The New Rampage Coach is…Steve Thonn
Randy Snow
Thursday August 2, 2007
At a press conference today at the Van Andel Arena, the Grand Rapids Rampage introduced Steve Thonn as the team’s new head coach, the fifth in team history. Thonn spent the last three seasons as the offensive coordinator of the Georgia Force.
After head coach Sparky McEwen was let go at the conclusion of the regular season, Rampage General Manager Scott Woodruff had a short list of five potential head coaching candidates he wanted to interview. Thonn was the third person interviewed for the job and Woodruff said that once that interview was over, he knew he had found his coach.
“This is a man of tremendous integrity,” Woodruff said of Thonn. “When you’re building a program you want to build it around great people. People with great character, and I don’t know if they come any greater than Steve Thonn.”
Woodruff liked the fact that Thonn had been a player in the league (he played wide receiver and defensive back) as well as his experience as an assistant coach and also as a head coach. Thonn was the head coach of the league’s Houston Thunderbears from 1998-2001.
“Steve, in my view, is the top offensive mind in the game,” said Woodruff. “With all due respect to a lot of great offensive coordinators out there, I don’t think they get any better than Steve.”
For Thonn, the one thing that made Grand Rapids such an appealing place to come to was the fact that it reminded him of where he grew up.
“I grew up in Albany, New York,” Thonn said. “That’s where I played (Arena Football) and that’s where I coached the first year. When I think of Arena Football I think of all the small towns. I loved Albany so much that when I came to Grand Rapids I thought this was so similar to those teams in Albany with the small community and a great fan base.”
Thonn has not had a chance to evaluate any of the players that were on the Rampage team this past season as of yet, but he did cross paths with one player this season who is now with Grand Rapids, quarterback Adrian McPherson.
“(Adrian) came to Georgia in the second game of the season when he was with Austin and he lit us up. He had 360 yards passing and seven touchdowns. I know Adrian is talented and I look forward to meeting him this fall.”
After four straight losing seasons by the Rampage, Thonn knows that expectations are high to try and turn things around quickly in Grand Rapids.
“We did it (three years ago) in Georgia,” Thonn said. “We really did overhaul that team pretty good. We got rid of a lot of players and we brought in a lot of new player, so it can be done.
“We’re looking to be competitive right off the bat. Scott (Woodruff) and I have talked about this quite a bit and competitive to us means playoffs. Competitive doesn’t mean anything else and that’s what we’re looking to do.”
Thonn hopes to have his coaching staff in place by next week.
After turning the Georgia franchise around in just one season, the future is looking bright for the Grand Rapids Rampage. It appears that Steve Thonn has the qualifications and experience needed to return the Rampage to the glory days of 2001, when they won ArenaBowl XV.
