Conquest Name Jeff Hoffman New Head Coach

Thursday January 10, 2008

Club To Remain at Times Union Center Through 2010

ALBANY, NY – The Albany Conquest announced today that Associate Coach and Defensive Coordinator Jeff Hoffman has been named Head Coach for the 2008 af2 season. The Conquest also announced a three year extension to the club’s current lease with the Times Union Center that will run through the 2010 arenafootball2 season.

Hoffman returned to the Conquest for the 2007 season to serve as the Associate Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator and the club finished with a 6-10 record, including a 5-3 record at the Times Union Center.  Hoffman’s efforts improve the defense dramatically from the 2006 season, including a new franchise record with 31 sacks. He previously worked with the Conquest during the 2005 campaign as a consultant.

“We have all the confidence that Jeff will bring the team back to a championship level,” said Albany Conquest President/General Manager S. Garen Szablewski. “We saw our team defense improve in every statistical category last season and we expect to continue that trend on both sides of the ball moving forward.”

Prior to his time in Albany, Hoffman was the Specials Teams Coordinator and Wide Receivers Coach for the Arena Football League’s Columbus Destroyers for the 2004 and 2005 seasons. His 2005 Destroyers special teams unit was ranked number one overall in the AFL. In 2001 Hoffman worked in Player Personnel and Scouting for the New York Football Giants, evaluating players from the NFL, NFL Europe, XFL and AFL.

His first AFL stint came with the New Jersey Red Dogs for three seasons from 1997-99. In 1997, as the Wide Receivers Coach, Hoffman had the first two wide receivers in the history of the AFL to record 1,000 yard seasons. In 1998 and 1999 he was promoted to Specials Teams Coordinator, where his units were consistently amongst the top squads in the AFL.

The New Jersey native attended the University of Maryland where he played as a defensive back and a member of the special teams unit for three seasons from 1987-89. After college, he returned to his home state of New Jersey and began his coaching career in both high school and small college programs. Hoffman currently resides in Albany with his wife Katie and his daughter Kaitlin.

The Conquest will begin their 2008 season on the road at the Mahoning Valley Thunder on Saturday, March 29th at 7:05 pm. The Conquest’s home opener will be on Sunday, April 13th at 4:00 pm against the Peoria Pirates at the Times Union Center.

Full and partial season ticket packages are now on sale for the 2008 Albany Conquest regular season. For more information please contact the Conquest at (518) 487-2244 or online at www.albanyconquest.com.