IFL CUP BRINGS KYLE MOORE-BROWN HOME TO NEW JERSEY

Who says you can't go home again?

When New Mexico Chupacabras Head Coach Kyle Moore-Brown steps onto the field Monday before his team takes on the Arizona Rattlers in the semifinals of the IFL Cup at American Dream in East Rutherford, New Jersey (12pm ET on Overnght), it will be the realization of something that he had been hoping to achieve for a long time.

Growing up in nearby Newark, Moore-Brown has always wanted to play or coach professionally in his backyard.

"I'm very excited," said Moore-Brown "This is one of the things that I dreamed about so to have this opportunity is super-cool. My family is very excited to be in the audience this week and next week." 

When Moore-Brown was told about the IFL Cup by Jared Widman, President of the IFL Business Division, he could not contain his excitement.

"When Jared came to me about that idea and my ownership group was supportive about it, man I was like Newark is great," said Moore-Brown. "Newark, New Jersey is growing and I know how they feel about their sports. Just to be a part of it is exciting for me."

And with two games taking place a touchdown pass away from where he grew up, Moore-Brown will have to make sure he has tickets for everyone for both games, Monday's semifinal and either the consolation or championship game on May 24th. His family will include two daughters, a granddaughter and two sons-in-law. There will also be cousins, aunts and six uncles who introduced him to the game of football years ago.

That's a lot of tickets.

"That's the scary part," said Moore-Brown. "I've been trying to break it up so nobody feels offended. I want to be fair to the team also so if I have to pay for 100 tickets, I would just have to do that."

One of the six uncles, Curry Singleton, played a huge role in teaching Moore-Brown about football and will be at both games.

"He was the youngest of them all so I was around him most of the time and watched him and cousins play," said Moore-Brown. "We come from a long tradition of football players in high school. I had two cousins that played for Bergen Catholic and one went on to play at Nebraska and one at Rutgers." 

Moore-Brown was an All-State and All-City fullback at Central High School in Newark and went on to play college football at the University of Kansas. But he really made a name for himself during a 14-year career in the Arena Football League as an offensive and defensive lineman for the Albany/Indiana Firebirds and the Colorado Crush. The common denominator during his entire time in the AFL was Mike Dailey, one of the greatest coaches in the history of indoor football.

They won two ArenaBowl championships together, one in 1999 with Albany and the other in 2005 with Colorado.

Dailey showed Moore-Brown how to be a winner. 

"I was taught by a great man," said Moore-Brown. "I attribute a lot of my success in coaching and my brand of coaching to Mike Dailey. The way he taught me the game gave me a different perspective. I owe my coaching career to him. It's grown me as a person." 

While he learned a lot from Dailey, Moore-Brown would also become a part of a very successful coaching tree and that was learning under Vegas Knight Hawks Head Coach Mike Davis who will also have his team at the IFL Cup. Vegas will play Orlando in the first semifinal on Monday afternoon (7pm ET on Yahoo Sports). Moore-Brown was on Davis' staff as Associate Head Coach and Offensive Line Coach with the Nebraska Danger from 2016 to 2019 and then had the same role under Davis with the Knight Hawks from 2022 until last year's 2025 IFL National Championship season.

Back on April 25th, Davis' Knight Hawks beat Moore-Brown's Chupacabras 48-12 in Vegas. If they both win their semifinal games, they would meet again in the IFL Cup Championship Game on May 24th.

"It's always going to be a friendly battle," said Moore-Brown. "You've been with somebody for a long period of time and there's never animosity because we didn't leave on those kinds of terms. It's always good loving bragging rights."

And just like he did with Mike Dailey, Moore-Brown learned a lot from Mike Davis. 

"You try to find the identity of a football team," said Moore-Brown. "You want the team to take a little bit of you and a whole lot of them. The winning aspect of it all is what you want them to live by. It just feels good to just do it my way." 

Moore-Brown and the Chupacabras are going through some growing pains in their first season. New Mexico is off to a 1-5 start but three of their losses have been but seven points or less.

The players have been working hard despite not seeing the fruits of their labors.

"They've showed me a lot," said Moore-Brown. "They've showed me a little bit of character and that's what I was looking for. That's the encouraging side as a coach. I see different aspects of the football team." 

Maybe, just maybe, a little home cooking in New Jersey can get Moore-Brown's Chupacabras going in the right direction. It's also an opportunity to be part of an event that will be a showcase in a market that currently does not have a team in the Indoor Football League.

"I'm supportive of the IFL," said Moore-Brown. "I think the world of the indoor game so as long as they get to see a true competitive football game, I think that's important." 

And while he has his team in the New York/New Jersey area, Moore-Brown wants his players to enjoy this experience. For some of his guys, it may be their first time in or around the Big Apple and the Garden State so they need to take it all in…

…as long as they take care of the business at hand.

"I want these guys to be able to enjoy the luxury of being a professional," said Moore-Brown. "It's a 24-hour day. You can't be on football football football all 24 hours so I asked them to give me their undivided attention for two to three hours a day. I think they'll love it."

The off the field plans for the week including going to a baseball game, visiting the World Trade Center, taking in a movie and some other team-building activities.

And then, come Monday night, it will be time to step on the field at a unique venue that is The Arena at American Dream.

"I've done a little bit of research," said Moore-Brown. "It looks like the gladiator style arena where everything is right up on you. I think the guys and the coaches will have an outstanding reaction of it all. It's gladiator football at its best. I'm looking forward to being part of that week."

The IFL Cup is going to be a great event for everyone associated with the Indoor Football League. But, for New Mexico Chupacabras Head Coach Kyle Moore-Brown, it's really going to hit home.