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Davis Becomes Head Coach Of Carolina Sharks

January 3, 2005 - American Indoor Football Association (AIFA)
Carolina Ghostriders News Release


The Carolina Sharks of the Atlantic Indoor Football League have announced team owner Theron Davis will become the team's new Head Coach.

Davis replaces former New England Patriots tight end and NFL Pro Bowler Ben Coates as Head Coach. Coates unexpectedly resigned to become Head Coach at Livingston College, where he played college football.

Davis played most of his professional football career in the Arena Football League. He began with the Charlotte Rage in 1994-95 before that team folded. He then played the Anaheim Piranhas (formerly the Las Vegas Sting) and later was with the San Jose Sabercats.

In 2000, 2001 and part of 2003 before being called up for active duty in Operation: Iraqi Freedom, Davis played with the Greensboro Prowlers of arenafootball2, which allowed him to play 20 minutes from his hometown of Winston-Salem, NC.

Oakland Raiders guard Damon "Mo" Collins, who owns 40% of the franchise and currently serves as the President of Football Operations, believes Davis is the best man to coach the team.

"I believe that TD is probably our best move for now taking the Head Coach job from just his years of experience playing the indoor game."

"He put together the playbook for both the offense and defense in two days for our first mini-camp back in December and took over the show, insuring a successful camp without the help of Ben Coates," Collins said. "This is his baby and he's going to make sure of the success of the team, both on and off the field."

One of Collins' first moves following his minority ownership purchase was to name Jeff Gonos as General Manager and head of game-day operations to take some of the pressure off Davis.

Gonos was involved in the operations of the AFL2's Prowlers and the Greensboro Generals minor league hockey teams and worked as a front office intern during the 2004 NFL season with the Carolina Panthers.

With only three months left until the Sharks take the field at Cricket Arena (a/k/a "The Shark Cage") for their inaugural season in the AIFL, there are still plenty of things to do to insure the team's success.

The Atlantic Indoor Football League is the hottest new professional football league and will kickoff its inaugural season April 1, 2005. For more information about the AIFL, visit www.aiflonline.com, contact the league office toll-free at (866) 390-AIFL (2435) or contact Joey Josephs, Director of Media Relations, by phone at (407) 695-7137 or by e-mail at jjosephs@aiflonline.com.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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