Dinos de Saltillo

Dinos de Saltillo

Established	28 September 2016; 8 years ago (2016-09-28)
Based in	Saltillo, Mexico
Home field	Estadio Francisco I. Madero
Head coach	Javier Adame
Owner(s)	Francisco Javier Orozco
League	Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional
Colours	Purple, black, turquoise and white
Nickname(s)	La Ola Morada (The Purple Tide)
Division Championships	2017

Dinos de Saltillo (English: Saltillo Dinos) are an American football team based in Saltillo, Mexico. The Dinos compete in the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional, the top American football league in Mexico. The team plays its home games at the Estadio Francisco I. Madero.

History

The team was founded on 28 September 2016, in resemblance of the semi-professional team with the same name that played in the Mexican Master Football League from 1995 to 1996 in the city of Saltillo.[1]

The team participated in the Liga de Fútbol Americano Profesional for the first time in the 2017 season. Under head coach Guillermo Ruiz Burguete, the team finished with a 2–5 record, nevertheless, due to the competition system, Dinos still classified for playoffs and defeated Raptors for the North Division championship, classifying for the Tazón México in their first year in the league.[2] The Dinos lost the Tazón México to the Mayas 18–24, played at the Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo" in Mexico City.[3]

A new coaching staff arrived to the team for the 2018 season, led by head coach Carlos Cabral. The Dinos had a 4–3 regular season record, qualifying to the playoffs for second consecutive season, this time as division leader. In a rematch of the 2017 game, Dinos lost 6–21 to Raptors in the Division Championship game.[4]

Javier Adame era (2019–present)

In May 2018, Dinos signed Javier Adame as head coach, ahead of the 2019 season. Adame had previously worked as offensive line coordinator for the Dinos.[5]

From its inception until 2021, the Dinos played their home games at the Estadio Olímpico Francisco I. Madero.[6] In 2022, due to an agreement between the Dinos and the baseball club Saraperos de Saltillo of the Mexican League, the team moved to the Estadio Francisco I. Madero.[7]

In the 2022 season, the Dinos had finished with the best record in the regular season. In the playoffs, Saltillo had faced Gallos Negros, who defeated them.

Rivals

Fundidores de Monterrey

The Fundidores and the Dinos are from northern Mexico and divisional rivals since the establishment of the divisional system in the LFA in 2017. Besides that, the rivalry dates back to the times of the Liga Nacional de Futbol Americano (National American Football League) in the late 90s, when both cities (Saltillo and Monterrey) had fierce matches between their two teams: the Dinosaurios (Dinosaurs) and the Cerveceros (Brewers).[8] The rivalry goes beyond the gridiron, since both teams fight season after season to get the best college players from Nuevo León and Coahuila.[9]

Dinos de Saltillo vs. Fundidores de Monterrey season-by-season results
Season	Results	Location	Overall series
2017	Dinos 33–16	Estadio Olímpico Francisco I. Madero	Dinos 1–0
	Fundidores 14–6	Estadio Tecnológico	Tie 1–1
2018	Fundidores 17–0	Estadio Nuevo León Unido	Fundidores 2–1
	Dinos 30–20	Estadio Olímpico Francisco I. Madero	Tie 2–2
2019	Fundidores 26–13	Estadio Nuevo León Unido	Fundidores 3–2
	Dinos 8–0	Estadio Olímpico Francisco I. Madero	Tie 3–3
2020	Dinos 23–15	Estadio Borregos	Dinos 4–3
2022	Dinos 24–17	Estadio Francisco I. Madero	Dinos 5–3
2023	Dinos 38–31	Estadio Francisco I. Madero	Dinos 6–3
	Fundidores 55–34	Estadio Borregos	Dinos 6–4

Raptors de Naucalpan

The Raptors de Naucalpan and the Dinos play each season the so-called Jurassic Duel (Spanish: Duelo Jurásico). Due to these teams being two of the strongest in the league in recent years, this rivalry is considered amongst LFA's most important rivalries.[10]

Dinos de Saltillo vs. Raptors de Naucalpan season-by-season results
Season	Results	Location	Overall series
2017	Raptors 34–27	Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	Raptors 1–0
	Raptors 19–6	Estadio Olímpico de Saltillo	Raptors 2–0
	Dinos 13–10	Estadio Jesús Martínez "Palillo"	Raptors 2–1
2018	Dinos 29–27	Estadio José Ortega Martínez	Tie 2–2
	Dinos 23–20	Estadio Olímpico de Saltillo	Dinos 3–2
	Raptors 21–6	Estadio Olímpico de Saltillo	Tie 3–3
2019	Raptors 21–7	Estadio Olímpico de Saltillo	Raptors 4–3
	Raptors 19–7	Estadio FES Acatlán	Raptors 5–3
2020	Dinos 30–29	Estadio Olímpico de Saltillo	Raptors 5–4
2022	Raptors 28–27	Estadio FES Acatlán	Raptors 6–4
2023	Dinos 24–14	Estadio Francisco I. Madero	Raptors 6–5

Roster

Dinos de Saltillo roster

Quarterbacks 16 Brandon López 17 Erick Niño Running backs 1 Omar Cojolum 5 Julio Covarrubias 22 Sergio García 23 Emilio Fernández 27 Joan Medina Wide receivers 3 Gerardo Álvarez 8 Kevontae Pope 11 Luis Coronado 12 Lorenzo Thompson 13 Michael Green Jr. 14 Sergio Barbosa 19 DunTayviun Gross 81 Bernard McCall 86 Ricardo Flores Tight Ends 84 Jeremy Jackson 87 Sergio Cisneros		Offensive linemen 52 Erick Zamora 55 Julio Díaz 56 Nathaniel Hines 59 Enrique López 68 Marco Orozco 69 Isame Faciane III 71 Damien Britt 74 Ramiro Pruneda 77 Earlinton Jones Defensive linemen 4 Jadarius Ceasar 9 Michael Phillips 10 Elias Lankenau 33 Diego Castillo 91 Jordan Barrett 92 Garret Pemelton 95 Angel Arriola 99 Felix Guerrero		Linebackers 0 Gerardo Vélez 2 Adrián Martínez 40 Kyle Goodbee 41 Víctor Sánchez 44 Emmanuel Rodriguez 47 Pedro Jimenez 48 Marco Mata 51 Luis Maldonado 53 Marco Gozález Defensive backs 7 Emmanuel Pelzer 15 Austin Brown-Hickerson 20 Andrés Castro 21 Jaylin Boyd 24 Sergio Schiaffino 26 José Arriaga 36 Iván Sánchez Special teams 30 Gabriel Ballinas K
Italics indicate International player Roster updated 10-03-2024[11]

Staff

Dinos Saltillo staff

	Front office Owner – Francisco Javier Orozco General Manager – Edmundo Reyes Head coach Head coach – Javier Adame Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator – Raúl Martínez Running backs – David Rodríguez Wide receivers – Jacob Villarreal Offensive line – Jaime Monzón			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Mauricio Pérez Defensive line – Arturo Teuttli Defensive backs – Lorenzo Vela Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – David Rodríguez Trainer – Rodolfo Ramos

Season-by-season

Season	Head coach	Regular season				Postseason
		Won	Lost	Win %	Finish	Won	Lost	Win %	Result
2017	Guillermo Ruiz Burguete	2	5	.286	2nd (North)	1	1	.500	Won North Division Championship (at Raptors) 13–10 Lost Tazón México II (vs Mayas) 24–18
2018	Carlos Cabral	4	3	.571	1st (North)	0	1	.000	Lost North Division Championship (at Raptors) 21–6
2019	Javier Adame	3	5	.375	3rd (North)	–	–	–	–
2020	Javier Adame	3	2	.600	2nd (North)	Postseason cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021	Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2022	Javier Adame	5	1	.833	1st (League)	0	1	.000	Lost Semifinals (vs Gallos Negros) 20–27
2023	Javier Adame	7	3	.700	2nd (League)	1	1	.500
Total		24	19	.558		2	4	.333

Awards

• North Division
  • Champions (1): (2017)

References

1. "Inició la era jurásica en Saltillo". Vanguardia (in Spanish). October 9, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
2. "Dinos consigue el pase a la final y mucho más" (in Spanish). LFA. April 23, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
3. "Mayas, bicampeón de la LFA. Se impuso 18-24 ante los Dinos de Saltillos" (in Spanish). LFA. April 23, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
4. "Raptors, primer finalista de la LFA al derrotan a Dinos". Máximo Avance (in Spanish). April 14, 2018. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
5. "Javier Adame nuevo Head Coach de Dinos". LFA.mx (in Spanish). May 24, 2018. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
6. "Regresan al Olímpico, Dinos entrenará hoy en Saltillo". Vanguardia (in Spanish). January 27, 2017. Retrieved November 21, 2018.
7. Arguijo, Aarón (January 21, 2022). "Dinos de Saltillo presenta su temporada 2022". El Siglo de Torreón (in Spanish). Retrieved January 22, 2022.
8. "Inició la era jurásica en Saltillo". Vanguardia (in Spanish). October 9, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
9. "Fundidores Vs. Dinos sí es un Clásico: Coach Tito González" (in Spanish). LFA. February 9, 2019. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
10. "El duelo jurásico, una batalla de millones de años". LFA.mx (in Spanish). February 20, 2022. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
11. "DINOS". LFA (in Mexican Spanish). February 15, 2022. Retrieved March 11, 2024.