Perdue takes over Dusters
Published on April 28, 2005 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Amarillo Venom News Release
At a press conference held in the Atrium of the Ambassador Hotel in Amarillo, the Amarillo Dusters announced today that Defensive Coordinator Steve Perdue has been promoted to Head Coach.
"I've wanted to become a head coach from day one, but it certainly happened sooner than I had expected" said Perdue. "I'm in a very special situation. My ownership believes in me, my General Manager believes in me, my assistant coaches believe in me, and my players believe in me. I'm thankful that Coach Carthel gave me an opportunity here, and now I'm ready to take it and roll with it. I believe in my heart that we can win the Arena Cup, but it's going to happen one practice at a time, and one game at a time. If we put the work in, we can get it done."
At 28, Coach Perdue becomes the youngest Head Coach in Af2, replacing Don Carthel who accepted the Head Coach position at nearby West Texas A&M.
"This all started at a Denny's restaurant in the fall of 1998," said Dusters General Manager Warren McCarty. "It's been a wild ride since then. We've been through lots of ups and downs both personally and professionally. Steve has worked so hard to get to this point, and he's so passionate about the game of arena football. He faced so many obstacles and stereotypes as a player, and was able to overcome them. I knew that he'd be a great coach. He simply needed a chance to shine, in much the same way that he needed someone to give him a chance as a player. Sometimes, all it gets down to in this business is faith. We've had faith in each other from the get-go, and here we are."
This is Coach Perdue's second season coaching with the Dusters. Coach Perdue played locally at Randall High School in Amarillo, and also saw action professionally in the IFL, IPFL, NIFL, and briefly in Af2. He and his wife Kimanda have three children: Christian, Hailie, and Xavier.
Coach Perdue will lead the Dusters against the San Diego Riptide on Saturday night in San Diego, CA. The Dusters are looking for their first back-to-back wins since joining Af2.
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