Danton Barto

College career Barto played college football at Memphis State University (now University of Memphis) from 1990 to 1993. As of September 23, 2022, the petition had garnered 2,319 signatures.

He dressed in 18 games for the CFL's Memphis Mad Dogs in 1995, totaling 27 defensive tackles, 10 special teams tackles, one sack, one pass breakup, and two fumble recoveries, one of which was returned for a touchdown. He was later released by the team in early June without appearing in any games.

He signed with the Connecticut Coyotes of the Arena Football League (AFL) in late March 1996. Barto played in two games for the Coyotes during the 1996 season as a fullback/linebacker, recording one solo tackle and one assisted tackle. He then served as the team's head coach from 2002 to 2006. In 2005, he was named the af2 Coach of the Year and won ArenaCup VI. The Xplorers folded after the 2006 season.

Barto was the head coach of the Las Vegas Gladiators of the AFL in 2007. After starting the season with 2–10 record, it was reported that he would be let go after the season. Barto and the Gladiators went on to finish the year with a 2–14 record.

He was the head coach of the af2's Manchester Wolves from 2008 to 2009. The Wolves went 9–7 in the 2008 regular season, and lost in the American Conference championship game to the Tennessee Valley Vipers.

He was the head coach of the Arkansas Diamonds of the Indoor Football League (IFL) in 2010, leading the team to an 11–3 regular season record and a loss in the conference championship game to the Billings Outlaws.

Barto was the head coach of the Kansas City Command of the AFL from 2011 to 2012, compiling an overall record of 9–27. The team went 0–15 and folded after the season.

Head coaching record Team Year Regular season PostseasonWonLostWin %Finish Won Lost Win % Result Memphis 2002 5 11 4th in NC Central - - - Memphis 2003 6 10 3rd in NC Central - - - Memphis 2004 10 6 2nd in AC Mid-South 0 1 0.000 Memphis 2005 13 3 1st in NC Midwest 3 0 1.000 Memphis 2006 11 5 2nd in AC Southern 1 1 0.500 Memphis total 45 35 4 2 Las Vegas 2007 2 14 5th in AC Western - - - Manchester 2008 9 7 2nd in AC East 2 1 Manchester 2009 7 9 2nd in AC East 0 1 Manchester total 16 16 2 2 Arkansas 2010 11 3 1st in Lonestar East 2 1 Kansas City 2011 6 12 4th in NC Central - - - Kansas City 2012 3 15 4th in NC Central - - -Kansas City total 9 27 - - - Lehigh Valley 2018 0 15 6th in NAL - - -Total 83 110 8 5

Scouting career Barto was a scout for the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams from 2013 to 2017. In 2022, the first-ever BART Awards, named after Barto, were given to the NFL's top scouts.

Personal life Barto's son Will was also a member of the Memphis Tigers football team.

On August 22, 2021, Danton died from complications of COVID-19. He was 50.