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Fury Names Al Luginbill GM and Head Coach

September 4, 2002 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
Detroit Fury News Release


AUBURN HILLS, MICH. – The Detroit Fury of the Arena Football League announced today that Al Luginbill has been hired as the team’s new head coach and general manager. Additionally, Luginbill’s son, Tom, has been named assistant head coach and director of player personnel for the coming AFL season.

The elder Luginbill will be entering his 34th year in the coaching profession and sports an 86-56-2 all-time head coaching record. He has led collegiate and pro teams to three championships and five bowl appearances. His last stop as a head coach was in 2000-01 when he directed the Los Angeles Xtreme to the championship in the XFL’s only season. Luginbill’s forte is player personnel evaluation and recruitment and his ability to establish winning programs.

“Al’s strengths as a coach began to show right away as we began talking about the job to be done here in Detroit,” said Greg Myford, Senior Vice President – Fury Football, “and the bottom line is that he wins wherever he goes. Our record for our first two years simply isn’t good enough. Our fans want to see a winner, and we believe bringing Al on board is our next step to getting there.”

Luginbill began his college-coaching career at Pasadena City College (he served as an assistant from 1968-71 and 1974-77), followed by a two-year assistant coaching stint at Arizona State. He then hooked up with Wyoming in 1978 as a defensive backs coach, returning to ASU in 1979 until 1985, when he left to coach San Diego State.

After spending three years on the administrative side, Luginbill was handed the reigns of a slumping Aztec program. Two years later, Luginbill’s Aztecs went 8-4-1, including a 52-all tie with BYU before 56,737 at Jack Murphy Stadium. Luginbill was then hired by the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe and spent the next seven seasons (1994-2000) as their head coach and director of football operations.

Luginbill is recognized by his peers as having had a major role in the development of NFL standouts Kurt Warner and Marshall Faulk. It was Luginbill who scouted Warner in the AFL and persuaded the St. Louis Rams to sign him and send him to NFL Europe. There, he developed the skills that led him back to St. Louis for the 1999 season and the Super Bowl. Luginbill recruited Faulk out of high school in New Orleans to be a running back. Other recruiters insisted that Faulk was best suited at defensive back. At SDSU, Faulk gained 396 all-purpose yards in his first game, putting to rest any doubts of which side of the ball he should play on.

“The Fury presents a very appealing coaching opportunity,” said Luginbill. “Palace Sports & Entertainment is a great organization that wants to win at the highest levels, and Detroit is a fantastic football town. I’m really looking forward to getting after the 2003 season and working hard at giving Fury fans something to cheer about.”

Luginbill’s son, Tom, 28, spent all of last season with the Dallas Desperados, the AFL franchise owned by Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys organization. Luginbill was the Desperados offensive coordinator and helped to build the franchise in terms of player personnel choices, which resulted in a playoff berth for the first-year team. Tom has strong ties to the AFL, dating back to 1996 and 1997 when he quarterbacked both Texas and Florida. Tom previously worked with his father in LA at the Xtreme, serving as the quarterbacks coach. He coached league MVP quarterback Tommy Maddox, while also being responsible for player evaluations. Before joining the Xtreme, Tom led the Tennessee Valley Vipers of af2 to the 2000 ArenaCup finals after posting a 10-6 regular season record in the team’s inaugural season. Tom’s AFL coaching experience started when he worked for the New York City Hawks in 1998, followed by a year with the Nashville Kats in 1999. Tom made his coaching debut in 1996 with Amsterdam of NFL Europe.

“Tom brings the necessary Arena Football expertise and a contagious, enthusiastic energy,” said Myford. “The more people I talked to, the more I heard Tommy’s name. He knows Arena Football and what it takes to play this game. He will help put the players we need to win in a Fury uniform.”

The AFL kicks off its 17th season on February 2, 2003 on NBC. For more Detroit Fury news and offseason updates, log on to www.detroitfury.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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