The start of the 2009 Arena Football League season is more than seven months away, but in the world of professional sports there is no off-season.
Over the last three weeks, AFL teams have been busy solidifying their rosters for the upcoming season. Teams had until Aug. 10 to re-sign any player on their roster who was eligible to become a free agent.
Most of the League’s marquee players who were eligible to become free agents were re-signed by their current clubs, including New York QB Aaron Garcia, Chicago QB Russ Michna and WR Donovan Morgan, Philadelphia DL Gabe Nyenhuis and OL Phil Bogle, Orlando WR T.T. Toliver and Grand Rapids QB James MacPherson.
The Soul was the busiest club since winning the ArenaBowl, re-signing nearly 10 players from their championship team, including Larry Brackins, Mike Brown, Rob Keefe, Rod Davis, Wes Ours and Clifton Smith, in addition to Nyenhuis and Bogle.
“When you win a championship a lot of guys hit contract incentives and it hurts us on next years (salary) cap,” Soul head coach Bret Munsey said. “But, that’s part of winning. I won’t have as much money to spend this time around and it’s my job to take everyone on the roster and spread that money around. We have a lot of good players on this team and it’s not just one guy that won a championship for us. Every guy was valuable.”
But, the two names that were noticeably missing from the Soul’s list of players who re-signed for ’09 were QBs Tony Graziani and Matt D’Orazio. Graziani has already made it known that he’ll be playing somewhere else next season, while not signing D’Orazio was somewhat of a surprise.
“We offered Matt (a contract) and he decided to go into the free agent market and that’s understood,” Munsey said. “That’s what free agency is all about.”
But, if I were a Soul fan I wouldn’t panic just yet. D’Orazio is just doing his due diligence by testing the free agent waters. I expect him to be back in a Philadelphia uniform once he does the free agent rounds in a few months.
In addition to D’Orazio and Graziani, other notable free agents heading into ‘09 include Philadelphia DB Eddie Moten, Orlando QB Shane Stafford, San Jose WR Cleannord Saintil and Dallas FB/LB Duke Pettijohn. The official AFL free agent signing period will begin later this fall. Keep posted to arenafootball.com in the coming weeks for a complete list of available free agents.
Nagy Remains in Columbus Although Destroyers QB Matt Nagy is not a free agent this off-season and has a year left on his original deal, he had a clause in his contract that gave him the opportunity to opt out the contract if there were a coaching change in Columbus. After the season, head coach Doug Kay parted ways with the club and former Nashville Kats head coach Pat Sperduto was hired.
Nagy had the chance to void his contract and become a free agent this year, but he decided to play out the final year of his deal with the Destroyers.
It’s been a pretty busy off-season already for the six-year AFL veteran. He worked for a month as an intern assistant coach for the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles until last week when he returned to his job as offensive coordinator at Palmyra (Pa.) High School. In addition to playing quarterback in the AFL and coaching high school kids in the fall, Nagy is also a real-estate agent. Now that’s what it means to be a true Ironman.
Schwartze Promoted to Defensive Coordinator in Chicago The Chicago Rush promoted assistant coach Brian Schwartze to the position of defensive coordinator, the team announced earlier this month. Schwartze, who served as the team’s defensive backs coach for the last five years and has overseen the team’s player personnel department since 2005, replaces Walt Housman who left the club after eight seasons.
“I'm excited to have Brian take full control of our defense,” said Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. “He is an outstanding coach who has called all of our coverages in the secondary for the past five years. He now will get the chance to have his influence on the entire defense.”
Grand Rapids to Return Entire Coaching Staff for First Time in Team History For the first time in the 11-year history of the club, the Grand Rapids Rampage will return their entire coaching staff next season. Grand Rapids finished the regular season with a 6-10 mark but caught fire in the playoffs, knocking off Arizona and Chicago before falling to San Jose in the American Conference Championship game.
First-year head coach Steve Thonn returns his entire staff of defensive coordinator Ron Selesky, OL/DL coach Darrin Kenney, special teams and FB/LB coach Paul Reinke and football operations manager Rod Miller.
AFL Vet John Kaleo Officially Retires Veteran QB John Kaleo officially turned in his retirement papers to the League this off-season. But, as we’ve seen in the NFL with Brett Favre, just because you’ve signed the papers doesn’t mean you’re actually done playing.
But, in Kaleo’s case, I don’t expect him to make a surprise comeback.
A 16-year veteran of the League, Kaleo played for 10 different teams (Albany Firebirds, Cleveland Thunderbolts, St. Louis Stampede, Anaheim Piranhas, San Jose SaberCats, New England Sea Wolves, Tampa Bay Storm, Austin Wranglers, Los Angeles Avengers, and Columbus Destroyers) and tossed 581 career touchdowns.
With former Storm offensive coordinator Pat O’Hara off to coach Los Angeles, don’t be surprised to see Kaleo surface on head coach Tim Marcum’s staff in Tampa Bay next season.
Football in the Fall? A number of AFL players are currently in training camps with NFL clubs. As the NFL preseason kicks into full gear over the next two weeks, keep an eye on these current AFL players fighting for roster spots in the NFL:
Pos/Name NFL Team AFL Team
WR Anthony Armstrong Miami Dolphins Dallas Desperados
DL Mkristo Bruce Jacksonville Jaguars Arizona Rattlers
DB Ahmad CarrollN.Y. Jets Orlando Predators
DB Keyuo Craver New Orleans Saints Arizona Rattlers
LB Maurice Fountain Miami Dolphins Utah Blaze
OL Jasper HarveyArizona Cardinals Orlando Predators
OL Rob Hunt New Orleans Saints New Orleans VooDoo
OL Isaiah Ross New Orleans Saints New Orleans VooDoo
K John Vaughn Tennessee Titans Orlando Predators
Last year, three AFL players earned roster spots in the NFL – Chicago Rush WR Bobby Sippio (Kansas City Chiefs), Rush WR Ahmad Merritt (Arizona Cardinals and New York Dragons DL Josh Shaw (Oakland Raiders).
Fans, click hereto e-mail a question to Chicago Rush head coach Mike Hohensee. "Coach Ho" will answer the questions each week as part of the Allstate "Ask Coach Ho" feature."
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