could start on June 2 if voted on by the owners prior to the season in order to miss Memorial Day weekend.[2] But, the league decided to shorten the playoffs. This left the Port Huron Patriots and the Evansville Rage both out of the playoffs, and Dayton and Saginaw into the CIFL Championship Game[3]
The following regular season games were moved either by way of ownership change:
y - clinched regular-season title
x - clinched playoff spot
There were not major rule changes, but the game ball was changed from the golden color they have used since 2009. The new ball returns to a traditional brown color that can be seen in the NFL, as well as white stripes are painted on each end of the ball, halfway around the circumference, to improve indoor visibility.
The CIFL continues to offer live stats and streaming audio for its games using the Gamecenter on www.CIFLFootball.com, but individual teams are still allowed to contract out their radio and TV broadcasts to local media stations.
The following is a list of media outlets that were used by their respective teams throughout the season:
| Team | Station | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Troy5 | TV | ||
| Wave96 | Radio/Internet | ||
| ESPN Radio 106.7 | Radio | ||
| 1590AM WRCY | Radio | ||
| 102.3 WBTO | Radio | ||
| Michigan Regional Sports Network (MRSN) | Internet | ||
| MRSN | Internet |
| Team | 2012 Coach | 2011 Coach(es) | Reason for leaving | Story/Accomplishments | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dayton Silverbacks | Mister Askew/ James Scott | Derrick Shepard | Resigned | Shepard resigned on June 15, 2011. Shepard lead the Silverbacks to a 5-5 record in 2011, the highest single season winning percentage in team history, and lead the team to its second straight playoff appearance. Shepard ranks second on the franchises wins total for a head coach.[5] On September 7, 2011, it was announced that Mister Askew would be named the 6th coach in Silverbacks history.[6] On March 1, just ten days before the season started, the Silverback fired Head Coach Mister Askew. The reasons for his termination have yet to be determined.[7] He was replaced by James Scott, who had been hired as the defensive coordinator. | |
| Saginaw Sting | Jeff Townsend | John Mize/Vince Leveille (Interim) | Fired | On December 29, 2011, the Sting announced that 2011 interim head coach Vince Leveille would return as the full-time head coach for the 2012 season,[8] but just 11 days before the team's first game, Leveille stepped down as the head coach, citing that his full-time job made him unavailable to do both. Defensive Coordinator Fred Townsend took over as the team's head coach.[9] Leveille replaced John Mize, who was dismissed after losing back to back one point games.[10] |
| Award | Winner | Position | Team | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIFL MVP | Quarterback | Saginaw Sting | ||
| Offensive Player of the Year | Quarterback | Saginaw Sting | ||
| Defensive Player of the Year | Melvin Thomas | Defensive Back | Dayton Silverbacks | |
| Special Teams Player of the Year | Wide Receiver | Saginaw Sting | ||
| Coach of the Year | James Scott | Head Coach | Dayton Silverbacks |