The new Nashville SC mascot is Tempo the Coyote, the Major League Soccer club announced earlier this month.
Tempo the Coyote made his social media debut on Wednesday, January 13, and has since gotten his own Twitter, Instagram and TikTok accounts.
The handles for those accounts are @Tempo_NSC (IG and TikTok) and @TempoNSC (Twitter), respectively.
Nashville SC mascot pays homage to viral coyote during inaugural season.
Introducing Tempo the Coyote.@TempoNSC | https://t.co/P0zAT8fZ0H pic.twitter.com/AQgrZIOMm5
— Nashville SC (@NashvilleSC) January 13, 2021
According to the team website, Tempo the Coyote is 7’2″, which would make him a pretty solid goalie. He enjoys spending time with Tennessee Titans mascot T-Rac the Beaver, Nashville Predators mascot Gnash the Sabertooth Tiger, and the Nashville Sounds mascot Booster the Hot Chicken (the Sounds play Triple-A baseball in the Pacific Coast League). He doesn’t like lions (which is probably a reference to FC Cincinnati or Orlando City, both of which use the nickname), or railroads for some reason.
Tempo wears No. 00 on his jersey, and his name is, of course, a reference to Nashville being a hotbed for the music industry, specifically country music (Garth Brooks’ “Friends in Low Places” is listed as one of his favorite tunes).
The Nashville SC mascot is apparently a coyote because one was spotted roaming around the Nashville Fairgrounds (where the future Nashville SC stadium will be built) last year, becoming a locally popular minor celebrity.
As of yet Nashville SC does not have an unofficial nickname, though they posted a respectable debut season, especially for one taking place during a global pandemic, finishing seventh in the 14-team Eastern Conference with eight wins, seven losses and eight ties.
They then advanced into the conference semifinals before falling to the eventual league champions in the Columbus Crew 2-0 in overtime.
As far as we know, the only other canine mascots in pro sports to be coyotes are The Coyote of the San Antonio Spurs and the Arizona Coyotes’ Howler the Coyote.
Other MLS teams with canine mascots as soccer dogs include the Montreal Impact (Tac-Tik the Dog) and New England Revolution (Slyde the Fox), while the Atlanta United (Five Stripes) have a team dog in Spike, the Philadelphia Union used fan cutouts of adoptable dogs at home games last season.
Nashville SC begins its 2021 MLS season in early April, be sure to check out our FanSided Network sister site MLS Multiplex for the latest news, analysis and opinions on the soccer scene.