Baltimore Mariners Bolster Staff

[xmradiodave]

2009 Baltimore Mariners Bolster Staff with Addition of Ollie Guidry
Guidry Rounds Out a “Reunion-of-Sorts” to Mariners Office Roster
David Harrington|http://www.baltimoremariners.com

(Baltimore, MD) In the 1980 film “Blues Brothers” 'Joliet' Jake Blues, played by the late, great John Belushi made the announcement “We’re putting the band back together.” The Baltimore Mariners are taking a page from Jake Blues’ playbook with the addition of Ollie Guidry to their front office staff, filling the position of Director of Football Administration.

Although this is Guidry’s first season with the second-year team, he is no stranger to football, or to several people already involved with the Baltimore Mariners. Ollie's list of accomplishments in the world of professional football has taken him from coast to coast, where he has made a lasting impression on every person he has interacted with. Among those are the Baltimore Mariners’ General Manager Greg “Muggy” Justice, Defensive Coordinator Steve Gaunt, DB Armar Watson, DB Anthony Jackson, and RB/DB Isaiah Grier, all of whom Ollie Guidry had the pleasure of working with during their collective time with the Reading Express football franchise.

“Bringing Ollie Guidry to the 2009 Mariners brings the best of two worlds for me and the Mariners organization.” said General Manager Greg Justice. “I now have on staff, two of my former head coaches working as one with an already stellar staff, to help us reach our goal of bringing an AIFA championship title to Baltimore” Justice added.

Guidry brings an impressive resume to Baltimore. Armed with a hefty seven years experience in coaching and administration, he has taken every single team he has been involved with to the playoffs. Guidry’s coaching experience is highlighted by his career record of 46-25. He has built two national championship teams in two different indoor leagues, joining a very small list of names to have accomplished such a task. In 2006, Guidry served as General Manager and Head Coach of the Reading Express, where he was voted “Coach of the Year” in the then named AIFL (which later would become the AIFA). The Express, under his guidance was crowned 2006 North Division Champions, where his players swept all four MVP awards. In addition to the MVP sweep, a league high nine Express players were elected to the AIFL All-Star team. Guidry concluded the 2006 season with a 13-3 record, while engineering a remarkable twelve game win streak, and going undefeated on the road. Baltimore Mariners Head Coach Chris Simpson is thrilled at the opportunity to have someone of Ollie’s caliber on the Mariners’ staff. “I am very excited to have Ollie on staff” said Simpson. “He is well respected in the football community and will offer a wealth of knowledge and experience that benefits all aspects of the Mariner organization on and off the field.”

Under the banner of General Manager in ’06, Guidry was responsible in part, due to the Express’ record, for moving Reading, PA into the top ten ranking of in minor league sports towns. The Sports Business Journal article “Ranking the Nations Minor League Market” placed Reading in the number five spot, moving it up from eleventh place the previous year. Guidry’s drive, determination, and attention to detail legitimized the sport of professional indoor football in the city of Reading. Under Guidry, the Express experienced record setting attendance numbers in the league, as well as securing a vote as “best game day presentation”.

Aside from his accomplishments with the AIFA’s Reading Express, Guidry brings with him experiences from the AFL, where he served as an assistant coach with the Austin Wranglers in 2007, and as Head Coach of the Texas Copperheads in the AF2 during their 2008 season. Guidry became a hot commodity in indoor football when prior to joining the Reading Express in 2006, he was named Head Coach of the United Indoor Football League’s Evansville Bluecats. Prior to being named the HC for the Bluecats, that team finished their season with an embarrassing 1-14 record. In one season under the tutelage and leadership of Guidry, the Bluecats finished their following season as legitimate playoff contenders. In two seasons under Guidry, the Bluecats saw fourteen players awarded with “Player of the Week” nods, as well as several players being sent to higher echelon leagues such as the CFL and the AFL.

Ollie Guidry’s other coaching experiences include working with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and Head Coach Mike Holmgren under the NFL coaching program. His position with the Seahawks afforded him the opportunity to work closely with other Seahawks coaching staff, such as Coach Nolan Cromwell and Offensive Coordinator Gil Haskel. Guidry is a graduate of University of North Texas, where he coached in 2000. He has also held the roles of Director of Football Operations and Recruiting Coordinator at Division III Heidelberg College. Guidry will be relocating to Baltimore from Texas, with his wife Maike and their family.

[chardale]

Nice article, regarding the Bluecats turn around, But happened there in Houston with the A2 Copperheads. Won How Many?

[Caballo Diablo]

Coach Guidrey didn't have much to work with last season with the Texas Copperheads. The NIFL Katy Copperheads were converted to the af2 Copperheads under the same coach and never put a competitive team together. When the Austin AFL Wranglers folded all of their coaches were offered jobs with the owners af2 teams, Ollie just happened to be assigned to the worst of the bunch. He was there only one year before the team went dark.

Coach Cowdrey got the second wors team, the Loredo Lobos and they moved to Peoria to become the Pirates. Coch McKewan did the best taking the Amarillo Dusters to the conference championship game.

I think coach Guidrey is better than his Copperheads record.

[xmradiodave]

[quote=""chardale""]Nice article, regarding the Bluecats turn around, But happened there in Houston with the A2 Copperheads. Won How Many?[/quote]

I know. I based the article on the bio on the Copperheads' site. It did not occur to me that the bio was posted BEFORE the season, when he was named head coach. My screw-up on the article. Aside from that season, Ollie has some great credentials.