New Orleans VooDoo Head Coach Q&A
March 9, 2004 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New Orleans VooDoo News Release
Q: How do you feel today after yesterday's performance
A: "We're excited to beat the defending champions and after looking at the film this morning, I thought our guys did a really good job. Early in this game, we took Tampa out of the game early on. Those turnovers were key and our pass rush did a nice job. Those guys helped create some opportunities for Lamont (Moore) to get some interceptions and on the last interception that (Shane) Stafford threw our guys were right down by his ankles. He was on his way down, trying to get the ball out of bounds and he just came up short and Calvin Coleman made a nice play. I'm really happy and proud of our guys for competing. Our defense has done such a great job. Again, that's a big win. Anytime you beat the defending champions like that, our guys did a nice job."
Q: Is it too early to say that this could be a special season?
A: "I think it's early. We feel in our locker room as coaches and players there's a special bond. We have something good going on right now. It's exciting. We're building on that every week. To come back from the loss that we had a week ago in Las Vegas, that just shows me what we're made of because it would be easy to get discouraged by a 20-point loss, but that shows me and it shows our team what it's made of. We came back out against the defending champions and got a big win."
Q: What is the biggest factor in your team's fast start?
A: "I think the biggest thing is that it all starts in your locker room and the guys we have are all good guys. We've got good guys. To a man you can look each one of them in the eye and we got good people. Guys that work hard, that bring their lunch to work everyday, they practice hard all week. They like each other. They like each other and they do things together off the field. While they're at practice they're together and even when they leave practice they're together and that's important. You're building something special when you're doing that. Those guys like each other both on and off the field. That's huge for the success of our team, especially down the road."
Q: What aspect of the team's play do you give the most credit to the team's 4-1 start?
A: "I think our defense has been our mainstay. The defense has done such a good job. Guys have done such a great job. We went out and spent a lot of money on linemen, pass rushers, B.J. Cohen, Tim Martin. We got (Abdul-Salam) Noah and (D.J.) Cooper in the expansion draft. We payed centers some money, Bruce McClure and Adam Metts. We knew and I knew as a coach that you win and lose games up front period and for our guys that has been a mainstay. Defensively, our DB's were young, Monty Montgomery and Chris Pointer, Calvin Coleman, Calvin Spears and Lamont Moore. Those guys are relatively young as a secondary, but they are benefiting from the guys in front of them. That's giving them time to make plays. That's giving them opportunities to knock balls down. That's building their confidence and you can see it in their eyes and the way they place. That stuff is contagious and it's rubbing off to the rest of the team."
Q: Is it special for you to beat a legendary coach such as Tim Marcum?
A: "I have all the respect in the world for him. The guy is the best in our business and anytime you get a chance to go against the best in your business that's exciting. I respect him. He's been in this conference forever. To be in 10 of 17 ArenaBowls is unheard of and win six of them that's pretty special. To be a coach, I couldn't be more excited to go up against the best and come out with a win."
Q: How Does the short week affect you?
A: "Obviously that affects our game plan. There's not much we can affect this week. There's not much we'll change this week. There's not much we can change. I still want our guys to have enough rest to get their body fresh for Friday night. The hand we've been dealt, the good thing is having a short week we came out of yesterday's game relatively healthy. Chris (Pointer) had some cramping problems. We had a few guys that had been battling some sickness problems and had some stomach pains and stuff yesterday, but other than that we're healthy and that's good. That means they're going a good job of maintaining their body, our strength and conditioning guys, doing a great job with the players and our training staff has done a great job with these guys."
Q: Can you discuss being 3-0 against Tim Marcum?
A: "You can leave that out. Don't jinx me. I don't know. I don't think its anything extra special that we're doing. Tim Marcum has his system. They just reload every year. They play man to man in the secondary. They got great pass rushers. They got great depth. They got great experience. You got to be at your best and our guys rose to the challenge yesterday. They know we were facing the defending champs and a legend on the other sideline and we took care of the little things. We won the penalty battle and the turnover battle and we came out on top."
Q: Are you looking forward to playing in a night game with the New Orleans fans?
A: "I know this, we're excited. Back to back home games for us is exciting and to be a seven o'clock game at night, the crowds have been unbelievable the first two games. They've been rowdy. They've been loud. But I anticipate even more of a rowdy crowd on Friday night. I know that atmosphere that we have here is special and for it to be an 11 a.m. game on a Sunday morning and to have that atmosphere is special with that intensity and excitement. We're looking forward to Friday night. It should be even louder."
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