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New Orleans VooDoo game notes

February 15, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New Orleans VooDoo News Release


QUICK FACTS
New Orleans VooDoo (2-1) vs. Philadelphia Soul (2-1)
Site: New Orleans Arena (16,021)
Television: NBC (WDSU-6 locally)
Pat Haden, Tom Hammond and Lewis Johnson
Radio: WSMB (1350-AM)
Chris Kenyon and Al Everest
Coaches: NO: Mike Neu (2nd Season in New Orleans,
3rd season overall, 19-14, regular season; 1-3 playoffs);
PHI.: Michael Trigg (2nd season in Philadelphia, 12th season overall, 77-78, regular season; 3-7 playoffs)
Series Record: New Orleans leads series 1-0

VooDoo TO FACE FELLOW 2004 EXPANSION FOE

Coming off of an exciting 62-61 victory over the reigning ArenaBowl champion San Jose SaberCats on February 13 at the New Orleans Arena in their home opener, the VooDoo will face another tough task when they host the Philadelphia Soul on Sunday, February 20. Sunday's game will match two of the top quarterbacks in the AFL, New Orleans' Andy Kelly and Philadelphia's Tony Graziani, both who engineer two of the league's most highly rated passing offenses. Sunday's rematch between two of the AFL's 2004 expansion teams will be broadcast by NBC and be shown in over 80 percent of the nation.

THE LAST MEETING

February 8, 2004; New Orleans 42, Philadelphia 34 - New Orleans used a solid effort on both sides of the ball to beat the Soul, 42-34 in the inaugural game for both teams at the Wachovia Center. The New Orleans offense score touchdowns on all four second half possessions to erase a 14-13 halftime deficit. The VooDoo defense had an interception and a fumble recovery to half two Soul drives in the game and their heavy pressure on Philadelphia's final possession preserved the victory. OS Aaron Bailey caught nine passes for 140 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

NEXT WEEK

The VooDoo will host their Southern division rival Tampa Bay Storm on Friday, February 25 at 7 p.m. The game can be seen live regionally on Cox Sports Television.

NEW ORLEANS VooDoo (2-1)
Date Opponent Time Result
Jan. 30 at Georgia 3 p.m. 44-46
Feb. 4 at Nashville 7:30 p.m. 59-34
Feb. 13 SAN JOSE 2 p.m. 62-61
Feb. 20 PHILADELPHIA 11 a.m.
Feb. 25 TAMPA BAY 7 p.m.
Mar. 5 at Dallas 7:30 p.m.
Mar. 13 ORLANDO 2 p.m.
Mar. 20 at Chicago 11 a.m.
Mar. 26 GEORGIA 7 p.m.
Apr. 1 at Austin 7:30 p.m.
Apr. 8-10 Bye Weekend
Apr. 16 COLUMBUS 7 p.m.
Apr. 23 at Grand Rapids 6:30 p.m.
Apr. 30 at Tampa Bay 6:30 p.m.
May 8 COLORADO 12 p.m.
May 14 AUSTIN 7 p.m.
May 20 at Orlando 6:30 p.m.

For updated news, press releases, statistics, rosters, players, coach and front office biographies, ticket information, merchandise, photo galleries and New Orleans VooDoo Dolls information, go to the official website of the New Orleans VooDoo, www.GoVooDoo.com. Updated daily, www.GoVooDoo.com has the most extensive information on the VooDoo and the Arena Football League.

THE COACHES

Mike Neu: The first head coach of the New Orleans VooDoo, Mike Neu is a six-year Arena Football coaching veteran.

Since being named coach of the VooDoo on June 17, 2003, Neu worked has worked tirelessly to make New Orleans a winning team. In his first season at the helm, he successfully molded a 24-man roster comprised of a mix of Arena Football League veterans and rookies, allowing the VooDoo to get off to a 7-1 start, one of the fastest starts for a firstyear AFL entry. Neu led the VooDoo to an 11-5 record, making them the only team in league history to win 11 games in their first season. The VooDoo's Southern Division title marked only the fourth time in AFL history that an expansion franchise has won their division in their first year of play. Following the season, Neu was named the Arena Football League Coach of the Year.

For his professional career, Neu has posted a 19-14 regular season record and has reached the playoffs every season as both a coach and a player in the Arena Football League. Neu came to New Orleans after serving as head coach of the Carolina Cobras. In 2002, Neu guided the Cobras to a 5-2 record on the road and their second-straight playoff berth. Carolina posted the first playoff victory in club history in 2002 as the club featured the AFL's fourth-ranked defense. As offensive coordinator with the Cobras in 2001, before being promoted to head coach prior to the team's first round playoff game, the Cobras averaged over 56 points a game (fifth in the league) and finished 7-7 (improving from a 3-13 record the year before).

Prior to coming to Carolina, Neu served as head coach and director of football operations for the Augusta Stallions of af2 in 2000. In his only season, Neu led Augusta to a 14-4 record, the American Conference title and was named the league's Coach of the Year. Augusta finished in the top four in every major offensive and defensive category. Neu started his AFL coaching career with Nashville in 1998, when he served as quarterbacks coach for the Kats and handled all play-calling responsibilities for the offense. The next year he was promoted to offensive coordinator and the Kats achieved their third consecutive playoff berth. The team also set franchise highs in six offensive categories, including scoring and total offense. Current New Orleans QB Andy Kelly, one of top quarterbacks in Arena Football League history, enjoyed a career-high passer rating of 116.4 under Neu's tutelage in 1999. Neu began his coaching career in 1994 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Ball State.

Neu's professional playing career started with a stint with the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders in 1995 before joining the Orlando Predators in 1996 and moving on to the Nashville Kats in 1997. The 1997 Nashville squad which Neu played on won an expansion record 10 games, a record which was broken by this VooDoo just this past season.

Neu played four seasons at Ball State, where he was named the MAC Most Valuable Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 1993. A four-year starter, Neu guided Ball State to the conference championship his final year and holds school career passing records in passing yardage, passing attempts, completions and touchdown passes. He was recently voted to the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. Neu and his wife, Charmin, have a daughter, Graycen and a son, Carson.

Michael Trigg: What head coach Michael Trigg brings to the Philadelphia Soul is experience. Experience with Arena Football expansion franchises, experience as an Arena player, and experience as a champion.

After guiding the expansion Philadelphia Soul to a 5-11 Inaugural Season mark, Michael Trigg (77-78 regular season, 3-7 postseason) is in his 17th year of Arena Football.

He is now faced with the ongoing challenge of building an Arena football team from the ground up, a task he has excelled at in the past. Trigg has the Soul posed for sophomore success through several key offseason acquisitions and a budding nucleus of players.

Prior to joining the Soul, Trigg spent six seasons as head coach in Grand Rapids, guiding the Rampage to the playoffs in five of his six years. His team won ArenaBowl XV in 2001 as Trigg was named AFL Coach of the Year.

In 1998, his first season with the Rampage, Trigg took a 3- 11 expansion team to 7-5 in 1999 and directed the Rampage to their first-ever playoff appearance.

Trigg enjoyed continued success with the Rampage, guiding the AFL's smallest market team to an ArenaBowl XV victory in 2001. His third ArenaBowl ring came as the Rampage finished the season 11-3 and claimed a 64-62 victory over the Nashville Kats in the championship. Trigg guided the Rampage to five straight playoff appearances and became just the fifth Arena Football League Coach to reach the 70-win plateau, making him the fourth winningest coach in AFL history (80 wins).

A veteran of expansion endeavors, Trigg spent 1994 as head coach of the expansion Fort Worth Calvary and 1995- 97 as head coach of the Milwaukee Mustangs. He turned a 0-12 team into a two-time playoff participant and set the then-AFL record for single-season turnaround as he guided the Mustangs from 4-8 in 1995 to 10-4 in 1996.

From 1991-93, Trigg was the offensive coordinator and director of pro scouting for the AFL's Dallas Texans, and served at his alma mater, East Texas State, as quarterbacks coach in 1990.

Trigg has also enjoyed success on the AFL field as a player. While with the Detroit Drive, Trigg led the team to their championship seasons in 1989 and 1990.

2004 AWARD WINNERS

Rita Benson LeBlanc.....Executive of the Year
Mike Neu...........Coach of the Year
B.J. Cohen........All-Bentley Team (NBC)
Dan Curran.......All-Arena (first team)
All-Ironman team
U.S. Army Ironman of the Month (February)
All-Bentley Team (NBC)
John Fitzgerald AFLWA Player of the Week (4/25)
Monty Montgomery Defensive Player of the Week (4/18)
Defensive Player of the Month (April)
Lamont Moore...Defensive Player of the Week (March 7)

THE VooDoo's RECORD WHEN?

1-0 at home
1-1 on the road
Scoring Allowing
0-9 points 0-0 0-0
10-19 points 0-0 0-0
20-29 points 0-0 0-0
30-39 points 0-0 1-0
40-49 points 0-1 0-1
50-59 points 1-0 0-0
60-69 points 1-0 1-0
70-79 points 0-0 0-0
80+ points 0-0 0-0
1-0 vs. Central Division
0-0 vs. Eastern Division
0-1 vs. Southern Division
1-0 vs. Western Division
0-0 on Thursdays
1-0 on Fridays
0-0 on Saturdays
1-1 on Sundays
0-1 in January
2-0 in February
0-0 in March
0-0 in April
0-0 in May
1-0 in games televised on NBC
1-1 in games televised on Cox Sports Television
0-0 in games not televised
1-1 when leading after the first quarter
1-0 when tied after the first quarter
0-0 when trailing after the first quarter
1-0 when leading at the half
1-0 when tied at the half
0-1 when trailing at the half
1-0 when leading after three quarters
1-0 when tied after three quarters
0-1 when trailing after three quarters
0-1 outcome 7 points or less
1-1 outcome 3 points or less
0-0 overtime games
1-1 when the VooDoo scores first
1-0 when the opponent scores first
1-1 when the VooDoo has more total offense
1-0 when the VooDoo's opponent has more total offense
1-1 when the VooDoo has more yards passing than opp.
1-0 when the VooDoo has less yards passing than opp.
0-0 when the VooDoo has same passing yards as opp.
0-0 when the VooDoo has more yards rushing than opp.
2-1 when the opp. has more yards rushing than VooDoo

2005 WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS

A listing of the weekly game award winners for 2005 VooDoo games

Offensive Player of the Game
Week 1: (at GEO): Troy Bergeron (GEO)
Week 2: (at NASH): Andy Kelly (NO)
Week 3: (SJS): Andy Kelly (NO)

ADT Defensive Player of the Game
Week 1: (at GEO): Dialleo Burks (GEO)
Week 2: (at NASH): B.J. Cohen (NO)
Week 3: (SJS): B.J. Cohen (NO)

U.S. Army Ironman of the Game
Week 1: (at GEO): Robert Thomas (GEO)
Week 2: (at NASH): Thabiti Davis (NO)
Week 3: (SJS): Thabiti Davis (NO)

WHAT A SEASON

Sparked by a 11-5 start, the VooDoo became the first team in Arena Football League history to win 11 games in their first season, surpassing the 10-4 record by the 1997 Nashville Kats.

TOPS AT HOME

Another contributing factor for the VooDoo's 11-5 2004 record was their 7-1 home mark at the New Orleans Arena. New Orleans, the Colorado Crush and the San Jose SaberCats were tied for the best home record in the AFL.

WHAT A CROWD

Through their 8 regular season home games in 2004, the VooDoo attracted an average of 15,240 fans per game to the New Orleans Arena. New Orleans' average crowd ranked third in the AFL, led attendance figures for teams in the Southern division and is above the league's average of 12,019. The VooDoo enjoyed their two sellouts, their second being on May 30 when they attracted a standing room only crowd of 17,030 fans for the season finale with Austin Wranglers. Below are the top 10 season attendance figures.

Team Average Attendance
1. Philadelphia Soul 16,851
2. Columbus Destroyers 16,286
3. NEW ORLEANS VooDoo 15,240
4. Colorado Crush 15,233
5. Tampa Bay Storm 14,348
6. Chicago Rush 14,085
7. San Jose SaberCats 13,138
8. Orlando Predators 13,086
9. Arizona Rattlers 13,000
10. Los Angeles Avengers 12,590

GETTING DEFENSIVE

An important reason for the VooDoo's 11-5 inaugural season was the team's ability to keep the opposition out of the end zone on the defensive end. Through 16 games, New Orleans surrendered an average of only 45.1 points per game, putting them in second place in the Arena Football League in scoring defense. In the 14 games the week prior to playing the VooDoo (not counting the inaugural season opener at the Philadelphia Soul), VooDoo opponents had averaged 55.0 points on offense and were held to an average of 45.8 points by the VooDoo defense, a difference of - 9.2 points per game.

RECEIVING OPTION

New Orleans WR/LB Thabiti Davis was signed from the Detroit Fury to fill the void of a tall wide receiver in the VooDoo offense and help improve the team's red zone production. After enjoying career-highs in 2004 and finishing among league leaders with 127 receptions for 1557 yards and 26 touchdowns, Davis been a big help to the VooDoo red zone offense, recording a team-high 26 receptions for 222 yards and six touchdowns. Currently, Davis is tied for 12th in the AFL in scoring among nonkickers (36), ranked third in receptions, tied for 17th in receiving yardage and total yards from scrimmage, eighth in first downs (14) and fourth in third down receptions (4).

IMPACT PLAYER

OS Aaron Bailey made an immediate impact for the VooDoo offense. Bailey, a five-year AFL veteran who came to New Orleans from San Jose after spending his first two seasons playing under Mike Neu in Carolina, is among the AFL's leading receivers. In 2004, Bailey had 91 receptions for 1364 yards with a career-high 32 touchdowns and finished among league leaders in all receiving categories. This season, Bailey is once again ranked among AFL leaders with 25 receptions for a team-high 351 yards and six touchdowns, while returning nine kickoffs for 122 yards. Bailey is currently tied for ninth in the AFL in scoring among nonkickers (42) and touchdown receptions, fourth in receptions, ranked third in receiving yardage and total yards from scrimmage (352), first in first downs (22) and tied for ninth in third down receptions (3).

ANDY KELLY

QB Andy Kelly, one of the AFL's premier quarterbacks and all-time passing leaders, was signed by the VooDoo in the team's objective to improve their passing offense. He currently holds the AFL career passing records for completions (2958), attempts (4802) and passing yards (32, 006) and is second all-time in touchdown passes (640). Kelly helped engineer squads in Nashville, Dallas and Detroit to playoff berths in seven consecutive seasons from 1997-2003 and helped lead the Kats to consecutive ArenaBowl berths from 2000-01. Kelly has started 122 consecutive games, the alltime record for consecutive starts by a QB. Kelly currently trails New York's Aaron Garcia (642) for the league's all-time lead in touchdown passes by two scores, as he is currently the top rated quarterback in the Arena Football League in 2005 (128.5) and at or near the top of the league leaders, completing 95-of-131 passes for 973 yards with 20 TD passes and one interception. In addition to passer rating, he also is currently leading the league in attempts, completions, yardage and completion percentage (72.5).

B.J. COHEN

OL/DL B.J. Cohen's leadership and high level of performance played a key role both on the field and in the locker room for the VooDoo in 2004. Starting all 16 games last season, Cohen recorded 26 tackles, was tied for 10th in the league with four sacks and finished third with a career-high four forced fumbles. In 2005, Cohen is currently among Arena Football League defensive leaders with 6.5 tackles, three tackles for a loss, three sacks and one interception.

VooDoo ON THE AIRWAVES

New Orleans VooDoo and Arena Football League fans will enjoy plenty of chances to watch the team both live and on various on radio and television programs throughout the 2005 season and the postseason.

Every VooDoo game will be heard on WWL-AM 870 or WSMB-AM 1350. Chris Kenyon will handle play-by-play, selected Saints players and coaches will serve as guest color analysts and Kenny Wilkerson will handle sideline duties. This week's game will be broadcast on WWL. Saints special teams coordinator Al Everest will serve as a guest color analyst. WWL will also broadcast a weekly coaches show with VooDoo head coach Mike Neu on Tuesdays from 7 - 8 p.m., with Wilkerson as the show's host.

Four of the VooDoo's regular season games are scheduled to be broadcast by NBC and will be seen locally on WDSU Channel 6. Cox Sports Television is scheduled to broadcast eight games in 84% of the nation. This week's game will be broadcast live on NBC nationally. Pat Haden will handle play-by-play, Tom Hammond will do color and and Lewis Johnson will handle sideline duties. Selected media personalities and New Orleans Saints players and coaches will serve as guest color analysts throughout the season on Cox games. Cox Sports Television will air "Inside VooDoo with Mike Neu" on a weekly basis, featuring a review of the last week's game, preview of the upcoming game and player and coach features. The half-hour show can be seen on Friday, February 18 from 6:00-6:30 p.m. Kenyon will serve as the show's host and Fanguy will do weekly player features.

VooDoo-SOUL CONNECTIONS

DS Monty Montgomery was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2001...FB/LB Leroy Thompson is a Camden, NJ native who was a two-time All-MEAC pick at Delaware State...Soul asst. head coach/dir. of player personnel Robert Smith is a Bogalusa native who played defensive end at Grambling and served as defensive line coach for both Grambling and Mississippi Valley State...Philadelphia defensive coordinator James Fuller played for the Saints and also served as defensive coordinator for the Oklahoma Wranglers from 2000-01, when VooDoo OL/DL Tim Martin was a member of the team...QB Andy Kelly and Soul offensive coordinator John Zinser were teammates with the Charlotte Rage...OL/DL B.J. Cohen and Philadelphia WR/DB Keita Crespina were teammates with the Tampa Bay Storm in 2003...Soul OL/DL Winfield Garnett went to camp with the Saints in 2000...Philadelphia OS Tyronne Jones played at Grambling from 1991-94 and was named the SWAC player of the year in 1994. Jones was coached by VooDoo coach Mike Neu in Nashville and was a teammate of VooDoo FB/LB Jason Bratton, OL/DL Aaron Hamilton, line coach Junior Ili, Kelly and OL/DL Bruce McClure. Jones and McClure were teammates in Georgia from 2002-03...Soul OL/DL Arnold Miller attended Carver HS and was a two-year starter at LSU...Hamilton and Philadelphia OL/DL Dwayne Missouri were teammates in Colorado in 2003...Soul OL/DL Chris Ryan played at Pearl River CC...Philadelphia OS Terrill Shaw went to camp with the Saints in 2003. Kelly and Philadelphia OL/DL Cory Stone were teammates at Tennessee from 1990-91...Soul WR/DB Joe Todd is a Moss Point, Miss. native who played at Mississippi Valley State...WR/DB Calvin Spears and Soul OL/DL Konrad Dean went to training camp with the Cleveland Browns in 2002.

Coach Neu Says

Excerpts from VooDoo coach Mike Neu's postgame comments about the team's win over the San Jose SaberCats and Sunday's upcoming opponent, the Philadelphia Soul.

(on how big it was to open up at home in year number two against the reigning champions) "We knew it was a tough home opener and when you're striving to get to the top, you got to be able to beat the best and our fans were tremendous again today. They knew when to cheer. They were the reason that guy missed that field goal with no time left on the clock."

(on if Andy Kelly is proving himself to be one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the Arena Football League) "The big thing with Andy is that there is not a situation that you can fluster with him. Everybody's excited at the end and everybody's worried, but that guy's played in two ArenaBowls. There is no situation to him where he is going to feel any kind of pressure. He did a heck of a job today of leading our football team and again, it all comes from the quarterback. He steps in that huddle with a confident voice and he believes we're going to go down that field and score. That carries over to the rest of the football team."

(on the importance of the VooDoo's defensive stop in the second quarter) "That's big because we knew that's a good football team over there. Terry Malley's been the offensive coordinator over there for a long time. The quarterback Mark Grieb's one of the best in the business, James Roe's one of the best in the business. (Barry) Wagner's had one of the best careers of any player in this league. We knew that we had our work cut out for us trying to stop that football team and that was a big stop that we had. Unfortunately we gave it back to them when we fumbled the onside kick, but the true mark of a team, when you have enough fortunate breaks that you can bounce back from it. Our guys bounced back and responded in the second half."

(on if it was by design for his team to not run the football) "We're a work in progress and really our three step game kind of has taken over for our running game. We do a lot more three steps, quick hitches and quick passes and we frustrate the pass rush when we three step and they can't get home and it kind of frustrates them. We're a work in progress. I still believe in the running game. We're going to have to be able to run the football at some point. I haven't given up on it. It's just one of those things, unfortunately I haven't felt the timing. We've had different fullbacks in every week with the exception of Jason Bratton"

(on how he evaluated the play of the defense in the game) "San Jose's a good football team. It's hard to frustrate Mark Grieb and if you can't get pressure on him, he's as good as they come. He's calm and cool under pressure. We kept bring heat and trying to get some hits on him, but the one big stop ended up being big for us. Sometimes that's the difference in a football game."

(on the difference in the passing offense this year) "All the way across the board on our receiving corps, you talk about Aaron, you talk about Thabiti, Jacques, Lamont Moore, Calvin Spears...All those guys are very good football players that contribute in a big way. When you got a triggerman like Andy that spreads the ball around like he does, those guys take a lot of pride in their route running and they believe on any given play they got a chance to get the football."

(on what they will work on this week) "We work hard on the running game every week in practice. We want to get better at it. Our timing's just a little different, when you have a guy like Dan Curran that hits the seams as fast as he does on the draw plays and stuff, you don't have to hold your blocks as long. We'll continue to work on it and at some point in the season, we are going to have to rely on it to get us through a game."

(on having to face Mark Grieb and Tony Graziani in consecutive weeks) "Give San Jose credit. They lost Calvin Schexnayder to an ankle injury last week. They moved James Roe to offensive specialist. He's a big receiver, very big receiver, but James' deal was not to always go vertical like they normally do. Next week with Philly coming in here, they got a bunch of little quick guys in their receiving corps, so you'll see those guys stretch the field more."

(on how he feels about being 2-1 at this point) "Every game we line up and play is going to be a tough opponent. San Jose is the defending champion. A lot of people have Philly picked to go very far this year and with Graziani's addition, every week is going to be a different battle and with the division we play in with Tampa and Orlando, we're going to have our work cut out every week."

(on why the win against San Jose was so emotional) "It was fun. Anytime you get a chance to beat the defending champions and to be at home on top of that with our fans and the way they were at the end of that football game, it was fun to just step back. I was over there when the defense was on the field on that last series and just to see the crowd. Everybody was on their feet in that place. You didn't have to tell them to get up, everybody's cheering, yelling, making it tough for San Jose, so it was just fun. We had a very dramatic win last year to open up the season at home and an equally dramatic win this year.

(on if he thought Dan Frantz missed the kick) "I saw it from the TV replay last night on the news and I thought the right call was made. The guy put himself in position, the back judge, you see all the people when you see the sideline copy of our game, what we watch with the players. Every person in the end zone as soon as it was kicked was yelling. They have the best angle and right view of anybody, so I think the right call was made. I think it was clearly no good."

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