The Head Coaches View On the Tennessee Valley Game

Published on July 15, 2003 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Quad City Steamwheelers News Release


DAVENPORT, Iowa – With the biggest game in af2 history coming up this Saturday night at The MARK of the Quad Cities, Quad City Steamwheelers head coach Rich Ingold is one of the busiest men in the area right now. Well, I had the chance to sit down with him and get his thoughts on the upcoming game against the undefeated Tennessee Valley Vipers.

Ryan Holtmann: Talk a little bit about the 62-59 loss to the Vipers earlier this season.

Rich Ingold: It was frustrating those first two games, a one point loss to Hawaii at home, then we go on the road to Tennessee Valley and control most of the game until the end, and then we gave it away. Believe me, we were sitting there at 0-2 at one point in the season and our backs were up against the wall. But the thing about this team is that we never doubted ourselves, we knew we had a good team and we basically studied the tape and found out why we lost that game. The coaching staff, Jon Roehlk, Eddie Langford and I really felt that losing those two games really focused our guys to get this 12-game winning streak together.

RH: Talk about your relationship with Tennessee Valley head coach Kevin Guy.

RI: We respect each other. I respect him because I think he works hard at his job. We both have a similar type of coaching style, philosophy in the off-season. We both feel we have to recruit the best possible guys. That's the thing; I think our relationship has built a lot around respect.

RH: What, if anything, are you seeing different about Tennessee Valley this time around?

RI: No, they basically have the same game plan. It's the same team. They' re well coached, they play hard, play great defense. That's the thing about Tennessee Valley, they pride themselves on playing great defense, they play a lot of man-to-man and have some good athletes back (in the secondary) and they try to get after the quarterback. Believe me, we have the same type of philosophy. We are going to protect our quarterback and get after theirs. Coach Guy is going to have the same pre-game speech that I am going to have. It's going to be protecting our quarterback and getting after theirs. Believe me, our pre-game speeches are going to be identical.

RH: How much better is this Steamwheelers team compared to the one that you took to Tennessee Valley on April 11th?

RI: Big time difference. We're always going to score points, we're always going to score over 50 (points per game). I have been coaching this team now for 30 games, and we have averaged over 50 points per game. We're always going to score points. It's just that early in the season, we couldn 't outscore teams. We weren't playing good defense, it was too easy back there. But where we really made great strides is, number one, our pass rush has gotten a lot better with DS Asa Francis going in and every other guy stepping up, plus our defensive backs are just shining. Our secondary play has just been outstanding, we have held the last seven opponents under 50 points.

RH: What about the quarterback match-up, you have two of the top QB's in the league going at it in Tony Zimmerman (QC) and Matt Sauk (TV). Could you ask for a better showdown?

RI: They are very similar guys. Both are pocket quarterbacks, they have great receivers, but the big difference to me is that Tony has only thrown six interceptions where as Sauk has thrown 16. So that's a stat that glares at me right now. We have to get pressure on this guy and he'll possibly put it up for grabs. That's what we have to do, get after their QB Matt Sauk.

RH: It seems that the Steamwheelers are getting drastically better every week, you are starting to blow opponents out and continue to score a ton of points, how much does that help going into this game?

RI: The big difference, going back to that other question has been our defensive play. We had a lot of stops last game, six to be exact; it all goes to our defense. Just like I said, even in the games earlier this season, we were scoring a lot of points. It's just like Green Bay. We play them at home (on May 16th) and we score 64 points, but give up 55 points. Next time we played them (on July 5th), we scored 75 and we only allowed 29. We are always going to be in the 50's and 60's (when it comes to scoring), I am a firm believer in that. The thing that is making us better is that we are playing good defense. Our DB's are playing better and our pass rush has gotten better. Instead of us just slipping by teams, outscoring you, now we are doing our thing we always do on offense and the defense has been shutting teams down. That's the difference.

RH: In the past three games, Tennessee Valley has won by a margin just a little bit better than a touchdown; do you think this is a factor with Quad City blowing teams out and Tennessee Valley just ‘skating' by?

RI: What people don't understand is that you just can't look at scores and what you have to understand now is that Tennessee Valley, everybody that they play wants to be the one to knock them off. They're getting everybody' s best punch. And I firmly believe that is how teams play us, they know who they are playing and they give us their best punch. Tennessee Valley, they are still 14-0, but they know when they play somebody, they are getting that team's best punch. That's their (opponents) big Super Bowl. I understand where they are at in Tennessee Valley; everybody gets up to play those guys.

RH: When you first got here, did you have any idea about this rivalry and how big it was? And now that you are here and have experienced it, did you ever think it would be this big?

RI: The thing is that I heard about it when I first got the job, Tennessee Valley and Quad City was a great rivalry, they played for the first ArenaCup championship. Then I got to go down there and play them in Huntsville, Ala., and then I understood exactly why this is such a fierce rivalry and the name recognition. If you think of arenafootball2, believe me, the two names that you think of are Quad City and Tennessee Valley. Those are the two names that pop into most common fans heads. They are the two most dominant teams since the league began. That's where it all begins; success has made this thing the fierce rivalry that it is.

RH: What kind of feelings do you have going into this game? Are you nervous, anxious, what is it?

RI: The only thing that I have to do is make sure that our guys are prepared, number one, mentally, by watching film, seeing what they are doing differently since the first time that we have played them. I understand their people and the match-ups and then I have to go in and put together a good plan, offensive attack play to go get these guys. They have good DB's, they play man-to-man, and we scored a bunch of points on them last time. Zimmerman is peaking right now, OS Ira Gooch, WR/DB Jeff Hewitt, WR/DB Tim Dodge, Francis, we have them at home and I feel really good about it. I am not nervous what so ever, it's just that I have to make sure that our guys are prepared, basically we'll be fine by the time that we kickoff on Saturday.

RH: Do you feel better going into this game knowing that it is at home and that it's Tennessee Valley who has to travel the 672 miles to play you?

RI: Absolutely, that's what we had to try and overcome when we played them down there. We went down there and played them and we should have won the game. And that's why I say that the Hawaii game was one of our biggest victories as a staff here, is that understanding the travel, the distractions, to win on the road in this league is difficult. We're 6-1 at home and on the road and believe me, that travel does have some affect on you.

RH: If you had one word to describe this game, what would it be?

RI: It'll be intense. It'll be fierce. Physical. If you live in the Quad Cities and have the slightest interest in football and you miss this game, there is something wrong with you.

RH: Do you think that the team will react any differently this week than they have the past 12 weeks since you last played the Vipers?

RI: Nah, they know who they are playing and we know who we are playing. Two big teams, big boys, going at it. Our goal is to win each game and win an ArenaCup. But the thing that I like about our guys is that we went to Hawaii and they had a nine-game home-winning streak and we knocked them off. Now we have Tennessee Valley at 14-0, it's just an extra incentive. We know what kind of team we have and we know what happened down there, it's in our house, so let's get it on.

RH: There was talk about you being happy that Tennessee Valley won last week despite what playoff incentives could have been on the line had they lost. What made you happy about their victory?

RI: I truly am happy that they won. I heard people around saying that they were pulling for Florida (to beat Tennessee Valley last weekend) to help us out and if it came down to that, I didn't want that. I honestly wanted them to win. Kevin Guy and I talked about over a month ago that we were on a winning streak; they were on a winning streak. We were like ‘hey it'd be nice if we both continued to win to have this game come down to this,' being that it is now the biggest game in af2 history. I am really glad that they won and now they come play us, so let's get it on.



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