Murray: We have to put ourselves in a situation to win

June 30, 2004 - arenafootball2 (af2)
Central Valley Coyotes News Release


Editor's Note: One of the most significant moves the Coyotes made during the 2004 off-season was acquiring Doug Murray as defensive coordinator. Murray spent the past two seasons at UC Davis as the secondary coach.

In Central Valley, Murray inherits a defense that finished 3rd in the af2 last season. The team also acquired talented players in the off-season, including linebacker Kevin Nelson and defensive specialist Jermaine Smith to add to the veteran leadership of defensive end Ricky Leung-Wai, defensive specialist VonKeith Spencer and linebacker Howard Maxwell.

Murray enters this Week 14 contest with the best pass defense in the West Division. His comments will appear regularly on Centralvalleycoyotes.com throughout the 2004 season.

Your defense has been improving every week and you're climbing up the ladder in total defense, what do you attribute that to?

"I think it's primarily our rookies getting better adjusted to the arena style of play. They have really come a long way from Week 1 and have improved each week. We have an excellent nucleus of players who have fine tuned their game as the season has gone on."

What went wrong in Bakersfield?

"We didn't have as many stops as they had on defense, and their offense scored one more touchdown then we did. I think the game was close and I felt that we were only one play away from stealing a win, but that's how it goes in arena football. They're they best team in the West and they're a veteran team which should in the final minutes."

What will you do to replace Ricky Leung-Wai at defensive end?

"We do have Al Noga who can certainly come in and take over where Ricky left off. It's tough though to loose a veteran guy like Ricky who knows the game and knows our opponents really well. You can't replace a guy like that, but hopefully we can find a couple of guys to step up and start making plays."

What does a guy like Al Noga bring to the defense?

"He brings numerous things to this defense. Primarily experience, maturity, professionalism and he can make plays. We're going to trust that he can help out and make plays that will put us in a position to win football games."

What would be the ideal amount of plays for Al Noga this weekend?

"We'll rely on his good judgment to determine that aspect. He's not a guy that is going to go out there and play less than one-hundred percent. If we can get him out there for a least two defensive series a quarter depending on how the substitution goes, then I think we won't have to overuse him and save him for the rest of the season."

What is the mentality of the defense when the offense isn't scoring?

"Obviously I think a lot of the defensive players really don't have time to think about it because they are going right back on offense. It gets frustrating at times but I think that goes both ways on either side of the ball. Sometimes the offense is playing well and the defense isn't. It's at team game and I think everyone is focusing on doing their own job to the best of their ability, and if everyone is doing there job then we shouldn't have any problems."

What do you expect to try and do against Oklahoma City this week?

"If you watch them on tape and break them down statistically and personnel wise, we're just going to try and contain them. If we can contain them and maybe get a couple of breaks then we should be able to compete with them and put ourselves in a situation to win."

Do you watch your players carefully to see there level of dedication, to see if they would prepare as hard as if they were 10-1 instead of 1-10? If they don't are they not the type of guy that you want around here?

"You're always trying to judge and evaluate your player's improvement as the season goes on. You want to find those players who have a lot of character and which guys are going full go at every point in the game and practice no matter what the score or our record is. I think our players try to improve everyday and if we do come across a cancer player we remove that individual quickly."

If a veteran is not playing well, doesn't it weaken your lineup by putting in a younger guy who does not have as much playing time?

"Absolutely, experience is vitally important to our team. Anytime we have a veteran player who is not performing up to his capability that hurts our team, but on the other hand the only way our younger players are going to get experience is if they play. It's a double edged sword right now."

What can these last five games mean for this team?

"We get a chance to get success by being competitive and giving ourselves the opportunity to win some games. It gives us all a chance to get some experience with a little less pressure had we been competing for a playoff position. Were able to take that and hopefully spring into the next season."



arenafootball2 Stories from June 30, 2004


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.

OurSports Central