John Tucker left the Cannons after the 2015 season to become the first head coach and general manager of the expansion team Atlanta Blaze. On October 8, 2015, Sean Quirk was announced as the sixth head coach in franchise history. In an odd 2016 year in which seven of the league's nine teams, including the Cannons, finished with identical 8-6 records, Quirk's team was not rewarded with one of the four playoff spots after tie-breaking procedures. On December 20, 2016, it was announced that John Tucker would be returning to the Cannons as the team's offensive coordinator in 2017. Tucker was fired mid-season by the Blaze after a 3–7 start.