What Now for the Steamwheelers?
Michael Vergane
Thursday August 30, 2001
After two af2 championships with the Quad City Steamwheelers, Frank Haege moved up to the AFL and was hired as the new head coach of the New Jersey Gladiators taking his assistant Brian Schwartze with him.
During his press conference introductions, Jim Foster called this day bittersweet. “I knew that this league would also be a developmental league for coaches and eventually Frank Haege would make the move up”, said Steamwheeler owner Jim Foster about his former head coach.
Rather than just make a press release announcing the move, Foster felt that Haege and Schwartze deserved a formal press conference so a proper ‘goodbye’ could be made to the local fans.
Frank Haege thanked Jim Foster for taking a chance two years ago on a coach with no head coaching expreience to speak of. In fact before joining the Steamwheelers, the only head coaching expreience Haege had was in a post season Division III All-Star game (yes, he won that game, too). So you could say Haege has only lost one game ever as a head coach.
Schwartze thanked the Quad City fans and talked about his meeting two years ago with Haege after he was hired and told his wife, “What the hell did I just get myself into?”.
So where do the Steamwheelers go from here? With plenty of af2 expansion teams coming on board the Steamwheeler management need to find the best candidate A.S.A.P.
But there is one stumbling block that Jim Foster and the other owners in search of a new coach need to hurdle. And that is the af2 Board of Directors upcoming vote on a new salary cap for coaches. Although this would only apply to new hires, it does affect the quality of coach that Foster could hire. Once the cap is voted for (or against) you will begin to see the new coaches being signed. Until then, the interviewing process will continue.
According to Jim Foster and Steamwheeler GM Ed Knupp, the new head coach must have Arena coaching expreience and have ties to the Midwest for recruiting purposes. “We have had discussions with a couple of coaches already”, said Knupp. “I’m excited by the names I have heard and we plan to bring a few of them into town.”
So who are some possibilities?
Using Jim Foster’s criteria of an experienced coach with Midwest ties, I can think of a couple of good candidates.
The first coach that actually came to mind during the press conference was Bruce Cowdrey. However, less than 24 hours prior to Haege’s announcement, Cowdrey was rumored to have signed a contract with the Peoria Pirates.
One head coach that fits Foster’s qualifictions is Lincoln Lightning Head Coach, Jose Jefferson. Jefferson was an Offensive Specialist with Arizona and played for Foster’s Barnstormers in 1996. He was also born and raised in Omaha and knows the Midwest.
Macon Knight Assistant Coach Dave Witthum does not have head coaching expreience, but has played and coached in the Arena game since 1994. The Appleton, Wisconsin resident also has ties to Jim Foster as he played for the Barnstormers in 1997 as the center for Kurt Warner. For the past two seasons he has been as assistant to Kevin Porter in Macon and Pensacola.
Chicago Rush Assistant Coach Walt Housman has four years of Arena playing experience and four years AFL coaching experience. He is also a former Iowa Hawkeyes Offensive Lineman which should score big points with former Iowa graduate, Jim Foster.
Whether or not these are the candidates that will interview is anyone’s guess, but these are a few that came to mind. Once the league settles the matter of coaches pay, we should find out the answer.
Michael Vergane was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2002.
