MacKeown looking to build a winner in Cincinnati
Marc Viquez
Saturday February 15, 2003
“We are looking towards a good training camp and being ready for Louisville,” said MacKeown. “Louisville will be tough and we have to be ready for them”
MacKeown spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the Indiana Firebirds and served as Head coach of the Dayton Skyhawks of the defunct Indoor Football League in 2000. Entering his fourth season in the indoor game will not hold too many surprises for MacKeown, but his perspective roster may not be too familiar with the sport.
“A lot of these guys think they will make the squad, but have not clue to some of the things that go on in this league,” added MacKeown who is looking for some of the basic ingredients in his players. “In this game you are not looking for the best, but the guys who are the best football players. Tough guys with good characters and intelligence.”
The Swarm does not have its full roster set, but has a few players with both Arena and National Football League experience. C Kurt Murphy has played with the Arizona Cardinals and Derrick Shepard spent time with the Arizona Rattlers. According to the Swarm website there are five men with Arena 2 experience and two players with Arena Football experience. There are huge differences in all football leagues, whether it is a player making his way from the NFL to the indoor game or a player making the adjustments from the National Indoor Football League to Arena 2.
“The biggest difference is the big boys,” added MacKeown. “There is a fine line between the AFL and AF2. The big differences are the OL, DL and FB Max. You either have big guys or little guys and there is no in between in this league.”
The Swarm have been pretty busy since naming MacKeown head coach in November, after a few tryouts and the dawn of training camp the teams’ first Head coach feels confident that he has assembled a group of men who will bring applauds to the US Bank Arena this season.
“We have nice linemen with AFL experience, things are going well with our two-way guys and I feel good about them. We have a good mix of guys being intelligent,” added MacKeown who still is in search of a defensive specialist.
The Swarm will make their home debut on April 19 when they host the Charleston Swamp Foxes at the US Bank Arena in downtown.
A fan of the sport since 1990 Marc has covered both the New Jersey Gladiators and Cincinnati Swarm (Af2) for Arenafan Online. Marc now resides in Indianapolis after graduating with a Masters in Sports Management from Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind. When not at a Firebirds game Marc can be found traveling the Midwest covering sports for various Internet and print publications.
