An Early Look At The Upcoming af2 Season
Michael Vergane
Wednesday December 27, 2000
American Conference
Northeast Division
This is probably the most stable of the four divisions. Six of the seven teams (Norfolk Roanoke, Richmond, Carolina, Charleston and Greensboro) come from the old American Conference.
The wild card is the seventh team, the expansion Rochester, NY franchise. Rochester sets alone up north and is 500 miles away from its closest rival in Richmond, Virginia.
There are two playoff teams from last year in the division, Norfolk and Carolina, and there are also two new coaches.
Steve Jerry takes over as the new head coach of the Roanoke Steam. Jerry is a former Arena Football WR/DB. He spent the 2000 season as the Offensive Coordinator of the Norfolk Nighthawks. He replaces Pete Shaw.
Roanoke struggled in 2000 ranking at the bottom of the af2 in defense allowing 56 points a game.
In Greensboro, the Prowlers have a new head coach in Gary Tufford. Tufford comes to Greensboro after a head-coaching job with the IFL’s Erie Invaders.
As for the Prowlers, their problem in 2000 was offense. They ranked at the bottom of the af2 in almost every offensive category.
Notable af2 Players on the Move
Richmond - WR/DB Kevin Henry to Milwaukee Mustangs
Norfolk – OL/DL Silas Demery to Carolina Cobras
Carolina –OL/DL BJ Pate to Milwaukee Mustangs
Richmond – OL/DL Lawrence Lewis to Milwaukee Mustangs
American Conference
Southeast Division
The new Southeast Division now becomes the Florida/Georgia division and gives the league the weekly rivalries it strives to desire.
There are four teams from the state of Florida (Pensacola, Tallahassee, Jacksonville and the expansion Florida Firecats) and three teams from Georgia (Augusta and the expansion Columbus Wardogs and Macon Knights).
With the new alignment, Augusta lost their biggest rivalry and division combatant from 2000 in the Carolina Rhinos but they will still play each other once in Greenville on June 2nd.
The Southeast Division features three playoff teams from last season. Ironically, all three teams will have new head coaches.
Augusta features a new head coach in 2001 as former AFL QB Mike Hold takes over for af2 Coach Of The Year, Mike Neu. Neu moves up to the AFL as an assistant with the Carolina Cobras.
Hold has his work cut out for him as the Stallions will be without league MVP, QB Aaron Sparrow (Buffalo Destroyers) as well as his two top receivers, RJ Anderson (Tampa Bay) and Calvin Ceasar (Milwaukee).
Former Pensacola Head Coach, Kevin Porter, jumps over to their division rival Macon Knights as head coach. The Barracudas replace Porter with Bruce Cowdrey. Cowdrey led the Peoria Pirates to an IFL Championship in 2000.
The Jacksonville Tomcats say goodbye to legendary head coach Perry Moss. He will be replaced by former Tallahassee assistant Ron McCrone. McCrone is also the father of Tomcats QB Jeff McCrone.
So as you can see, there are a lot of ties between these seven teams. Add to that the fact that many of these local players faced each other in their high school and college days. It should make for a very exciting division.
Notable af2 Players on the Move
Pensacola – FB/LB Carlo Joseph – Las Vegas (XFL)
Pensacola - K Brian Reeves – (Los Angeles Avengers)
Tallahassee – QB Shane Stafford – (Tampa Bay Storm)
Tallahassee – OS Carl Bond – (New Jersey Red Dogs)
National Conference
South Central Division
The South Central Division features three teams from last year’s National Conference (Tennessee Valley. Birmingham and Arkansas) and four expansion teams (Memphis, Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Bossier City).
Only one playoff team sits in the division. The Tennessee Valley Vipers who lost to the Quad City Steamwheelers 68-59 in Arena Cup I.
Shortly after the Vipers Head Coach, Tom Luginbill, left to take an assistant’s job with his father in the XFL. The Vipers replaced him with former Augusta Stallions assistant, Bret Munsey.
Perhaps the most intriguing af2 expansion franchise to watch in 2001 will be the Memphis Xplorers. If not for the talent put onto the field, then for the financial health of the franchise.
The city of Memphis has had a love/hate relationship with the game of football
Many professional football teams have come and gone over the last 20 years (USFL Memphis Showboats, CFL Memphis Mad Dogs, and the AFL Memphis Pharoahs). Even the Houston Oilers tried to set up roots at the Liberty Bowl while their permanent home was being built in Nashville.
But the Memphis football fans wanted none of it.
Some say their hard feelings towards professional football were cemented when they were snubbed by the NFL for an expansion franchise that was awarded to Jacksonville and Charlotte. Others say that they will accept nothing less than the NFL.
To be accurate, the Xplorers will not actually have residency in Memphis but will play just across the border in DeSoto County, Mississippi.
The other three expansion franchises in the South Central Division will be in the State of Louisiana. The Bossier City BattleWings, the Baton Rouge Blaze and the Lafayette Roughnecks.
The BattleWings will be coached by NFL veteran Pat Tilley, while the Roughnecks will be coached by former Saint running back, Buford Jordan,
Jordan has some head coaching experience. He coached the semi-pro New Orleans Thunder of the Regional Football League.
In Baton Rouge, the Blaze have hired Alan Risher as their head coach. Risher, a local hero, was the starting QB for the LSU Tigers in the early 80’s.
Notable af2 Players on the Move
Tennessee Valley – WR/DB Bobby Washington (Nashville Kats)
Tennessee Valley – OL/DL Matt Norwood (Nashville Kats)
Arkansas – OL/DL Greg Taylor (Chicago Rush)
National Conference
Midwest Division
Hands down this should be the most interesting of all four divisions. Week in and week out you will have some sort of an interesting story line to choose from.
For starters, you have the defending af2 champions, the 19-0 Quad City Steamwheelers.
Add to that, you will also have the defending IFL champion Peoria Pirates, who were also undefeated, and the two other holdovers from the IFL, the Lincoln Lightning and the Wichita Stealth.
If that weren’t enough, twice a year you will have a father vs. son coaching match up of father (Iowa Barnstormer’s Art Haege) and son (Quad City Steamwheeler’s Frank Haege).
Another playoff team in the Midwest Division from 2000 are the Tulsa Talons. The Talons will have a new head coach in Skip Foster. Foster has no Arena experience, but spent 12 successful seasons as head coach of Coffeyville, (KS) JC leading them to a 1990 National Championship.
The defending IFL Champion Peoria Pirates join the af2 Midwest Division with new head coach, Gary Porter. Porter quarterbacked the Pirates to a championship last year.
Porter’s only AFL experience came as a backup with the Texas Terror in 1997 to record setting QB, Clint Dolezel.
To hit the coaching ground running, Porter has spent the off-season as an assistant coach at NAIA Northwestern Oklahoma State.
If you are to look at the eight teams that qualified for the af2 playoffs in 2000, you will find that 7 of the 8 teams had a head coach with previous Arena coaching experience. The exception to that rule was Carolina Rhino Head Coach Earnest Wilson, although he had one year at the helm of the IFL’s Dayton Skyhawks.
Notable af2 Players on the Move
Quad City – QB Billy Dicken (Chicago Rush)
Quad City – Shon King (Long Island AFL)
Tulsa – WR/DB Jeremy Alexander (Oklahoma Wranglers)
A Final Note
At the time of writing there was still a possibility of a Northwest Division being formed for the 2001 season. According to league officials, their formation would not affect the current schedule as they would play amongst themselves in 2001. It is still undetermined, however, as to how they would be integrated into the current playoff structure.
Michael Vergane was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2002.
