Avengers Plan To Bolster Roster
Steven Herbert
Thursday October 2, 2003
Instead of presiding over practices and coaching in games, Hodgkiss is in the early stages of assembling the 40-player roster the team will take to training camp in January.
“This is an exciting time for us, because it’s a chance to mold our team “ Hodgkiss said in a recent interview. “It’s always fun to get new talent and add things to your team. We’re looking forward to the signing day, Oct. 15, and getting this thing kicked off and seeing who we do have.”
Wednesdays are Hodgkiss’ favorite day of the week because that is when the team brings in five-to-six players for on-field workouts, making it the closest to the fall routine of practice which began for Hodgkiss in second grade, he said.
Hodgkiss said he and his staff will build a board with a position-by-position list of the players under contact, followed by a list of players they hope to sign, ranked by the grade the coaches have given them.
“We’ll have a list at every position probably of 10 names we’re really high on,” Hodgkiss said. “Once Oct. 15 comes around, that’s when we’ll start trying to sign the guys that we have No. 1 on that list.”
Hodgkiss said he has looked at tapes of about 70 Arena Football League free agents, more than 50 arenafootball2 players and evaluated lists of players cut from NFL teams.
The search for players also included visits to about 15 NFL training camps by Hodgkiss, director of football operations Kevin Demoff, assistant head coach and director of player personnel Brent Winter, defensive coordinator Doug Kay and assistant coaches Bill Dobson and Gene Miranda, Hodgkiss said.
The Avengers top signing priority is offensive linemen/defensive linemen, Hodgkiss said.
“As every team in the arena league, we’re always looking to upgrade our front,” Hodgkiss said. “We’re pretty good right now at the skill positions. We’ll probably try to go get some depth. If we come across a good player, we’re not saying we wouldn’t go get one. I’m happy with our wide receivers and I’m happy with our defensive backs. But there are some quality guys out there up front, especially in the arena league free agent market that can help us out tremendously.”
The No. 1 free agents the Avengers will pursue are their own free agent linemen, Carlos Fowler and Chris Butterfield, said Hodgkiss, who said he is willing to give those players an opportunity to explore the free agent market to determine their value.
“We want to go get those guys and make sure they’re happy, so we have some continuity coming back,” Hodgkiss said. “We’ll probably make a couple of changes.”
The salary cap is having an increased impact of the composition of a roster, Hodgkiss said.
“It’s getting more and more like the NFL where you have to make decisions on certain guys maybe because of salary,” Hodgkiss said.
The Avengers’ free agent priorities would be “drastically” impacted if offensive specialist Chris Jackson, the AFL’s Offensive Player of the Year, remains with the Green Bay Packers, Hodgkiss said.
“You just don’t go out and replace the offensive player of the year,” Hodgkiss said. “It just doesn’t happen.”
Jackson signed with the Packers Sept. 10 after being waived by the Miami Dolphins in August.
“I have always believed that Chris has the ability to play in the NFL,” Hodgkiss said in a statement released by the Avengers. “It was no surprise to me that when the Packers had receivers go down, that he was one of the first guys they turned to since he has been with them before and is familiar with their system.”
Having a player sign with an NFL team “is always bittersweet,” Hodgkiss said, “but we definitely wish him the best of luck.”
“Over the past two years I have developed a great relationship with Chris and probably was as excited for him as he was for himself,” Hodgkiss said.
The two other Avengers who signed with NFL teams, kicker Remy Hamilton (Seattle) and fullback-linebacker Kevin Clemens (Philadelphia) were both cut before the start of the regular season.
“I thought Remy had a good chance to make it with Seattle,” Hodgkiss said. “He has some of the things NFL teams are looking for -- a strong leg, I think his accuracy has improved since he’s been in the arena league.
“We’re excited to get [Clemens] back. He did a really good job. What Kevin brings to us he’s a good natural leader, a good character guy guys trend to gravitate to.”
The Avengers improved in each of Hodgkiss’ two seasons as coach, going from 5-9 in 2001 to 8-6 in 2002, his first season, and 11-5 in 2003. However, both seasons have ended with upset home-field losses in their playoff openers.
“The thing that’s going to get us over the hurdle is some leadership up front,” Hodgkiss said. “I want to get an experienced guy up front that’s a quality player, that’s a natural leader.”
Hodgkiss said he and his staff is “going to have to do our homework to find out who that guy is.”
“Maybe it’s just a hit-and-miss thing,” Hodgkiss said. “Maybe a couple more leaders on our team we really get us over that hump. Maybe it’s an experienced guy in this league. Maybe it’s an experienced guy in the NFL. Maybe one of our guys develops into a leader next year.”
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.
