Steamwheelers Introduce New Head Coach
Gary Stibolt
Sunday October 10, 2004
The record, while it is important, needs to be looked at in the right context. Frazier has been in situations throughout his arena coaching career where he was thrust into a situation where he was always putting out fires and having to play the role of salvation. His only stint in the af2 was in 2003 where he coached the Norfolk Nighthawks. The situation he took over in Norfolk was extremely difficult.
"This is the first time I feel like I`ve taken a good job," stated Frazier about signing on with the Steamwheelers. "I told myself I was not going to take another bad job. I know I`m a winner and I`ll surround myself and this organization with good coaches and players. I also said I would not ever take another job where I am not in charge of (player) personnel."
Frazier describes himself as a no-nonsense coach. "I like to consider myself old-fashioned but even now I don`t think we know what that means anymore. Over the last 10-years things have changed and I`ve had to change with them. Gone are the days of cutting a guy because he wanted to stop for a drink of water." Frazier says he`ll be looking for the type of player with character and work ethic. "I`m looking for guys who have high character and a solid work ethic. Some one that will have character both on and off the field. Someone that will not embarrass this organization, the community, and their fans. A guy who`ll work hard every day. Someone who will study film on their own. We are going to work hard. We are going to work our tails off. Now, I`m not going to kill them but we will have a team with high character and a strong work ethic."
That team could look similar to the one we had last year as far as coaching and players go. Coach Frazier announced that assistant coach Ed Langford has agreed to return to coach for the 2005 season. A big question mark is line coach Jon Roehlk, whom interviewed for the head coaching position. "I have made Jon an offer," explained Frazier. "I want him to be a part of this team but I have not yet heard from him today and I hope to."
Frazier is known for his solid defense and he believes that is the best knowledge you can have to run an offense. "Ten years of coaching arena football has taught me one thing about defense...keep it simple. I`ve got room to bring one more full-time coach on board and that will be my Offensive Coordinator." Frazier says he`ll organize the offense with his defensive philosophy but he wants a guy who knows offense in arena football who can orchestrate a game. "I am not a coach who is on the field throughout the game," explained Frazier. "You need to keep things in perspective and while some coaches can do a good job of running both, I believe you need to give yourself the opportunity to have a clear mind about what is going on out there and be able to listen to other coaches. That is just how I do it." The top candidates for the offensive duties are Pat O`Hara and Steve Fickert. Gary Crampton was another offensive-minded coach that Frazier spoke highly of.
The af2 players are still under contract until the end of October. That means the first order of business is to sign the guys he wants from last years Steamwheelers squad. "I`ve spent the last 48-hours looking at tape and there are some guys I would love to have back here," stated Frazier. There were about twelve guys who have impressed Frazier just from film and stats and topping the list are Tim Dodge and Jeff Hewitt. "If they want to play and don`t move up, I would love to have them here this coming season," said Frazier of Hewitt and Dodge. He continued to talk about some of the guys he was impressed with on the limited film he had seen.
"I think your quarterback has what it takes to win a championship in this league. I looked at his numbers and he`s got it." When asked about linemen, coach Frazier rattled off three names quickly. "Cherry, Dotsy, and Verdegan looked very good. That number 84, Ocasio is a guy I would like to have here too." Frazier plans to have everyone called by next Wednesday to see if they would be interested in coming to play for him this season. That is the first order of business for Frazier who plans to be in town every week, a day or two at a time until he moves here permanently for the season on February 15th.
So what`s next? Frazier describes the timeline this way. The coaching staff is expected to be complete within the next few days. All current Steamwheelers that want to play need to be signed by October 31st and that effort starts Monday, October 11th. On November 1st, Frazier plans to contact players who are free agents that he thinks would fit into his system. In November and December you have a lot of free agents available and the AFL camps start up. There will be an open-tryout for the Steamwheelers in November. In January and February the AFL season is underway and the AFL cuts will be a source for scouting and recruiting. Then in March, right before training camp is to start on the 15th, there will be another open-tryout. The idea behind this tryout is to hopefully sign the guy(s) that day and get them moved into our housing situation and then start training camp immediately.
So that`s the ground work for Frazier. He`ll be developing his team and be consumed with recruiting. He`ll then expound upon his new Steamwheeler Disciples his physical approach to playing the game. "We plan to be very physical," stated Frazier. When asked about rivaled teams of the Steamwheelers the coach was very confident. He knows a couple of the coaches in the league and he has a lot of respect for them but he plans to beat them. When asked about Peoria specifically, he responded, "Peoria to me is like everyone else...they`ll be in the way. They`ll all be tough but we`ll stomp their guts out one week at a time. Our goal will be to win each week and make it to the playoffs. Then we`ll work on getting that first playoff win and go from there. We want a championship but you get there one week at a time."
Gary Stibolt has covered the Quad City Steamwheelers since their 2000 inaugural season. He also owns, operates and is the Chief Editor/Publisher of SteamwheelerFans.com, a website dedicated to the Steamwheelers and their fans. He coresponds for other media outlets covering arenafootball2. In addition to leading the Steamwheelers Fan Club, Gary serves as Coordinator of the National af2 Fan Club. He is married with two sons and works as an Infrastructure Analyst for Deere & Company in their Corporate Computer Center in Moline, Illinois.