Birmingham Barracudas The Birmingham Barracudas were a Canadian football team that played the 1995 season in the Canadian Football League . The Barracudas were part of a failed attempt to expand the CFL into the United States . Franchise history . In the beginning . Art Williams , a businessman from Georgia , was awarded a CFL expansion franchise in Birmingham . He wanted a nickname for the team that would " scare the spit out of people , " and chose Barracudas . The Barracudas hired an experienced head coach in Jack Pardee , who had coached at the college level with the University of Houston and at the professional level with the WFL , USFL , and NFL . ( Pardee is perhaps better known as the only six - man football player to have ever made it to the professional leagues ; his knowledge of that wide - open game proved to serve him well in the similarly wide - open CFL . ) The Barracudas were also led by veteran CFL quarterback Matt Dunigan , who had his greatest season while in Birmingham . During the season . Birmingham competed in the Southern Division along with the San Antonio Texans , Baltimore Stallions , Memphis Mad Dogs , and Shreveport Pirates . After losing their only two pre - season games , they played their first game July 4 , 1995 , versus the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Winnipeg . They won 38 – 10 , and would lose to the Tiger - Cats in Hamilton 31 – 13 . They would get their revenge a week later at home by beating the Cats 51 – 28 in front of 31 , 000 fans . The biggest home game of the season came against the Baltimore Stallions . It also proved to be the biggest disappointment , as the Barracudas lost 36 – 8 . After that , attendance did not exceed 10 , 000 fans a game . In the team ' s final home game , against the Edmonton Eskimos , Matt Dunigan left the game due to a shoulder injury , and Birmingham was forced to turn to back - up quarterback Jimmy Klinger . Despite the loss , the Barracudas still had a chance to claim home - field advantage in the playoffs . However , they lost a shootout of a season finale in San Antonio , finishing third in the Southern Division . They returned to San Antonio the following week for the Southern Division Semi - Final , but were whipped by the Texans 52 – 9 , ending their first and only playoff run . After the season . Attendance at Legion Field was very good at first . The Birmingham crowds were some of the largest in the league . Once the college football season started , the numbers started to decline even though the ' Cudas played on Sundays , not directly competing against Alabama or Auburn . The Memphis Mad Dogs were plagued by similar attendance problems , and the Birmingham Americans of the World Football League had been hamstrung by a similar situation 20 years earlier . Owner Art Williams was quoted that he was probably losing between 4 to 6 million dollars on the team – however , outside sources quoted the losses at around 10 million dollars . He also began criticizing the Canadian Football League , and its unique concept . Along with other U . S . owners , Williams wanted several changes made : Wiliams sold the team to a group of investors called Ark - La - Tex Football Association from Louisiana . It was intended for the team to play in Shreveport ( where a more consistent and numerous fan base had established itself , but whose team , the Pirates , had folded under the mismanagement of infamous CFL owner Bernard Glieberman ) . However , the CFL instead opted to shutter the team along with the Mad Dogs and Posse . Soon afterward , the Baltimore Stallions moved to Montreal to become the new Alouettes , and the San Antonio Texans folded as well , ending the CFL ' s American experiment .