Post by 50yardfan on Feb 24, 2012 23:01:20 GMT -5
Lehigh Valley Steelhawks have new look for new season
New coach, lots of new players spur hopes for a better team and record
www.mcall.com/sports/football/mc-lehigh-valley-steelhawks-preview-0222-20120223,0,1769152.story
With still more than two weeks to go before their 2012 home opener, Mike Clark said the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks have nearly doubled the season tickets they have sold from their first Indoor Football League season in 2011 — going from about 500 to 1,000.
But Clark, who is the team's executive vice president and son of owner and president Glenn Clark, said the Steelhawks are also looking to — at a minimum — double the team's IFL win total from 2011 and maybe even double the amount of fun the fans will have when they attend games at Stabler Arena.
The Steelhawks open the season against the Chicago Slaughter on Friday night and have another road game against the Cedar Rapids Titans in Iowa on March 3 before staging their home opener against the Bloomington Extreme on Sunday, March 11, at 4 p.m.
The Steelhawks, one of 16 teams spread throughout the country in the IFL, were 4-10 in their first season, 2-5 at home.
The Clarks made plenty of changes in the offseason, the most notable being at head coach where Rich Britt was released because of "differing views." Former Reading Express coach Chris Thompson was hired as head coach and assistant general manager.
"With Chris and his coaching ability on the field and what he has been able to do to bring in top-notch talent, we're looking to take this team to new levels," Mike Clark said.
But Clark said the positives go beyond the team's roster.
"On the business side, we've more than quadrupled our sponsorships since last year," he said. "And we've learned how to mesh our partners so that they work well and do business with each other."
Clark said the team's first season was a learning experience and more focus than ever has been on attracting sponsors and creating ways to keep them happy.
"Without the fans and partners, there is no Lehigh Valley Steelhawks," Clark said. "We need to increase the benefits for them. We were on a steep learning curve last year and learned a lot in a short amount of time. We discovered a lot of families would come out to the games and have a great time and they couldn't remember who won the game or what the score was. The families just want to have fun."
While promising to enhance the game-night experience, Clark said he still wants a winning team.
"I'm still a gamer and I want to win games, be competitive and get to the playoffs," he said. "That all goes toward making sure the fans have the best experience possible."
That's where Thompson's expertise comes in.
After winning the Atlantic Division title with an 8-6 mark and posting one playoff win in his one season as head coach of the Reading Express, Thompson, a former Manheim Central and Bloomsburg player, reshaped the Steelhawks roster after coming aboard in December. Only seven Steelhawks return from 2011.
"I'm happy where we are right now with the guys we've got," Thompson said. "We felt we needed to change some things and start fresh. We wanted to change the culture from last year's team."
It starts at quarterback, where the Steelhawks will likely go with Dixie Wooten, an indoor veteran from UTEP.
"We have three quarterbacks in camp with the others being Justin Willis from SMU and Dale Fink from Sacred Heart, and we're pleased with all three of them," Thompson said. "Unfortunately we have to let one of them go, but it's a great problem to have because we feel we could win with all three of them."
The roster restrictions this year limit teams to carrying 25 players, and this has been a week of difficult cuts with the 40 players the Steelhawks had in camp.
But what will be left, Thompson promises, is a team full of speed and size. One player to watch is defensive back Marvin Johnson, who started for Oregon in the 2011 BCS national title game against Auburn.
"We've got some guys who can fly on both sides of the ball," Thompson said. "I also like the size we have on both sides up front. We've upgraded a lot of positions from a year ago, and people will recognize that right way."
They also might recognize some of the personnel as three former Lehigh University defensive players — Central Catholic product and linebacker Matt Cohen and defensive backs John Kennedy III and Jarard Cribbs — are expected to be on the roster.
"We want the fans to feel like this is their team; the Lehigh Valley's team," Clark said. "We love it when the families come on the field after the game and kids take pictures with the players and get autographs.
"A lot of little kids look at our players like they're members of the Philadelphia Eagles. They can't distinguish between our guys and NFL stars, so we want to create a special experience for them."
New coach, lots of new players spur hopes for a better team and record
www.mcall.com/sports/football/mc-lehigh-valley-steelhawks-preview-0222-20120223,0,1769152.story
With still more than two weeks to go before their 2012 home opener, Mike Clark said the Lehigh Valley Steelhawks have nearly doubled the season tickets they have sold from their first Indoor Football League season in 2011 — going from about 500 to 1,000.
But Clark, who is the team's executive vice president and son of owner and president Glenn Clark, said the Steelhawks are also looking to — at a minimum — double the team's IFL win total from 2011 and maybe even double the amount of fun the fans will have when they attend games at Stabler Arena.
The Steelhawks open the season against the Chicago Slaughter on Friday night and have another road game against the Cedar Rapids Titans in Iowa on March 3 before staging their home opener against the Bloomington Extreme on Sunday, March 11, at 4 p.m.
The Steelhawks, one of 16 teams spread throughout the country in the IFL, were 4-10 in their first season, 2-5 at home.
The Clarks made plenty of changes in the offseason, the most notable being at head coach where Rich Britt was released because of "differing views." Former Reading Express coach Chris Thompson was hired as head coach and assistant general manager.
"With Chris and his coaching ability on the field and what he has been able to do to bring in top-notch talent, we're looking to take this team to new levels," Mike Clark said.
But Clark said the positives go beyond the team's roster.
"On the business side, we've more than quadrupled our sponsorships since last year," he said. "And we've learned how to mesh our partners so that they work well and do business with each other."
Clark said the team's first season was a learning experience and more focus than ever has been on attracting sponsors and creating ways to keep them happy.
"Without the fans and partners, there is no Lehigh Valley Steelhawks," Clark said. "We need to increase the benefits for them. We were on a steep learning curve last year and learned a lot in a short amount of time. We discovered a lot of families would come out to the games and have a great time and they couldn't remember who won the game or what the score was. The families just want to have fun."
While promising to enhance the game-night experience, Clark said he still wants a winning team.
"I'm still a gamer and I want to win games, be competitive and get to the playoffs," he said. "That all goes toward making sure the fans have the best experience possible."
That's where Thompson's expertise comes in.
After winning the Atlantic Division title with an 8-6 mark and posting one playoff win in his one season as head coach of the Reading Express, Thompson, a former Manheim Central and Bloomsburg player, reshaped the Steelhawks roster after coming aboard in December. Only seven Steelhawks return from 2011.
"I'm happy where we are right now with the guys we've got," Thompson said. "We felt we needed to change some things and start fresh. We wanted to change the culture from last year's team."
It starts at quarterback, where the Steelhawks will likely go with Dixie Wooten, an indoor veteran from UTEP.
"We have three quarterbacks in camp with the others being Justin Willis from SMU and Dale Fink from Sacred Heart, and we're pleased with all three of them," Thompson said. "Unfortunately we have to let one of them go, but it's a great problem to have because we feel we could win with all three of them."
The roster restrictions this year limit teams to carrying 25 players, and this has been a week of difficult cuts with the 40 players the Steelhawks had in camp.
But what will be left, Thompson promises, is a team full of speed and size. One player to watch is defensive back Marvin Johnson, who started for Oregon in the 2011 BCS national title game against Auburn.
"We've got some guys who can fly on both sides of the ball," Thompson said. "I also like the size we have on both sides up front. We've upgraded a lot of positions from a year ago, and people will recognize that right way."
They also might recognize some of the personnel as three former Lehigh University defensive players — Central Catholic product and linebacker Matt Cohen and defensive backs John Kennedy III and Jarard Cribbs — are expected to be on the roster.
"We want the fans to feel like this is their team; the Lehigh Valley's team," Clark said. "We love it when the families come on the field after the game and kids take pictures with the players and get autographs.
"A lot of little kids look at our players like they're members of the Philadelphia Eagles. They can't distinguish between our guys and NFL stars, so we want to create a special experience for them."