Off-season Personnel Changes Good to Avengers
Steven Herbert
Thursday February 6, 2003
However, the biggest change on defense could likely be the hiring of defensive coordinator Doug Kay, a role he held for the 1993 ArenaBowl champion Tampa Bay Storm and 1997 ArenaBowl champion Arizona Rattlers.
"Coach Kay specifically brings an attitude to our defense, which maybe we didn`t have last year," Coach Ed Hodgkiss said. "Those guys are going to be flying to the ball. We`re going to be more physical. We`re going to be better tacklers."
Those improvements will result in more takeaways, Hodgkiss said. That would bode well for the Avengers, who were 5-0 in 2002 when they committed fewer turnovers than their opponents and 0-3 when they committed more turnovers.
Defensive tackle Mike Ulufale was signed as a free agent, after being selected to the All-Arena second team last season, making a team-high 4.5 sacks for the ArenaBowl champion San Jose SaberCats.
Lonnie Ford, a 2001 second-team All-Pacific-10 Conference defensive end while playing for Southern California, has been converted to linebacker, where he is listed as a starter.
"He`s really done a good job through camp and come along fast," Hodgkiss said. "He`s really a big, strong guy (6-foot-2, 260 pounds) and he`s got a little bit of a burst, so we really like him there rushing from the back spot."
Salary cap priorities helped prompt the release of one of 2002`s starting defensive specialists Mark Ricks, now with Arizona, Hodgkiss said.
Anthony Rice, who started all 14 games in 2002 as the other defensive specialist, was shifted to wide receiver-defensive back during training camp, and then released after turning down a trade to Dallas. Rice is expected to retire to concentrate on his teaching career, a team spokesman said.
In their place, the Avengers started two rookies, Wasswa Serwanga and Damen Wheeler at defensive specialist. Starting two rookies at defensive specialist is "a little bit scary."
"That being said, we also have great confidence in their ability," Hodgkiss said. "It`s going to be a growing process for them early on, but they`ve done a great job all through camp. They both have very good ability. We`re expecting them to grow up real fast."
Playing defensive specialist is much different than playing defensive back in the outdoor game, Hodgkiss said.
"In the outdoor game, you don`t play as much man coverage," Hodgkiss said. "A lot of times, you`re playing zone and you have a lot of help and you`re bracketing guys.
"In this game, its one-on-one essentially almost every play. The receivers also have the forward motion at you, which isn`t part of the outdoor game. It puts you in a bind."
To Hodgkiss, the toughest position is safety, an assignment that will go to Wheeler, who played five games for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars in 2001 after being a first-team All-XFL selection with the New York/New Jersey Hitmen earlier that year.
"It`s kind of rough, but I`m surrounded by a lot of good players, so that makes it kind of easier for me," Wheeler said of his transition. "The coaches understand it`s my first time in the league and it`s going to take a little longer to learn things."
Serwanga spent three seasons in the NFL, playing nine games for the San Francisco 49ers in 1999 and 16 for the Minnesota Vikings from 2000-2001, starting four games in 2000, including the 2000 NFC Championship Game.
The most prominent offensive acquisition was wide receiver-defensive back Siaha Burley, acquired in a trade from the Orlando Predators, after gaining more all-purpose yards than any other active player over the past two seasons.
"The biggest contribution we`re hoping for him is taking the ball off the net on kickoff returns," Hodgkiss said. "He`s a real explosive guy there. That receiver spot for us catches a lot of the underneath stuff, a lot of the screens. Siaha has that burst to turn a five-yard hitch into a touchdown."
Burley`s presence also gives the Avengers a third deep threat in addition to Chris Jackson and Greg Hopkins, Hodgkiss said.
Fullback/linebacker Chad Dukes was not re-signed in part because of salary cap priority decisions, Hodgkiss said. Mathias Vavao, a 6-foot-5, 305-pound converted offensive/defensive lineman, won the starting fullback role.
"The way the league is going with getting bigger and bigger guys there, we thought that would be a good switch for Mathias," Hodgkiss said. "He`s athletic enough to run the ball and catch it, and he`s also big enough, he gives us great protection there."
Vavao is doing "a great job," at his new position, Hodgkiss said. "He`s protecting well and handling the ball well."
Tony Graziani returns as the Avengers starting quarterback after throwing for 67 touchdowns and 3,568 yards in 2002, with just nine interceptions. His leading targets are Jackson, who caught 85 passes for 1,205 yards and 28 touchdowns, despite missing four games due to injuries, and Hopkins, named the AFL`s Ironman of the Year after catching a team-high 102 passes for 1,285 yards and 29 touchdowns.
"We can get a lot better on offense," Hodgkiss said. "When I won the championship in Albany [in 1999 as its offensive coordinator] some of those guys had been in the system for five years. It took us that long to get that efficient. This year, our touchdown-to-possession ratio should go up."
Steven Herbert began covering Arena Football in 1988, the league’s second season. He has covered the sport for The Associated Press, Arizona Republic, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Providence Journal-Bulletin, Palm Beach Post, Daily Oklahoman and other publications. Herbert has also written on college and NFL football for The Washington Post and spent five years as a Los Angeles Times staff writer.
