Grade Card on Dailey Trade to Colorado
Matthew Pickut
Wednesday July 9, 2003
What the Firebirds got:
The Firebirds got some help in restocking their roster in a year where they have 14 free agents, many of whom are not locks to return. The three new additions to the Firebirds were selected by General Manager Joe Hennessy based on their past performance and potential to help Indiana long term.
Chris Janek (6-4, 295, OL/DL, a three-year AFL veteran out of Wisconsin). Janek is coming off a year where he recorded 11.5 tackles and played center on an offensive line that allowed only 12 sacks all last year.
“Kyle Moore Brown is a free agent and I’m not sure we are going to pursue him or get him back so we definitely need help at the Center position,” Hennessy told me the afternoon after the transactions were finalized. “[The center position] is one of the most important positions in Arena Football. You block the nose tackle and you want a guy who is a pretty good two-way guy so I think the Chris Janeck pick is to secure a position next year. We have Pagent in who was Kyle’s back up last year and we will go to camp with both those guys competing for a job.”
Delvin Hugely (5-11, 190, DS, a second-year AFL veteran out of Jacksonville State). Entering his second season, Hugely will need to prove that his 71.5 tackle season wasn’t just a flash in the pan. If he can, Hugely may have found a home in Indiana.
“Hugely is a very young player -- a big hitter who led their team in tackles. [He’s] a very much up and coming guy,” Hennessy said. “Del Lee is a free agent this year and the thought is that we might play Evan Hlavacek at a two-way position again next year, which means that we will need to fill some positions at the defensive specialist [spots.] We think he has a lot of growth potential and that is certainly something that we were looking for.”
Anthony Derricks (6-0, 185, DS/KR, a four-year veteran of the Arena Football League out of Mississippi State). Derricks, who once scored 4 TDs on kick-off returns in one game, will need to return to that form after splitting time with Chicago and Colorado last year.
“Anthony Derricks is just two years removed from being one of the top kick returners in the Arena League,” Hennessy said. “Two or three years ago he was breaking all kinds of kick return records and I don’t want to kill Evan Hlavacek. There were times this year when Evan was one of our most valuable players -- if not our most valuable player. [He] got worn out by the end of the game because of every thing he was doing, and this gives us more depth and someone who can return kicks.”
What the Firebirds still need:
Well a head coach would be nice, and the team hopes to announce a new one before the end of next month. The new coach will inherit a solid character team that for the last two years has under-performed. Hennessy, who has already stated that he is looking at ‘3-5 players’ from last year’s squad to start rebuilding with as a core, will need to find a candidate that matches his idea of how to pick that core.
“The first thing I’m looking for is someone to come here and be excited to be head coach of the football team first and foremost,” said Hennessy. “I want to put more points on the board than we have in the past two years. I think we’ve been deficient in scoring. If you look back on our history we’ve always been one of the top scoring teams in Arena Football and that certainly hasn’t been the case in the past two seasons.”
“Whoever we bring in will have a chance to sit down with me and talk about what people they want to bring with them. Mike Wilpolt, our Defensive Coordinator, is [still] under contract with us. I think he’s done a great job on our defensive side of the ball for the last couple of years. Mike is under contract with us for one more season – I’d like to see Mike back but I’ll have to sit down with who we bring and talk about that.”
“We’re four years removed from an ArenaBowl and I believe that one of the worst things that happened to us as an organization is going to the semi-finals in 2001,” Hennessy revealed, “I think that it gave us a false sense of security and I think we were two years to late [in breaking up the team].”
The Firebirds, like the rest of the league, will also need a quick ratification of the agreed upon CBA from last year. “We need to ratify the CBA and then immediately we will know what we can do as far as signing players,” said Hennessy. “It was agreed upon that we would play under those rules but it was never ratified by the Players Association, so I don’t even have any dates on when I can sign or start negotiations with Free Agents, although I believe I can start talking to them August 1st.”
When the CBA is ratified, the Firebirds can start looking to fill holes left after their own free agents leave and re-sign members of the current roster.
“Last year it was very slow and quiet. That’s part of the reason why I have not yet [signed any free agents]. I have a window up to the middle of June to resign my own guys, but I decided not to use it because I didn’t want to be negotiating against myself.”
Grade: B. Overall what the Firebirds got was a possible replacement for a Firebird legend if Kyle Moore Brown (in my opinion a certain future hall of famer) does not return, and help for DS/WR/DB/KR/ETC Evan Hlavacek who seems to becoming one of the central building blocks in the Firebirds rebuilding process.
The Firebirds also get a fresh start behind a new Head Coach to re-evaluate themselves and their commitment to fielding a winning team. The key to this deal for me is Derricks. If he can return to his pre-2003 season numbers, then the deal works out to help the Firebirds in a lot of areas that held them back last year.
What Colorado Gets:
Colorado gets what they should have gotten last year: a veteran AFL coach who has proven he can help build a winner on the field and in the locker room. Coach Dailey’s experience with building the Firebirds into one of the premier franchises in the AFL will help the Crush begin forming a winning tradition as an organization.
From personal dealings with Dailey himself and players who have played for him, I can say Dailey is one of the rare individuals in any business who can inspire virtues like loyalty and hard work without resorting to clichés and cheap tricks. The challenge for Dailey will be to find his kind of players quickly enough to satisfy a football-rabid Denver area.
On a personal note, as disappointed as I am to see Dailey go, it was probably time for him to move on. On one hand he was faced with the knowledge that the Firebirds were looking to radically rebuild, and it could not have been an easy thing for Dailey to think about cutting loose players who had been very loyal to him over the years. On the other hand Dailey gets to work with a football legend as an owner, in a city that sold out every home game last year.
What Colorado still needs:
Well at 2-14, you could say that what the Crush needs as many talented bodies as possible. The longer off-season will benefit scouts looking for players and I wouldn’t be surprised if at least one or two free agents from the Firebirds follow Dailey to Colorado. In many ways the Crush is in much the same position as the Firebirds, except for the fact that they may need even more pieces to contend for the playoffs next year.
Grade: A- . If I was picking a head coach with which to begin a franchise, then Dailey would have to be in the top four (Danny White, Michael Trigg, and Tim Marcum being the others). The only thing that keeps this deal from being an A is that the Crush had to give up some solid talent to secure Dailey’s services. If the Crush can settle on a QB, find some speed on the outside, and buy into Coach D’s philosophy, they stand a good chance to be competitive after a difficult season. Perhaps they can turn this move into an A+.
Matthew Pickut is a pastor in northern Indiana and a long time AFL fan. He also writes for his own website: The Brown Paper Blog. He graduated from Taylor University in Upland Indiana (class of `96) with degrees in Biblical Literature and Sociology as well as a healthy respect for the medicinal properties of coffee.
