Steel Open Second Season At Columbus
June 14, 2011 - Southern Indoor Football League (SIFL)
Trenton Steel News Release
COLUMBUS, Ga. - Steel coach Rod Miller realizes the amount of work both his staff and his team need to do to prepare for the 10-1 Columbus Lions Saturday night in the Georgia city of nearly 200,000.
"It's great to play the second season,'' said Miller. "Columbus is an excellent team, with good athletes and good coaching. Plus, they are the (SIFL) defending champions.
"What's really nice is we get to play someone we haven't played, in a place where we haven't been. It's both refreshing and challenging. Everybody in the playoffs is 0-0, and, like the other teams in this, we are aiming for a championship.''
Common opponents are few between the Steel (8-4) and Lions (10-1), whose only loss was a 46-26 setback administered by playoff participant Albany. The club was 6-0 on home turf at the Columbus Civic Center and has won nine straight.
The Lions defeated Richmond, 44-30, the week after the Raiders topped the Steel, 59-56, but lost starting quarterback Bryan Randall. Columbus defeated Carolina twice, 74-60 and 55-40, while the Steel scored an 86-42 decision over the Speed. Columbus edged Fayetteville, 29-28, while the Steel split with the Force, bowing, 56-53, and winning, 69-41.
"Columbus has a good veteran quarterback (Chris McCoy) and good lines on both offense and defense. This is a very sound team.''
The Steel, after losing their first three games by three points apiece, have won eight of their last nine and are playing as well as any club in the SIFL. The Steel are coming off a 52-22 win at Harrisburg in which they shut out the Stampede in the second half.
"I kind of knew it would be like that,'' said Miller of the game in Harrisburg. "We had to shake the rust off from the bye week. After a subpar first half, we played a very good second half both offensively and defensively at Harrisburg.
"We were able to give Dan Huff some action at quarterback, and give some of our players who hadn't seen much action a chance to play.''
While the Steel travel to Columbus, Erie (9-3) will visit the Albany Panthers (10-2) in the Eastern Conference. In the Western Conference, top-seed Houston (12-0) hosts the Rio Grande Valley Magic (6-6) and the Louisiana Swashbucklers (8-4) host the Corpus Christi Hammerheads.
Semifinals will be played the weekend of June 25 at the highest-seeded teams' arenas.
The SIFL Championship Game will be played in Lake Charles, La., the weekend of July 2.
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HEAD COACH ROD MILLER
A native of Omaha who graduated from Drake University, Miller comes to the Steel from the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League, with which he served as defensive coordinator. He was responsible for the weekly defensive game plan and the recruitment of players.
Miller's Gladiators defense led the AFL in percentage of stopping opponents' fourth-down plays and was eighth in pass defense.
190504445He also served as head coach of the Omaha Beef of the Indoor Football League from 2006-07, and was an assistant coach with the Grand Rapids Rampage of the AFL from 2007-09. All the teams Miller was associated with qualified for the playoffs in their respective leagues.
Miller served six years from 2000-2006 in the af2, coaching three years with the Carolina Rhinos in Greensville, S.C. and three years with the Green Bay Blizzard in Green Bay, W.I. During that tenure, Miller served as head coach, offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coordinator, football operations manager and player personnel director.
Miller also served as wide receivers coach at Simpson (Iowa) College in 2006 and as Special Teams Coordinator and Receivers coach with the Arena Football League's Kansas City Brigade in 2005-06, directing a unit that did not allow a kickoff return or missed field-goal return for a touchdown.
He has additional prior coaching experience at Kentucky State and Tyler (Texas) Junior College.
ASSISTANT COACHES
Jermaine Lewis (Offensive Assistant/Special Teams) - An assistant coach at Central Methodist University, Lewis comes to the Steel with a wealth of indoor experience as well, having starred defensively with the Arena Football League's Nashville Kats, Dallas Desperados and Grand Rapids Rampage. A practice squad player with the San Francisco 49ers, Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans, Lewis is the Steel's offensive assistant and work special teams. He also played in NFL Europe with the Amsterdam Admirals.
Rob Stanavitch (Offensive and Defensive Lines) - An assistant football coach at FDU-Florham, Stanavitch will direct the offensive and defensive lines. He brings a wealth of indoor experience to the Steel, having played from 1994-2002 in stints with the New Jersey Red Dogs, Arizona Rattlers, Los Angeles Avengers of the AFL and Albany Firebirds of af2. He also was part of the Frankfurt Galaxy's NFL Europe World Bowl championship team in 1995.
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Southern Indoor Football League Stories from June 14, 2011
- SIFL Playoff Preview - SIFL
- Steel To Rename Hamilton Avenue In Honor Of Playoff Run - Trenton Steel
- Explosive Erie Offense Prepares to Invade Albany - Erie Explosion
- SIFL Recaps - SIFL
- Steel Open Second Season At Columbus - Trenton Steel
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