Younger Likes Look of the Phantoms
Jim Parcels
Tuesday March 5, 2002
At the end of any sports season, a team can go in one of three directions:
One;
Play a season that was successful in winning a championship and being torn apart through free agency or salary cap problems.
Two;
Play a season that was unsuccessful and reshuffling the entire deck.
Or Three;
Lose a heart-breaking playoff game and retool by only adding experience and depth to a young and talented lineup.
If you are FB/LB Jermaine Younger of the Toronto Phantoms of the Arena Football League – your team fits the latter.
Last August the Phantoms completed their ‘2001 campaign with a last-second loss to eventual ArenaBowl finalists, the Nashville Kats.
“There is no question that we feel motivated after how we progressed last year,” said Younger, a former Argonaut who settled in the Toronto-area after his CFL days.
“Going into this year I feel that with our progress late last year we have a chance to do some good things and build on the Nashville game,” he continued.
Younger, who started 7 of 12 games as the Phantoms FB/LB last season, feels that the fine tuning over the winter by Coach Marc Stoute is just what the club required.
“Marc made some great moves to add some experience to our lineup over the winter,” said Younger, “With guys like (Tommy) Henry, (Kelvin) Ingram and (Anthony) Hicks coming in we should be a better club in terms of depth and veteran leadership.”
The Phantoms play in the AFL’s Eastern Division – a group of clubs that improved markedly over the off-season. Buffalo, New Jersey and New York all opened their bank accounts with some high-priced free agent signings.
“It’s unbelievable when you look at the players that are coming into our division this year. McNair is in Buffalo, Papin is in New York and Horacek is in New Jersey. Its quite an improvement on last year.”
Last June, the Phantoms were struggling with a 3-6 record in mid-June but went on a five-game winning streak that lifted them to the AFL’s Eastern Division championship: A scenario that Younger doesn’t want to see again this year.
“We got out of the gate slowly last year and spent the rest of the season trying to catch up,” he said, “That is something we want to avoid this year by getting off to a good start.”
The off-season shopping spree has seen several veteran utility players that may not jump off the stats sheet, however, are the types of players that can make a difference between a contender and a champion.
Coming on board is veteran DS Tommy Henry (Tampa Bay), FB/LB Anthony Hicks (Nashville), OL/DL Kelvin Ingram (Arizona) and WR/DB Kahlil Carter (Milwaukee).
“Tommy Henry is an excellent addition to us with his experience and leadership,” said Yonger, “He’s a winner and has played in Toronto before and will definitely help us on defense.”
Younger and Henry were team mates with the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts in the mid-1990’s.
“You also have two guys who have ArenaBowl experience in Ingram and Hicks that will be important to our young club,” he continued.
If there is one major personnel issue heading into camp on March 26th it’s the Quarterback situation.
Most clubs would love the dilemma that Stoute has in two very capable signal-callers – a situation similar to Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.
On one hand you have the younger, more successful Chad Salisbury (who orchestrated a six-game winning streak as starter last year) who has an 11-3 record as a starter dating back to the New England Sea Wolves in ‘2000.
On the other hand you have veteran Pat O’Hara who has two ArenaBowl rings from his Orlando Predator days.
“There is no question we are deep at the QB position,” said Younger, “I really have no preference who will be our starter because I truly believe we can be successful with either guy.”
Tales from the Crypt:
Stoute signed two of his three unrestricted free agents when he wrapped up veterans OL/DL Connell Spain and WR/LB Ty Law last week. Veteran FB/LB Daren Williams is still on the open market… Last week Stoute also finalized his staff with the addition of former Milwaukee Mustang OL/DL coach Bob Landsee. The former Green Bay Packer guard is a highly respected AFL coach and should make an impact on the effectiveness of the club’s line play… Among the rookies who are expected to make an impact at camp year are OL/DL Thomas Washington, DS DeAuntae Brown and WR/LB Nakia Jenkins. Washington was a member of the ‘2001 NFL Europe Champion Berlin Thunder as the starting NT while Brown was the starting CB for the NFL Europe Finalist Barcelona Dragons. Jenkins was a college team mate of Younger at Utah State and played for the XFL Las Vegas Outlaws last winter… The Phantoms are holding a free agent camp on Friday, March 8th at the Coffee Time Soccer Centre in Woodbridge. Expect about 40-50 hopefuls from across Canada and the U.S. to attend… Former CIAU standout QB Ryan Reid of the University of Saskatchewan is attempting to be the first former CIAU (CIS) player to participate in AF2 – he signed a contract with the New Haven Ninjas last week… Training Camp will open on Saturday, March 24th with players reporting for orientation and physicals. Camp starts with two-a-days on Monday, March 26th at the Soccer Centre… Look for rookie Daryl Richardson to make a run at the 3rd FB/LB spot. The 28-year old rookie led Northeast Oklahoma to the NCAA I-AA title in 1999 after recording 17 sacks and 108 tackles in just nine games. Last year he played for the AF2 Peoria Pirates.
Jim Parcels was a writer for ArenaFan Online during the 2002 season.
