Five Questions with Coach Porter
Jack Bedell
Saturday March 12, 2005
With all the personal history between Coach Mike Neu, Coach Porter, and Orlando coach Jay Gruden, there won't be many surprises. The game will come down to line play, keeping Andy Kelly's jersey clean against a relentless Orlando rush, and winning the turnover margin.
Going into this Sunday's game, the VooDoo defense ranks second in touchdown scoring percentage allowed and fourth in total scoring percentage allowed. Unfortunately, the Predators lead the league in both of these categories, so the VooDoo defense will need to bring their best game in order to give quarterback Andy Kelly and the rest of the offense a shot at outscoring Jay Gruden's talented squad.
At +3 (6th in the league), the VooDoo's biggest advantage might just be turnover margin. Hopefully, the return of Monty Montgomery, who missed last week's close win over the Dallas Desperados recovering from a stinger, will spark the VooDoo's aggressive secondary into some much-needed ballhawking.
After a spirited Friday morning practice, Coach Porter was gracious enough to answer a few questions about these issues, and to discuss some of the reasons for his squad's success this season.
Jack Bedell: The defense is off to another great start. Could you talk about a few of the players who have set the tone for the team so far this season?
Kevin Porter: For us, it really starts up front. The way B. J. Cohen has come out and really set the tone from a defensive standpoint, rushing the passer, the things that he's been able to do have really helped us get off to a fast start. This game is really all about pressure, and he's done a good job with that.
The secondary's played very well. Monty Montgomery has missed some time. We've had to have some guys come in and step up and play well, and all of them have. Chris Pointer's taken on a leadership role and done a good job. The other guys who've had to step in for Monty, Alvin Porter and Denario Smalls, have done a great job. But when Monty's in there, he's the catalyst. Just having him and B. J. and all the guys up front has set the tone for what we're doing.
JB: Your secondary seems even more aggressive and effective this year. How much of their success is design and how much is just individuals picking up their games?
KP: We haven't done a whole lot to the scheme. You know, the fact that they've played together for a year (all three were rookies last year), they understand the arena game now. They've done a good job of learning the angles of the game, and that's helped them a lot.
JB: B. J. Cohen's motor has been running high all year. Some of his best work has come late in games after fighting four quarters. What can you say about his efforts thus far?
KP: We've been in a position offensively where we've gone out and scored some points, and most teams that we've played have had to play from behind. When teams are playing from behind, they have to take more chances with the ball because they can't afford to continue to go down possessions. I think that when we get them down offensively, we can really go out and rush the passer.
I know our guys understand the dynamics of the game, how crucial each possession is, and that's one of the things we've been able to do up front. Like you said, you look at us in the fourth quarter and at the end of games, and we're able to go after the quarterback and play tight coverage. That forces [offenses] to do the things they don't want to do.
JB: The defensive line and linebackers have done a great job tipping balls as they come out . Is this something you have concentrated on, or smart play from the squad? How important will those skills be against Joe Hamilton this week?
KP: It's been a point of emphasis for us throughout training camp and throughout the season. We want to be able to get some more balls down. Part of it was doing some things scheme-wise that some of our guys were capable of doing. We've got some guys up front who can really rush the passer, and to tell them that you want them to spy and to get their hands up, they didn't really want to do it last year, but now they understand that when you play that kind of defense and you get the ball down, you put [their offense] in long yardage situations. And then we get the chance to do the things we want to do and the things that we do best.
JB: So many of the League's defensive stats are geared towards yards given up. How do you judge your squad's effectiveness as the season goes on and what are some of the areas you'll concentrate on to keep the team progressing toward the post-season?
KP: Really the only statistics that we look at on our entire team are scoring offense, scoring defense, and turnover margin. Those are the three things that matter to us. They can go out and get a million yards, but if they can't get the ball in the end zone, then that's the thing we take pride in. We try to keep them from scoring. It's the same thing with our offense. If we get 200 yards but we score 50 points, we've had a good day. The yardage just isn't so important. Turnover margin, scoring offense, and scoring defense are.
Jack Bedell was an inaugural season ticket holder for the af2's Lafayette Roughnecks and the AFL's New Orleans VooDoo. He's been a fan of the league since he first saw Browning Nagle heaving touchdowns for the Buffalo Destroyers. Jack's married to a lovely wife, Beth, and has two sons, Jack and Samuel Eli. He works as an associate professor of creative writing at Southeastern Louisiana University.
