A Few Minutes with Detroit’s Tom Luginbill
Patrick Daly
Friday February 13, 2004
Luginbill takes over for his father, Al Luginbill, who moved to the front office after one season as head coach, but also serves as an assistant coach. The younger Luginbill is certainly familiar with the game of Arena Football, having been involved as a player or coach for most of the past eight years. After graduating from Eastern Kentucky, Luginbill’s first contact with Arena Football came as quarterback with the Texas Terror and Florida Bobcats.
Luginbill’s coaching résumé includes serving as head coach and director of football operations for the Tennessee Valley Vipers of af2 in 2000, where he led the team to a 10-6 record and a berth in the 2000 ArenaCup Championship. Additionally, he has served as a special teams coach for the Nashville Kats and as wide receivers and quarterbacks coach for the New York City Hawks. Add to that his one year as quarterbacks coach in the now-defunct XFL for the Los Angeles Xtreme, who won the championship in the league’s only season in existence, and you’ll see a well-traveled history.
For players, making the jump from af2 to the AFL can be far from trivial. As a coach with experience at both levels, Luginbill hasn’t found the transition all that difficult.
“I think it’s a much bigger jump for the players than it is for the coaches just because the speed of the game is intensified and more drastic,” said Luginbill. “From a coaching perspective for me, it wasn’t that big of a difference because I had been an assistant in the AFL level before I was ever a head coach in af2. I think the biggest thing is that in af2 the talent level is remarkably different. I think the biggest adjustment, for players and coaches alike, is understanding that some of the things you may get away with in af2 you wouldn’t get away with at our level. I think that’s a big adjustment for everyone that’s been involved at that level.”
As you’ve probably noticed, Luginbill’s coaching career would make a nomad look stationary, although that’s not necessarily his ideal situation. However, with success comes additional opportunities that may require you to pack your bags to take advantage of that next opportunity. In order to stay successful, winning early has become critical.
“Do I like bouncing around—moving around? No,” said Luginbill. “This profession can be ugly at times. It can be very, very fun; it can be exciting, but at the same time it can wear down on you. I think one of the things that every coach tries to do is win as quickly as possible because this business has turned into ‘what have you done for me lately?’ Everybody wants to win yesterday. Fortunately for me I’ve been able to be part of franchises that were relatively successful right off the bat and I think that’s led to better opportunities. It’s like any sport; when you win you often get better opportunities.”
One of the most difficult obstacles faced by any coach in the AFL is the player turnover that’s come about due to free agency. Even for an established coach whose roster changes from year to year, winning consistently becomes increasingly difficult.
“The way this league works now, this free agency plan means that players need only one year in this league to become a free agent,” said Luginbill. “With each year that goes by, these guys are getting smarter and nobody is going to sign more than a one-year deal because they all think they’re going to get money somewhere. Having the turnover that you’re going to have on your roster each and every year presents a challenge this league has never had to face before.
“The San Joses, and even the Arizona Rattlers, they’re not going to be able to continue to do that forever; they can’t afford everybody. That’s why you see the teams that are able to keep some guys for certain number of years, they’re going to be able to come into the season each and every year—with no preseason games—with some of their guys back and maybe have a little bit of a leg up.
“I think as every year goes by, players are going to stop signing two- or three-year contracts; there’s going to be a lot of turnover. So, from a coaching standpoint, I think it’s going to be more of a challenge to win each and every year, which makes it more of a challenge to keep your job.”
With some of the changes this season, particularly more teams and fewer playoff spots, there’s an even greater premium on early success. While comebacks like the one made by the New York Dragons make a great story, the chances of an 0-6 team making the playoffs are drastically diminished now with a trimmed playoff field.
“I think it’s absolutely critical,” said Luginbill about getting off on the right foot. “I think our team’s aware of it. We’ve talked about it. I don’t think there’s anybody in the league that has a tougher first two games. Our players understand the sense of urgency in terms of what has to be done early in the season as opposed to what has to be done late in the season. This last year the New York Dragons started 0-6 and made the playoffs, but those days are over. Nobody is going to be able to do that anymore.”
Detroit put in a good showing last Thursday in an attempt to hit the ground running, but came away with a loss to the San Jose SaberCats, primarily due to giving up too many turnovers. If you look at what the Arizona Rattlers did against the Los Angeles Avengers on Sunday, you’ll find a team that also had trouble hanging on to the ball against an Avenger team that’ll make you pay for giving up a possession.
“Quite frankly, our football time probably feels an awful lot like the Rattlers right now,” said Luginbill. “We played our tails off against San Jose, but what it came down to is we turned the ball over more than they did. With teams battling each other, you can’t give up possession like that in an Arena Football game. The Rattlers saw the same thing versus LA. Two good teams playing each other and one team made more errors than the other, and usually, early on in the season, that’s going to be the determining factor.”
Since both teams enter the game at 0-1, the loser will have to deal with an 0-2 record that makes the uphill battle a bit steeper.
“This Friday night there’s two very similar teams facing each other, each with a bit of a chip on their shoulder,” said Luginbill. “I think it’s critical; it’s either going to be us or Arizona that’s going to be 0-2. Is that something that you can’t recover from? Certainly not. But you certainly don’t want it to become a trend.”
Now we’ll have to see happens Friday night.
Keeping an eye on the Fury
When Detroit acquired quarterback Andy Kelly from the Dallas Desperados last season, they instantly had an experienced and dependable man to run the offense. Kelly thrived, throwing for more yards (3968) and touchdowns (92) than he had in any of his previous nine seasons.
“I think anytime you can get a quarterback in this league that understands the game and knows what they’re doing it gives you a leg up,” said Luginbill about his starting quarterback. “What Andy has got to understand, and we’ve talked about it, is that you’ve got to manage the game better. Last year, he threw 93 touchdowns, better than he’s thrown in his 10-year career, but he led the league in interceptions. That can’t happen again if we’re going to get to where we want to get to. If you tell me I’m going to have Andy Kelly or some rookie, I’m going to take Andy Kelly 10 times out of 10.”
The Fury have also developed a bit of a Predators connection that includes wide receiver/linebackers Junior Lord and Thabiti Davis. Lord played two seasons in Orlando before joining Detroit last season, while the Fury traded for Davis just prior to the start of the season and he’ll see his first action against Arizona. Both players provide experience and physical talent at an important position.
The defensive backfield is stronger in 2004 with the addition of DSs Reggie Doster (another former Predator) and John Williams. They join DS Ron Carpenter to solidify a defensive backfield that struggled with inconsistency last season. According to Luginbill, Doster and Williams are both “bona fide middle guys” on defense, meaning that either one is capable of serving as the defensive ‘quarterback.’ Carpenter also doubles as the primary kick returner and is one of the most dangerous players in the AFL when it comes to returning the ball off of the net.
Finally, OS David Hill could be one of the most promising players on the roster, joining the Fury after spending a season with the Greensboro Prowlers in af2. He’s already gotten off to a good start, posting six catches for 77 yards and two touchdowns in the season opener against San Jose.
Patrick Daly has been an Arena Football League enthusiast since he first stumbled across the late-night ESPN broadcasts and has followed the Arizona Rattlers since their inaugural season in 1992. He graduated from Arizona State University with an engineering degree and is currently a member of a web development team for Direct Alliance in Tempe. Patrick currently resides in the Phoenix suburb of Chandler, Arizona with his beautiful wife, son and a very large football helmet collection.
