Dusters Name New Head Coach
August 16, 2007 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Amarillo Venom News Release
Amarillo-The Amarillo Dusters announced today that Chris MacKeown will be the new Head Coach of the team for the 2008 season. MacKeown's contract was recently approved by the af2 league office.
Coach MacKeown is from Dayton, Ohio and attended the University of Toledo. He and his wife Alisa have two daughters, Brittany and Danielle. He plans to arrive in Amarillo immediately after the Arena Cup to begin preparing for the 2008 season.
Coach MacKeown, 38, joins the Dusters after having spent the past nine seasons coaching Arena Football, most recently as an assistant coach with the AFL's Austin Wranglers in 2007. MacKeown (pronounced Mack-cue-win) spent the 1999 season in the now-defunct IFL as a coordinator with the Dayton Skyhawks. In 2000, he was promoted to Head Coach of the Skyhawks and led them to the playoffs. In 2001, he accepted an assistant coaching position with the AFL's Indiana Firebirds under AFL coaching legend Mike Dailey. He spent the 2002 season there as well. In 2003, MacKeown became the head coach of the Cincinnati Swarm in af2, and led them to a 7-9 record as an expansion team. Several of his players from that team made the jump to the AFL and are still active at the next level. In 2004 and 2005, MacKeown served as the Offensive Coordinator for the Louisville Fire of af2. In 2005, the Fire advanced to the Arena Cup Championship Game against the Memphis Xplorers. In 2006, MacKeown joined the staff of the AFL's Columbus Destroyers, coaching special teams and serving as an offensive assistant as well.
"Over his career, Chris has displayed a reputation of strong work ethic and organization to go along with his impressive coaching credentials," said Glyn Milburn, who is one of the team's owners. "He brings an intensity and character that mesh well with our mission to win both on and off the field."
"Any opportunity to be a head coach in professional football is exciting," said MacKeown. "Amarillo fans love arena football, and everybody in the af2 and the AFL knows that. The atmosphere is great. Everyone loves a winner, and that's what the fans in Amarillo demand. I have two goals. The first goal is to win the Arena Cup in 2008. Secondly, I want to see my players achieve their goals as well."
The Amarillo Dusters 2008 season will kickoff in April of 2008. Amarillo Dusters 2008 season tickets are on sale now! To place a deposit on your 2008 Dusters season tickets please, Call (806) 322-7277 or visit us at www.dustersfootball.com.
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