SD Fleet Daily Update
January 5, 2019 - Alliance of American Football (AAF)
San Diego Fleet News Release
TODAY'S HEADLINES
- The Fleet hit the practice field at 9:35 am CT on Saturday as head coach Mike Martz and his staff held the first of two practices scheduled for the opening day of training camp.
- The Fleet held practice at lovely Heroes Stadium, a 10-year old, 11,000-capacity facility that serves the North East Independent School District in San Antonio. The $27.5 M stadium hosts seven area high schools and features a Fieldturf Duraspine playing surface.
- The Fleet had 73 of the 75 players on the roster participate in the pair of practices - with the exceptions being the newly signed OL Tylor King (see below) and OT Gerrad Kough, who is awaiting medical clearance.
HIGHLIGHTS
- In the morning session, WR Dontez Ford (Pittsburgh) made an impressive, leaping grab on a post route that elicited many cheers from teammates on the offensive side of the ball.
- In the afternoon session, TE Gavin Escobar (San Diego State) used his six-foot-five frame to make several grabs in seven-on-seven drills, including one approximately 25 yards downfield.
- In the afternoon session, DB Jude Adjei-Barimah (Bowling Green) had an interception during seven- on-seven drills and just kept running - and smiling -- after the whistle all the way into the end zone.
QUOTABLES
- Head Coach Mike Martz on the personnel: "I really like our players. I think we have really good players. I love the intensity and the effort; their attention to detail."
- Head Coach Mike Martz on the first practice: "Obviously, we had a lot of mistakes. I mean, this is the very first day. When you come out, especially when everyone is new to the system, it's never good. It's either horrible or its bad. Bad is good. There were a lot of mistakes out there, but the intensity was really good. I'm happy with the effort. We've got a lot a long way to go, obviously; but I'm pleased with the players."
- Head Coach Mike Martz on an entirely new team: "Well, it's interesting, because the neatest thing about that is you are not having to unlearn guys from a defense or an offense. So everybody is starting fresh from the very beginning in terms of learning the system. Nobody has one leg up on the other - which is good because the competitive part of these guys is that they want to know that they all have a shot at being a starter. And they all do. So what they do from here on in the next three or four weeks will determine how much time they play or if they make the team."
- DE Jonathan Petersen (San Diego) on the first practice: "I think it was great because everybody is kind of feeling out everybody - coaches included. It was quick tempo today, but obviously not a ton of contact with it being in shells today. I think it just gave us all a good overview of what to expect over the next three or four weeks. I think that it obviously laid a good foundation."
- DE Jonathan Petersen (San Diego) on the quality of talent: "I think the talent is great. You see even the competition when there there's not really supposed to be competition with this half-pad kind of stuff. So you see it and you know there's the drive and obviously the talent. I think we are going to be a pretty dang good team when we put this thing together over the next couple of weeks."
- TE Gavin Escobar (San Diego State) on the first practice: "Mentally, everyone was locked in. It wasn't a real physical day, but everyone was excited to be out there. You know there are things we have to clean up. But overall, for the first day, it was good."
- QB Alex Ross (Coastal Carolina) on Head Coach Mike Martz and his system: "He definitely knows what he is doing. He's an offensive guru and he's been doing it a long time and he's had a lot of success - and that's a testament to him and his career. Everything that he's teaching and everything that we're learning, we're taking it in; we're running with it. It takes a little bit of time to go over it. It's about repetition, repetition, repetition; studying the plays, talking to each other, going over what the assignments and just doing it on a daily basis."
- QB Alex Ross (Coastal Carolina) on getting back on the field: "I'm having a good time out there. You love that camaraderie. You love the locker room talk. You love being out on the field. You love running around with the guys. It's football. It's what we all dreamed to do. It's been what we've been dreaming of doing since we were little when we were running around in the backyard. So there's no better feeling than being out here with these guys."
GOOD HUMOR LINE OF THE DAY
- Head Coach Mike Martz, when asked about who stood out on Day 1: "I thought Coach Kitna (Offensive Coordinator) moved well and Coach Marmie (Defensive Coordinator) moved well in his drills. Coach MacDuff (Special Teams/Linebackers Coach) did a great job running across the field!"
HAPPY ENDINGS:
- The morning session ended with the entire team huddled up for a "Highest Level" on three.
TRANSACTIONS:
The Fleet have announced the signing of OL Tylor King, which brings the active roster up to 75 players. King played collegiately at Southern Oregon University, where the Portland, Ore., native was an All-Frontier Conference (NAIA) First-Team selection as a junior in 2015 and as a senior in 2016. The six-foot-six, 300- pounder earned a starting job three games into his sophomore season and never looked back. A multi-sport varsity athlete, King won a Cascade Conference title in the shot put (54'4-1/2") - becoming the first Raider to win the title in five years.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT - ALEX ROSS, QUARTERBACK:
QB Alex Ross (Coastal Carolina) may have been the final pick in the inaugural AAF Quarterback Draft on Nov. 27, but the 26-year-old is very much in the mix to be the Fleet's starting signal-caller when the season kicks- off on Feb. 9 in San Antonio. Ross, who most recently spent time in the Canadian Football League with the BC Lions and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, played four seasons at Coastal Carolina University and was the first Chanticleers quarterback to be a three-time, All-Big South First-Team selection. The Alpharetta, Ga., native was also selected as a 2015 All-American following his senior season. He left the Big South as the conference's all-time leader in total offense (11,482), touchdown responsibility (91), most games with 300-plus yards of total offense (16) and most rushing touchdowns by a QB (19).
COACH SPOTLIGHT - JON KITNA, OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR:
Jon Kitna brings 13 seasons of NFL quarterback experience to his role as offensive coordinator of the San Diego Fleet. His extensive resume includes being named the NFL Comeback Player of the Year in 2003 with the Cincinnati Bengals and leading the NFL in completions (372) in 2006 with the Detroit Lions. During his playing career, the native of Tacoma, Wash., passed for a combined 29,745 yards and 169 touchdowns with the Seattle Seahawks (1996-2000), Cincinnati (2001-05), Detroit (2006-08) and the Dallas Cowboys (2009-13). In his heralded 2003 season, Kitna completed 324-for-520 (62.3%) passes for 3,591 yards and 26 touchdowns. In 2006, he threw for a career-high 4,208 yards -- which ranked fourth in the NFL.
Alliance of American Football Stories from January 5, 2019
- Memphis Express Daily Update Saturday - Memphis Express
- Salt Lake Stallions Daily Update - Salt Lake Stallions
- SD Fleet Daily Update - San Diego Fleet
- January 5, 2019 - Orlando Apollos Daily Update - Orlando Apollos
- Arizona Hotshots Daily Update Saturday, January 5, 2019 - Arizona Hotshots
- San Antonio Commanders Training Camp Daily Update for Saturday, January 5, 2019 - San Antonio Commanders
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