Post by fwp on Jan 3, 2010 12:03:00 GMT -5
www.albanyherald.com/sports/headlines/80522712.html
ALBANY — During an afternoon conversation with The Herald on Saturday, newly hired Albany Panthers GM Will Carter seemed like he could talk for hours about how excited he was to return to the area after his bitter dismissal by the city’s former arena league team in May, the South Georgia Wildcats.
At least one topic, however, was off limits.
For now, anyway.
“Yeah, we’ve got a few names in mind right now,” Carter said with a knowing laugh when asked whether or not he had decided on who the Panthers’ first-ever head coach would be — and more specifically — whether or not one of those names included one of the Wildcats’ two former — and highly successful — leaders: Derek Stingley and Rodney Blackshear.
Carter then added: “As much as I would like to say something, I don’t want to at this moment. I want to keep that on ice right now.”
Blackshear, the Wildcats’ most recent coach who led South Georgia to its third consecutive winning campaign in 2009, was fired by the af2 at the end of the season after the now-defunct league — which employs all af2 coaches, rather than the franchises themselves — claimed Blackshear didn’t adhere to af2 policies when he missed several team practices before the playoffs. At the time, The af2 claimed the coach didn’t alert it of the absences. Blackshear was working out the details of an offseason high school football coaching job in Texas.
While he was here, however, Blackshear led South Georgia to an 11-5 season and trip to the playoffs.
Blackshear’s success, meanwhile, came on the heels of Stingley’s two-year run with the Wildcats. Stingley is largely credited with turning pro football into something Albanians truly cared about and supported once again after the franchise went 3-13 its first two seasons in 2005 and ‘06 following its relocation from Cape Fear, N.C., to Southwest Georgia.
Stingley not only led the Wildcats to their first-ever winning season at 10-6 and trip to the af2 playoffs in 2007, but he topped that feat in 2008 when South Georgia finished 12-4 and won the South Division title.
One other name worth mentioning that could be a candidate for the job is Lucious Davis, the former Wildcats defensive coordinator under Blackshear who was rumored to be the lead candidate for the job several months back when talks began about bringing a Southern Indoor Football League team to town to replace the Wildcats, who folded after last season.
ALBANY — During an afternoon conversation with The Herald on Saturday, newly hired Albany Panthers GM Will Carter seemed like he could talk for hours about how excited he was to return to the area after his bitter dismissal by the city’s former arena league team in May, the South Georgia Wildcats.
At least one topic, however, was off limits.
For now, anyway.
“Yeah, we’ve got a few names in mind right now,” Carter said with a knowing laugh when asked whether or not he had decided on who the Panthers’ first-ever head coach would be — and more specifically — whether or not one of those names included one of the Wildcats’ two former — and highly successful — leaders: Derek Stingley and Rodney Blackshear.
Carter then added: “As much as I would like to say something, I don’t want to at this moment. I want to keep that on ice right now.”
Blackshear, the Wildcats’ most recent coach who led South Georgia to its third consecutive winning campaign in 2009, was fired by the af2 at the end of the season after the now-defunct league — which employs all af2 coaches, rather than the franchises themselves — claimed Blackshear didn’t adhere to af2 policies when he missed several team practices before the playoffs. At the time, The af2 claimed the coach didn’t alert it of the absences. Blackshear was working out the details of an offseason high school football coaching job in Texas.
While he was here, however, Blackshear led South Georgia to an 11-5 season and trip to the playoffs.
Blackshear’s success, meanwhile, came on the heels of Stingley’s two-year run with the Wildcats. Stingley is largely credited with turning pro football into something Albanians truly cared about and supported once again after the franchise went 3-13 its first two seasons in 2005 and ‘06 following its relocation from Cape Fear, N.C., to Southwest Georgia.
Stingley not only led the Wildcats to their first-ever winning season at 10-6 and trip to the af2 playoffs in 2007, but he topped that feat in 2008 when South Georgia finished 12-4 and won the South Division title.
One other name worth mentioning that could be a candidate for the job is Lucious Davis, the former Wildcats defensive coordinator under Blackshear who was rumored to be the lead candidate for the job several months back when talks began about bringing a Southern Indoor Football League team to town to replace the Wildcats, who folded after last season.