ArenaFan Interview: Georgia Force head coach Doug Plank
Fran Stuchbury
Wednesday April 11, 2007
Q. Were you happy with the team’s performance after the big victory on the road in Philadelphia?
A. It was so exciting to beat a team that was undefeated in Philadelphia; they were so solid in their offense, defense and special teams. We knew we were going have to play a near perfect game to have a chance in winning this football game. A lot of excitement and enthusiasm in our locker room, a lot of satisfaction by our coaching staff because we put a lot of team and effort into this week. Players stayed later coaches stayed later to be prepared. It’s the best win of the season so far, for the Georgia Force.
Q. What made you decide to trade QB Matt Nagy during the off-season and bring in Chris Greisen?
A. Chris was somebody we were familiar with. What happened last year was really no fault of anyone, we went only 8-8 and we felt we needed to go into a different direction. Both at quarterback, and defense. We only had one returning starter from last years team Jermaine Smith. We had seven new starters on defense. We really overhauled this team, 65% of this football team is new from last season. We felt like we didn’t want to have another 8-8 season.
Q. How fortunate were you to get WR Troy Bergeron, who compliments WR’s Derek Lee and Chris Jackson back.
A. Troy Bergeron is a phenomenal athlete. There were some things I knew he could do very well like catching balls. Athletically what he did for us tonight on special teams covering kickoffs, he made some special plays for us that were difference makers. This game could have easily swung either direction. So many times we can down on fourth down. Our players fortunately made plays tonight.
Q. You’re a defensive minded coach. Are you surprised free substitution has increased scoring in AFL games?
A. What happened last year when I looked at the sacks and we analyzed it in the off-season. The majority of sacks that have taken place by the defense were against defensive lineman pretending they were offensive lineman.
We felt like if we were able to recruit just pure offensive lineman, I thought it was going make it more difficult for the defense. In essence it has, scoring is up, sacks are down across the league. It has put a lot more pressure on defenses now to try to come up with stops other ways.
Q. What is the status of kicker Keith Gispert? Is Xavier Beitia going still be your kicker for the time being?
A. Keith Gispert our kicker is still rehabbing. He still has three our four weeks left before he even thinks about trying to kick again. With the current situation especially after a big win like this we have confidence in our kicker right now and we don’t plan to make any changes.
Q. How do you like working under owner of the Georgia Force Arthur Blank?
A. Arthur Blank is a special owner and special person. He owns the Atlanta Falcons and the Georgia Force. I appreciate it because he cares about our football team as much as he does about the Atlanta Falcons. He attends every single game he could make over the last three years, and his presence here makes a difference.
Our players know when he is at the football game they are going give that little bit extra. I appreciate him taking the time to come to our games.
Fran Stuchbury has been the host of ArenaZone since 2003. In 2002 he was the co-host of ArenaFan Radio with Tim Capper. While in school, Fran was the host of the original ArenaZone radio show on his college radio station, where he interviewed many league names such as Kurt Warner, league founder Jim Foster, and Commissioner David Baker. Fran lives in Southampton, Pennsylvania and works for the website SportsNetwork. Fran will be attending all the Philadelphia Soul home games this season and will be covering arena football for ArenaFan Radio and OurSportsCentral. He has followed the AFL since its first game back in 1987 and has been part of the media since 1998.
