Post by Free Agent Fan on Jan 28, 2007 14:55:14 GMT -5
MudCats counting down to Saturday's opener
1/28/2007
BY GENE PHELPS
Brian Brents doesn't expect to get a lot of sleep this week.
The 26-year-old rookie head coach of the Mississippi MudCats is working long days and nights to prepare his professional indoor football team for its American Indoor Football Association season opener Saturday at the BancorpSouth Center.
The kickoff between Tupelo's newest pro sports entry and the Pittsburgh RiverRats is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
"I'm anxious, I want to make sure we're prepared," Brents said. "You only dress 20 players and we need to make sure we have the right players, have our offensive plays down, and know our defensive reads."
The MudCats released their 28-man roster last week and it includes quite a few familiar names.
Defensive back Eric Bingham, wide receiver Darryl Carter, defensive back/kick returner Bobby Hill, kicker/coach John Michael Marlin, running back Rico McDonald, defensive lineman Antonio Peoples and offensive lineman William Stewart all played for the city's last indoor team, the Tupelo FireAnts.
Travis Johnson, a defensive back from Ole Miss and Shannon, also made the final roster cut.
"I didn't know we'd have this many great local players," Brents said. "I'm glad we have them."
There are plenty of newcomers kicking off the season with the MudCats, too. One is 6-foot-4 quarterback Tommy Jones, who passed for an indoor football-record 100 touchdown passes last season in Odessa, Texas.
Jones' backup is Bart Gloyd, who played behind him last season in Texas.
"Bart's impressed me in last week's scrimmage," Brents said. "It let me know that if something happened to Tommy, we'd be able to keep going."
Carter, an assistant football coach at Tupelo High School and former Clarion-Ledger Dandy Dozen quarterback, heads up the receiving corps. He'll be joined by former Boise State wide receiver Josh Smith and Howard Gilmore, an all-MEAC player from Norfolk State.
In the backfield, McDonald and former Arkansas-Pine Bluff player Calvin Thomas will share duties.
Up front, 6-4, 320-pound Gary Jenkins, who played for Dallas in the Arena Football League, and 320-pound former Fresno State lineman James Paulk have pleased Brents with their preseason work.
"Paulk will be a mauler for us," Brents said, then laughed.
Defensively, the coach is high on former Georgia linebacker Derrick White, who recorded 270 career tackles while playing for the Bulldogs.
"He can play from sideline to sideline," Brents said. "He can be a speed rusher. He can cover a fullback out of the backfield."
Peoples and Joe Clark, who played in the AIFL for Rome, Ga., last season, are the leaders on the front. Clark will also play some on the offensive line.
In the secondary, Bingham will not start the season because of a knee injury that required surgery. He is expected back at midseason.
"This is a new league, a new franchise playing a new franchise, so there is no film," Brents said. "We're preparing ourselves and making sure we do what we need to do to be successful in the first game."
Even if it takes all day and all night.
1/28/2007
BY GENE PHELPS
Brian Brents doesn't expect to get a lot of sleep this week.
The 26-year-old rookie head coach of the Mississippi MudCats is working long days and nights to prepare his professional indoor football team for its American Indoor Football Association season opener Saturday at the BancorpSouth Center.
The kickoff between Tupelo's newest pro sports entry and the Pittsburgh RiverRats is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
"I'm anxious, I want to make sure we're prepared," Brents said. "You only dress 20 players and we need to make sure we have the right players, have our offensive plays down, and know our defensive reads."
The MudCats released their 28-man roster last week and it includes quite a few familiar names.
Defensive back Eric Bingham, wide receiver Darryl Carter, defensive back/kick returner Bobby Hill, kicker/coach John Michael Marlin, running back Rico McDonald, defensive lineman Antonio Peoples and offensive lineman William Stewart all played for the city's last indoor team, the Tupelo FireAnts.
Travis Johnson, a defensive back from Ole Miss and Shannon, also made the final roster cut.
"I didn't know we'd have this many great local players," Brents said. "I'm glad we have them."
There are plenty of newcomers kicking off the season with the MudCats, too. One is 6-foot-4 quarterback Tommy Jones, who passed for an indoor football-record 100 touchdown passes last season in Odessa, Texas.
Jones' backup is Bart Gloyd, who played behind him last season in Texas.
"Bart's impressed me in last week's scrimmage," Brents said. "It let me know that if something happened to Tommy, we'd be able to keep going."
Carter, an assistant football coach at Tupelo High School and former Clarion-Ledger Dandy Dozen quarterback, heads up the receiving corps. He'll be joined by former Boise State wide receiver Josh Smith and Howard Gilmore, an all-MEAC player from Norfolk State.
In the backfield, McDonald and former Arkansas-Pine Bluff player Calvin Thomas will share duties.
Up front, 6-4, 320-pound Gary Jenkins, who played for Dallas in the Arena Football League, and 320-pound former Fresno State lineman James Paulk have pleased Brents with their preseason work.
"Paulk will be a mauler for us," Brents said, then laughed.
Defensively, the coach is high on former Georgia linebacker Derrick White, who recorded 270 career tackles while playing for the Bulldogs.
"He can play from sideline to sideline," Brents said. "He can be a speed rusher. He can cover a fullback out of the backfield."
Peoples and Joe Clark, who played in the AIFL for Rome, Ga., last season, are the leaders on the front. Clark will also play some on the offensive line.
In the secondary, Bingham will not start the season because of a knee injury that required surgery. He is expected back at midseason.
"This is a new league, a new franchise playing a new franchise, so there is no film," Brents said. "We're preparing ourselves and making sure we do what we need to do to be successful in the first game."
Even if it takes all day and all night.