Manchester coach tied for third on all-time wins list
June 28, 2009 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Manchester Wolves News Release
MANCHESTER, NH-- Danton Barto, now in his second year as the Manchester Wolves head coach, recorded his 66th victory in the arenafootball2 league when the team beat the Quad City Steamwheelers on Saturday night and he is now tied for third place in all-time coaching victories in the af2.
Barto stands tied with former Wolves Head Coach Ben Bennett, now the coach of the af2 Amarillo Dusters, and the pair rank behind active head coaches Rich Ingold (82) of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Pioneers and Chris Siegfried (71) of the Arkansas Twisters.
"Honestly, when you get to the point when you have earned enough victories to be considered in the same category with those guys, it's a real honor," said Barto, who won the ArenaCup championship as the head coach of the Memphis Xploreres in 2005. "It's exciting."
The af2 is now in its 10th season and in a league-wide pre-season poll, Barto was named by his peers as the fourth best coach in the history of the league. He began this campaign in fourth place on the all-time coaching wins ladder, with a record of 54-42 in regular season games, 6-3 the playoffs, and a 60-45 overall. With the Wolves now 6-7 at this point in the season, his record improved to 60-49, 6-3, and 66-52.
"To reach this milestone in my career is a tribute to the organizations I have been fortunate to have been associated with," said Barto, who was traveling back from Iowa after last night's big win that kept the Wolves in playoff contention. "They (the Wolves and Xplorers) have never been quick to pull the trigger. They have maintained their faith in me and in my program. That's what it takes to be successful and win games in football.
"In this day and age, many good coaches don't get the chance to prove what they can do," Barto continued. "I have been very fortunate to be associated with two ownership groups that stood by me even when we weren't winning a lot of games at one point. But they supported me and believed in my plan."
Last season Barto took the Wolves all the way to the American Conference Championship for the best record in franchise history and he has every intention of going one step further and making it to the ArenaCup this year.
"Ultimately, my goal is to try and win a championship with the Manchester Wolves," he said.
The Wolves (6-7) have a bye next week and will take on the Albany Firebirds (6-7) on the road on July 11th in a game that has great significance as both teams are currently in the hunt for a wildcard playoff berth.
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