| Knoxville NightHawks | |
| Helmet: | Knoxville Nighthawks Helmet Logo 2013.png |
| Founded: | 2011 |
| Folded: | 2013 |
| City: | Knoxville, Tennessee at the James White Civic Coliseum |
| Colors: | Royal Blue, Green, Silver, White |
| Coach: | Cosmo DeMatteo |
| Owner: | Southern Sports and Entertainment LLC (Jeff Knight, CEO) |
| Chairman: | Jeff Knight |
| President: | Joe Stroud |
| Mascot: | Ace |
| Nicknames: | NightHawks |
| League: | Professional Indoor Football League (2012–2013) |
| Team History: |
|
| No League Champs: | 0 |
| No Conf Champs: | 0 |
| No Div Champs: | 0 |
| No Playoff Appearances: | 0 |
| Arena Years: |
|
The Knoxville NightHawks were a professional indoor football team based in Knoxville, Tennessee. The team was a member of the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The NightHawks joined the PIFL in 2012 as an expansion team. The NightHawks were the second indoor/arena football team based in Knoxville, following the Tennessee ThunderCats which played in the Indoor Professional Football League for the 2001 season before joining the National Indoor Football League where they played the 2002 and 2003 seasons (the latter of which they played as the Tennessee Riverhawks) before moving to Greenville, South Carolina. The Owner of the NightHawks was Southern Sports Entertainment, LLC. The NightHawks played their home games at the James White Civic Coliseum in Knoxville, Tennessee.
See main article: 2012 Knoxville NightHawks season. The franchise was announced by Owner Jeff Knight on September 15, 2011.[1] He announced the team's decision to join the Professional Indoor Football League and that the team would play at the James White Civic Coliseum.[2] On October 4, 2011, the NightHawks named Chris MacKeown the team's first coach in franchise history.[3] The team made a splash when they signed veteran NFL defensive lineman Chris Bradwell,[4] and veteran Arena Football League quarterback, Tony Colston.[5] In the team's first ever game, the NightHawks fell 45–70 to the Alabama Hammers.[6] The team started 0–6 on the season before winning their 7th contest on May 5, 2012, an overtime victory over the Hammers. The team finished their inaugural season 1–11 with a 0.083 winning percentage, which was worst in the PIFL. Coach MacKeown said he felt that he would not be back for a second season with the team.[7]
See main article: 2013 Knoxville NightHawks season. In October 2012, the NightHawks named Cosmo DeMatteo the second head coach in franchise history.[8] The NightHawks finished the 2013 season 2–10 with a 0.167 winning percentage, finishing in the bottom of the league.[9]
The following is a list of all NightHawks players who won league awards:
| Season | Player | Position | Award | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ginikachi Ibe | Defensive Rookie of the Year | |||
| Armando Cuko | Special Teams Player of the Year |
| Name | Term | Regular season | Playoffs | Awards | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | Win% | W | L | ||||
| Chris MacKeown | 2012 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Cosmo DeMatteo | 2013 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
| League Champions | Conference Champions | Division Champions | Wild Card Berth | League Leader |
| Season | Team | League | Conference | Division | Regular season | Postseason results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finish | Wins | Losses | Ties | ||||||||
| 2012 | 2012 | PIFL | 6th | 1 | 11 | 0 | |||||
| 2013 | 2013 | PIFL | 6th | 2 | 10 | 0 | |||||
| Totals | 3 | 21 | 0 | All-time regular season record (2012–2013) | |||||||
| 0 | 0 | - | All-time postseason record (2012–2013) | ||||||||
| 3 | 21 | 0 | All-time regular season and postseason record (2012) | ||||||||