Coping With Change
Charliy Nash
Monday February 26, 2007
“Deep down I think it’s going to be less scoring,” predicted Nashville Kats’ assistant general manager Darryl Hammond, “The defenses are going to be better, so I think the offenses are just not going to score as much.” Hammond also expects to see more running plays and thinks they will look a little different, “I think there will be more running packages, Like in the NFL where you have ‘Moose’ packages, I think some big guys will probably play slot receiver and block and cause the defense to adjust and put bigger guys in.”
“Personally I think that it favors the defense,” agreed secondary coach Brenard Wilson, “I think in this game the better players have always been on offense anyway. It’s been my experience, when I initially started coaching in Arena Football that the receivers were better than the DBs; I think that the DBs are catching up with the receivers now. Now you’re talking about I can truly have three DBs.” Wilson believes the biggest impact will be felt up front, “Where I think the game will help the defense is because we’ll have true pass rushers who are fresh. Personally I think it’s harder to find blocking offensive linemen as opposed to pass rushing defensive ends.”
“I think most teams had an easier time finding defensive [linemen] as opposed to offensive guys,” echoed Line Coach Darrin Kenney, “Offensive linemen are hard to find period, whether it’s the NFL, Arena ball, Canadian, whatever.” This has been a major point of emphasis for the Kats in the off-season. “That’s the thing when we were going through in the off-season was finding quality offensive candidates. I think we did. I think we’ve got some good guys in here.”
“Everything remains to be seen,” offered head coach Pat Sperduto, “I think it’s going to be trial and error for a lot of teams. They’re going to go out with a game plan and they might have to throw that game plan away.” Sperduto doesn’t feel that the new rule will spell a complete end to Ironman play, “You have a few spots that can be specialized, a few more spots as opposed to the offensive specialist and the defensive specialist. Now you have maybe two offensive specialists and three defensive specialists and maybe a defensive specialist who’s a pass rusher or maybe an offensive lineman who’s a specialist as a pass blocker. You can have flexibility in that sense, but you still have to have enough guys who can do both.”
A lot of people have expressed a lot of opinions about the new rule and its effect one the game. But in the end, as Sperduto explains, “We won’t know until we hit the field.”
How About More Changes?
The decisions to adopt free substitution and remove the coach from the field were said to be to make the game “more watchable” or “more entertaining.” With that in mind, here are a few suggestions based on popular TV shows:
If a team does not score during a quarter, they must vote one of their players "off the island" for the remainder of the game.
Two words: Invincible cheerleaders.
Touchdowns will no longer be worth six points. After a touchdown is scored the cheerleaders will line up, each holding an aluminum briefcase. The player who scored will pick one briefcase, which will determine the point value.
When making difficult calls, referees will be given the option to poll the audience or phone a friend before giving their "Final Answer".
A CSI team will dust the football for fingerprints after every interception or fumble recovery.
After taking down the quarterback, players will be teamed with a minor celebrity for "Sack Dancing With the Stars".
Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul will assist at all open tryouts.
Charliy Nash has covered both incarnations of the Nashville Kats, and now has make the 2 hour drive to Huntsville for an Arena Football fix. He also covers the Tennessee Titans as a blogger for nfl.com and still hopes this will eventually lead to a paying gig.
