Post by unknown on Nov 16, 2008 3:33:52 GMT -5
Wildcats' New Coach 'Seasoned' By James Yodice
Journal Staff Writer
The New Mexico Wildcats have themselves a new head coach.
Lance Brown, who's kicked around many indoor football leagues as a player, coach and general manager, has been hired to coach the Wildcats in 2009, the Journal has learned.
He replaces Floyd Johnson. It was not immediately known if Johnson resigned or was fired; general manager Steve Mascarenas has for weeks not returned Journal phone calls, including one on Tuesday.
Brown, 28, was most recently the offensive line coach for the Arizona Adrenaline for the first half of the 2008 season. He said he left the team in the second half for personal reasons.
“What I bring to the table is experience, both playing and coaching,” Brown said in a phone interview Tuesday from his home in Arizona. “I'm seasoned. I haven't been in just one league. I've been all over. I know where these players are coming from, and how hard it is to try and live your dream.”
After leaving West Hills Community College, Brown has tried to do just that.
It takes a good 15 minutes for him to recap all the stops he's made as a player or coach in various minor-league indoor and outdoor leagues around the country.
They include the National Indoor Football League, United Indoor Football, the Golden State Amateur Football League and the Continental Indoor Football League.
As a player, the highest status he's reached is two seasons in AF2, in Bakersfield and Stockton, in California. Brown is 6-foot-4 and 330 pounds, and was an offensive lineman.
His match with the Wildcats, he said, was an accident.
“I had a friend who was interested in the job,” Brown said. “I had all this experience, and a friend told me I should be a head coach somewhere. I thought, what the hell, I'll throw my name into the hat with everyone else. Lo and behold, here I am.”
Brown said he signed his contract last month. His only previous head coaching experience was in the Golden State Amateur Football League, in 2004. He was also a general manager that year.
On Dec. 5, Brown is due to be inducted into the Minor League Football Hall of Fame in Mesquite, Nev.
Brown said for the moment he will serve as the Wildcats' offensive coordinator but has not yet made any decisions on assistant coaches.
New Mexico went 5-9 in its first season, although the 'Cats won three of their final four games.
“The team is headed in a positive direction,” Brown said. “I look for us to contend for the conference championship (in 2009). I believe we'll win our division.”
New Mexico's division includes the Wyoming Calvary, Utah Saints and the Adrenaline, although the league may add teams before the spring. The AIFA has previously said it wants to expand into Colorado and Washington state.
“(New Mexico) is a solid team,” Brown said. “We're young, our program is young, but we've got great players coming back.”
That includes receivers Darren Haliburton and Lawrence Pullen, Brown said. Other player announcements will be forthcoming, according to the coach.
