Knights' first year adds confidence

by Marc Viquez
Published on July 8, 2002 under National Indoor Football League (NIFL)

At least one indoor football team wishes it could only go back in time and fix things in order to make the future better. But this is not an episode of Quantum Leap, and it does not look likely that Dr. Sam Beckett will return to help lead the Austin Knights into the playoffs.

The season is over for the Knights of the National Indoor Football League, who finished their inaugural season at 9-5 and inches from a playoff berth. The first five games resulted in just one win, a slew of field goal kickers coming and going, and players having to adapt quick to playing indoor football. It could have been a lot worse in the Texas capital.

"I knew that we had a lot of players that never played indoor football, so I knew that the first four games would be like preseason," said WR Lee McCormick who finished the year with a league leading 96 receptions. "We came back and played good, even better than most expected."

The Knights closed out the year at 8-1, winning their last four games of the season, a stretch that was fueled when Josh Barnes took over as the starting quarterback when the team was 1-4.

"We came together as a team, we looked a lot better than what we did at the beginning of the season," added Barnes who ended the season with 41 touchdown passes. "We wanted to make the playoffs and hate that we didn't, but next year we will make another run."

Head coach Bucky Goldbolt, who helped lead the Austin Rattlers of the semipro NAFL to back-to-back championships in 2000 and 2001, will most likely be back to lead the charge. In fact, many of the players on the Knights were former Rattlers and were looking to continue their winning ways indoors in the NIFL.

"Most of us had a lot of expectations that we could show up, play with anyone, and win games," said DB/WR Jasen Jester, a former Rattler. "We thought that because the field was shorter that we would have more time to play man to man coverage, but routes are much faster, much crisper, and plays that normally take 2-3 seconds to develop are being completed in 2-3 seconds"

McCormick was one of few players who had indoor experience with the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League and the Texas Terminators of the Indoor Professional Football League.

"It helped us out a lot since he brought leadership," explained Jester of McCormick's importance to the team. "What he was able to do was to provide some type of role model to some of the younger guys coming out of college and to the veterans who were new to the indoor game and let them know that this game is a lot quicker."

Once the players got accustomed to playing the game, there were other causes for concern with the lack of a field goal kicker. Scott Glover, Jason Burnett, and Rolf Schaeter were a few of the many who tried their footwork for the team, but only four attempts out of 30 kicks were successful on the season. In time, the team opted to continue the season without a field goal kicker.

"I fired four kickers, and one twice, so it was tough," said Goldbolt whose team probably had the most two-point attempts in the league. "We could never get into the groove, so the guys on the team said forget it, we'd play without the kicker and get it done on defense."

Now there is next year to plan for, and after their accomplishments this year the Knights have something to prove to the league during the off season. The familiarity of the game and the addition of a genuine kicker could be what are needed to reach the playoffs in 2003.

"We want to let people know that there is a team Texas and that next year we will turn it around and be a team to reckon with," added a confident Jester.

National Indoor Football League Stories from July 8, 2002

• Knights' first year adds confidence - OSC Original by Marc Viquez
• Six Capitols named Divisional All-Stars - Lincoln Capitols

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