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Doug Murray Named New Lightning Head Coach

September 14, 2006 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Stockton Lightning News Release


STOCKTON, Calif. - The Stockton Lightning of the arenafootball2 league have named former assistant head coach/defensive backs coach Doug Murray new Lightning head coach for the 2007 af2 season, Lightning team president Dan Chapman announced today in conjunction with the league office. Per af2 policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

"We are thrilled to promote Doug Murray from within to be the next head coach of the Stockton Lightning football team," said Chapman. "After a very thorough month-long search, it became very clear that Coach Murray is the right man for the job. He is highly respected throughout arena football and we feel very fortunate to have a coach with his credentials right here in our own backyard."

Murray will be introduced to the media today at a 2:00 p.m. PT press conference, held in Stockton Arena's north entry conference room.

With the hiring, Murray has been promoted to his first head coaching job in his professional career after previously working with the Lightning secondary during the team's inaugural 2006 af2 season. Under Murray's guidance, the Lightning ranked third in the af2 with 16.4 yards per interception return, tied for10th in red-zone defense with a 79.4 percent opponent conversion rate, and tied for eighth in the af2 with 26 sacks.

Among Murray's secondary was mid-season pick-up and DS Clyde Surrell, who ranked eighth in the af2 with 78 interception return yards in only 10 games played.

"I'm very excited about the opportunity to coach for such a great organization," said Murray. "We have the best venue and fan base in the entire af2, and I believe everything is already in place for the Lightning to be successful and vie for an ArenaCup Championship. I feel very grateful to Dan Chapman and Michael Reinsdorf for having confidence in me and giving me the responsibility of bringing a winning program to Stockton."

Aside from his off-season teaching and varsity assistant head coaching duties at local Stockton St. Mary's High School (Calif.), Murray made his professional coaching debut as defensive coordinator for the af2's Central Valley Coyotes in 2004 under current head coach Fred Biletnikoff Jr.'s staff.

Murray guided the Coyotes defense to finish third in the af2 with a 33.3 percent opponent fourth-down conversion rate, seventh in the af2 with 56 fumble return yards, 10th in the af2 with 226 first downs allowed, 11th in the af2 with 3,584 passing yards allowed and 12th in the af2 with 3,939 total defensive yards allowed.

Previously, Murray spent two years in the college football ranks as the defensive backs coach at the University of California-Davis, helping guide the Aggies to the NCAA Division-II quarterfinal playoff game in 2002 and helping the program earn their 34th consecutive winning season in UC Davis' first year of NCAA Division-I status in 2003.

Murray's ties to the Northern California-area are also linked to his college football playing career, where he earned two letters (1978-79) as a receiver at Cal State Hayward (NCAA). Murray received his B.A. degree in Sociology from Hayward in 1986, followed by earning his master's in public administration in 1990.

Murray replaces former head coach Richard Davis, as the Lightning finished with a 5-11 overall record in the team's inaugural season and fourth in the National Conference's West Division.

In their first season, the Lightning ranked third in af2 attendance with an average of 7,445 fans per home game. Season tickets for the 2007 Lightning regular season are on-sale now. For more information on season tickets, merchandise, or other information, please call the Lightning at (209) 373-1500 or visit www.stocktonlightning.com.



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