Extreme sets coaching staff

Published on February 22, 2007 under United Indoor Football Association (UIF)
Bloomington Extreme News Release


BLOOMINGTON - When it comes to total years of coaching experience, teams in the United Indoor Football League will be hard pressed to match the Bloomington Extreme.

The six-man staff, including head coach Ted Schmitz, has compiled 143 years in the profession either at the high school, college or professional level.

"We feel we have as good a staff as anybody in the league," said Schmitz, whose coaching staff is gearing up for its second season, which begins March 30 in a 7:35 p.m. contest against Rock River at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.

"Not only do we have a great deal of experience, but we have a staff of individuals who I have known and/or worked with in the past. We are all friends and they all have great football minds. But more importantly, we all know what we have to accomplish and how hard we have to work to get the job done."

Schmitz, who is beginning his 36th year in the football coaching ranks, has four of five assistant coaches returning from last year. That group includes Terry McCombs (38 years), John McIntyre (37 years), Jered Hooker (16 years) and Frank West (two years).

The new coach on the block is Mike Goodwin, who has 14 years of coaching experience. Goodwin, who has 10 years of head coaching experience at Camp Point Central, Eureka, Clinton and Olympia high schools, replaces Mike Murray on the staff and will oversee the offensive line.

McIntyre, who served as the offensive line coach for the Extreme a year ago, moves into the offensive coordinator position, which was vacated by Murray. McIntyre has served as head coach at Bloomington Central Catholic, where he guided the team to a Class 2A state championship, and Normal Community High School.

McIntyre, who has 27 years of high school and 10 years of college coaching experience, has spent the last few years as an assistant coach at Normal Community, which won the Class 6A state championship last season and finished second in the state in 2005. He also served as an assistant at Illinois State and Eureka College.

"John and I are revamping the offense according to the personnel we have," said Schmitz. "We believe we will be able to build our offense in a way that will suit the players we've brought in this year."

McCombs, who is back for his second tour of duty as the defensive coordinator, has 38 years of coaching experience at the high school level, including a long stint as head coach at Bloomington High School, where he guided the Purple Raiders to a second-place finish in the state finals.

McCombs will concentrate his coaching efforts on the defensive line along with the coordinator responsibilities, while Schmitz will work with the linebackers and West with the defensive backs.

West, a former defensive back at Illinois State University who also played professionally in Canada and in the Arena Football League in Peoria, played for Schmitz at ISU. He also was a member of the Canadian League Grey Cup championship Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1999.

Hooker brings his special team expertise to Extreme for a second year after spending 15 years as an assistant coach in the college ranks. The Extreme led the UIF in field goal percentage last year under Hooker.

"We all learned a lot working together last year," said Schmitz of the coaching staff. "The biggest thing we learned was what it takes to win in this league. We'll enter this season with a much better comfort zone."

Schmitz is on his second round through the coaching cycle, going from the high school ranks to college and onto the professional level. He served as an assistant at Illinois State and Illinois Wesleyan universities, along with a stint as an assistant coach under McCombs at Bloomington High School, and as an assistant and interim head coach for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League.

"I'm looking forward to getting the season going and not only working with our coaching staff, but the players," said Schmitz, who added that Rod Crumbaugh will return as head equipment manager with John Snyder Jr., serving as his assistant again.

The 45-man Extreme roster opens preseason workouts March 9 at Illinois State University. Single-game tickets go on sale March 3 at 10 a.m. at the U.S. Cellular Coliseum box office for the eight-game home schedule. Season ticket packages are available now by calling 309-434-2679 or 1-866-891-9992.

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