Moss' Experience Dwarfs All In ArenaBowl XXIV
Adam Markowitz
Thursday August 11, 2011
It took QB Aaron Garcia 201 games in the Arena Football League before finally getting here to the ArenaBowl in 2011. The Jacksonville Sharks might have had to travel across the country with virtually no practice, but their Head Coach Les Moss has more experience dealing with ArenaBowls than all of the players in the game combined.
Moss won a championship as an assistant coach with the Detroit Drive in 1990, and then again with the Predators under Head Coach Jay Gruden in 1998 and 2000. Moss coached a dozen years with the Preds. He has coached as an assistant in the ArenaBowl nine times before (1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2006).
Arizona Rattlers Head Coach Kevin Guy was the defensive coordinator in ArenaBowl XIX against the Columbus Destroyers. The Cats held down Columbus that day to just 33 points, the fewest points a team has scored in an ArenaBowl since 2003. Guy also played in ArenaBowl XII with the Orlando Predators against the Albany Firebirds.
Fortunately for Guy, he also has some assistant coaches with experience in ArenaBowls as players and coaches. Wide Receivers Coach Siaha Burley caught 11 passes for 166 yards and four TDs in the loss for the Rattlers against the San Jose SaberCats. Defensive Coordinator Omarr Smith is the only player in the history of the AFL to win three straight ArenaBowls, winning in 2002 and 2004 with the SaberCats and 2003 with the Tampa Bay Storm. Smith also won the ArenaBowl with the Cats in 2007 and lost it in 2008.
There's only player on either side that played in the ArenaBowl last year was OL/DL Richard Clebert. Clebert actually made one of the biggest plays of the game in that one for the Shock, recovering a fumble for the first, and essentially the deciding turnover of the game. Clebert is also the only member of the Sharks to ever play in the big game at this level. Jacksonville also just signed OL Mike Mabry, who played in the 2008 ArenaBowl with the Philadelphia Soul. This will be the only game that Mabry plays with the Sharks this year.
On the other side, WR Jason Geathers played with the San Jose SaberCats in ArenaBowl XXII, catching eight passes for 101 yards and five TDs. His teammate in that game was DB Marquis Floyd, who had three tackles and a forced fumble in ArenaBowl XXII, and then had seven tackles and two pass deflections in ArenaBowl XXI. WR Chris Jackson won Offensive Player of the Game honors in ArenaBowl XXII for his 11 catches, 146 yards, and three TDs, and he had seven grabs for 84 yards and a score in a loss to the Colorado Crush in ArenaBowl XIX.
And believe it or not, in terms of players, that's it. Three Rattlers. Two Sharks. Seven ArenaBowls. Four championships. Moss alone has nine appearances and three titles.
If there's one man that can get Jacksonville past the problems of travel and inexperience, Moss is the man.
