Coe Hopes to Bolster Avenger Defense
Steven Herbert
Sunday March 16, 2003
Defensive specialist Cornelius Coe, the AFL`s single-season tackling leader, was signed Friday and will join rookies Damen Wheeler and Wasswa Serwanga as candidates to start Sunday`s game at Indiana, coach Ed Hodgkiss said.
"He`s an experienced guy in this league," Hodgkiss said of Coe. "The biggest thing we`re probably missing back there is guy that kind of knows what`s going on and knows how to defend. Coe has a lot of savvy and kind of fits in to the mold of what we`re looking for--he`s the most physical DB there is."
The 5-foot-11, 185-pound Coe will help Los Angeles` defensive backs and defensive specialists line up correctly and "understand the concepts of what we`re trying to do," Hodgkiss said.
"He understands the basic routes and stretches that are in the arena league," Hodgkiss said.
Coe made an AFL-record 121.5 tackles for the Indiana Firebirds in 2001 and was named to the league`s all-rookie team. A high left ankle sprain limited Coe to five games in 2002 and Indiana exposed him in the expansion draft following the season.
The then-New Jersey Gladiators selected Coe with a choice in the draft obtained in a trade with Colorado. The Gladiators moved to Las Vegas before the start of the season, with Coe playing in their opener against the Avengers.
Coe, 27, was released by the Gladiators following the opener, then signed by the Georgia Force for its practice squad.
"I`m kind of surprised he wasn`t playing somewhere else," said Hodgkiss, Indiana`s offensive coordinator during Coe`s 2001 rookie season. "He`s a good character guy who plays hard. Hopefully he can come in here and have an impact for us."
Coe described himself as “a decent cover guy,” but “an aggressive football player.”
“I like to put my nose right on the ball,” Coe said. “I’ve been a playmaker and they’re allowing me to do that.”
Los Angeles (4-2) is allowing 319.3 yards per game and 308.8 passing yards per game, both league highs.
"The defense is terrible," defensive coordinator Doug Kay said. "We have not been a part of any of win. We have been a part of every loss."
The defensive problems stem from a combination of inexperience and lineup changes because of injuries, Hodgkiss said.
“We went into the season knowing that there’s going to be a growth period there,” Hodgkiss said. “We were expecting by mid-season that we’re playing at the top of our potential and that growth period had ended. I don’t think we’re there in any phase of the game. I think we’re playing at 70 percent of our potential.”
To improve, the Avengers defense will have "to get better fundamentally," Kay said.
"There is no such thing as mistake-free anything, but we`re going to have to reduce the mistakes, because right now, we`re probably giving up four-to-five touchdowns a game simply because of errors," Kay said.
The Los Angeles defense made only one stop in last Sunday’s 65-61 victory at New York.
“Hopefully against Indiana we can come in and get a lot more stops because they have one of the top defenses in the league,” Hodgkiss said.
The Firebirds are allowing 257.3 yards per game, the fifth-lowest figure in the 16-team league.
Indiana (3-3) enters Sunday`s game with a three-game losing streak.
"It seems to me we get everybody with their backs against the wall," said Hodgkiss, whose team will face an opponent with at least a three-game losing streak for the third time in its last four games. "They`re going to come out fighting. They have some experienced guys who know how to win, so we`re anticipating another tough matchup on the road."
The Firebirds are the AFL`s most physical team, Hodgkiss said.
"We have to match their intensity," Hodgkiss said. "That was one of the reasons we lost year. We had at least three fumbles and that was probably a result of them getting the ball out on contact. That`s something we`ve got to be aware of. If we take care of the ball, we should come out alright."
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.
