Q & A with Cobras’ Coaches
Chuck DiLullo
Friday January 16, 2004
Eddie Khayat served as the team’s interim head coach for the final three games of the 2003 campaign after the dismissal of Mike Hold and takes over as head coach and di- rector of football operations for the 2004 season. Khayat brings over 42 years of professional football experience to the Cobras, including 35 years as a player and coach in the NFL and AFL Coach of the Year honors in 1997 with the Nashville Kats.
John Gregory will serve as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator. A two-time AFL Coach of the Year, Gregory guided the Iowa Barnstormers/New York Dragons franchise to two ArenaBowl berths and four division titles in his nine seasons as head coach (1995-2003). Gregory is often recognized as one of the greatest offensive coaches the AFL has ever seen with his teams averaging over 52 points per game during his head-coaching career.
I had a chance to talk with Khayat and Gregory earlier this week about the upcoming season and the following are some highlights from our Q & A session.
Arenafan: What was the attraction to coach the Cobras at this point in your careers?
Gregory: I’m really impressed with the owner, Pete Loftin, and his commitment to field a competitive team. Eddie Khayat has been a good friend of mine and a super person. I have known Billy McGehee (Senior Advisor to the Ownership Group) a long time and really enjoy working with him.
Khayat: I missed working with Billy McGehee. We had some very good years in Nashville and were able to put together a great franchise and make the playoffs every year we were in Nashville. This was another opportunity to work with Billy and to work with Pete Loftin who is totally committed to winning the whole thing.
Arenafan : What are you looking for in the upcoming camps leading up to the season opener?
Gregory: We need to sort out who the players are to find the best fit for the team and we need to mix some experience with some young guys to promote the right blend. We have a good QB corps with Ricky Foggie being familiar with our offense, having played with John Hufnagel in New Jersey, who played and coached for me and Matt Nagy, who knows our offense upside down and backwards having played for the Dragons.
Khayat: If you look at any outstanding ball club, you will find a number of leaders. We always look for top citizens that are fine football players. Thirty-seven fine players will be coming to camp and only 24 players will leave with jobs. The one thing that is tough about the football business is that there are more good football players than there are football jobs and that is a sad part of this business.
Arenafan : Will the coordinators have autonomy in developing schemes and calling plays during the game?
Gregory: Part of my agreement in coming to the Cobras was that I would have complete control over the offense.
Khayat: The first job of any good head coach is to surround himself with the most capable people he can find and then to delegate authority and let people do their jobs in their fields of expertise. You don’t want these people to have someone pounding on them and questioning everything they do.
Arenafan : What would you consider a success this season and what would you consider a failure?
Gregory: I think a success would be if we could win 10 games and anything below .500 would be a major disappointment.
Khayat: Failure isn’t a word in our vocabulary. We always shoot for the very top just like every other team in the league. Why play if your goal is not to win the championship?
Arenafan : Who do you see as the team to beat this year in the AFL?
Gregory: I don’t know because there has been such a shuffle this year. It will be interesting to see who has shuffled the cards in the right direction.
Khayat: I have too much respect for the people running other teams to comment on that but you can always be sure that Coach Marcum in Tampa will field a fine team. You won’t find many coaches in any league with a finer win-loss record than Coach Marcum.
Arenafan : What is your vision for the AFL over the next five years and your vision for the Cobras during that time?
Gregory: I am very impressed with Charlotte. I like the city and the commitment to football with the excitement surrounding the Panthers and how that benefits us. We need to win some football games and I will do my best to help see that happens. I see a very bright future for the AFL and the league has gone so much further than I ever imagined when I started coaching in 1995. I think every major city will have an AFL team soon.
Khayat: I see great things for both. This league just continues to grow and our team will continue to grow. I see nothing but good things for our team and this league.
The Carolina Cobras open their 2004 season on the road versus the Dallas Desperados on February 8th and will kick off their home schedule on February 21st versus the Arizona Rattlers.
Chuck DiLullo works for a manufacturer of process control instrumentation as a sales engineer. He has been a fan of professional, college and high school football since he could walk. Chuck is originally from Philadelphia and he became a huge Arena Football League fan while living in Buffalo. Chuck has lived in Charlotte since 2000 with his wife & three children.
