Twisters Game Notes

Published on June 19, 2007 under arenafootball2 (af2)
Arkansas Diamonds News Release


QUICK FACTS:

Everett Hawks (3-6)

Vs. Arkansas Twisters (7-3)

Date: Saturday, June 23

Kickoff: 9:30pm Central Time

Site: Everett Events Center;

Everett, Washington

Radio: KABZ 103.7 The BUZZ

Pre-Game show starts @ 9:15pm

(Jake Hatley, Dick McDonald)

Internet: www.1037thebuzz.com

Series Record: First Meeting

Last Meeting: n/a

Streaks: Arkansas won its last game against Oklahoma City after dropping a heart breaker to Lubbock two weeks before. Everett won it last game, a 20 point victory over a tough Boise team. The Hawks have won two of their last three games.

Coaches:

Twisters - John Gregory: 7-3 (22-17, 3rd Year)

Hawks - Cedric Walker: 3-6, 1st Year

CONTACTS:

Twisters: Jake Hatley

Office: 501-907-2330 Cell: 501-247-8524

Fax: 501-907-2327 Email: jhatley@arkansastwisters.com

Hawks: Mike Lynch

Office: 425-252-4874 Fax: 425-2528982

Email: mlynch@everetthawks.com

PRACTICE, INTERVIEW & TRAVEL SCHEDULE:

PRACTICE: Tuesday - Thursday; 8am-10am Pulaski

Academy High School

THE STAKES: Arkansas has a chance to make up a full game on Tulsa if the Twisters can win the game. Tulsa has a bye week and Arkansas would be just two games behind Tulsa when the Talons come to Alltel Arena next week. Everett is trying to stay in playoff contention. The Hawks have won two of their last three games after losing five of their first six games.

THE IFs:

If Arkansas defeats Everett, it would...

- be the eighth win of the '07 season

- be the first win against Everett

- give Coach Gregory his 23rd win as Twisters coach

- pull the Twisters within two games of Tulsa in the standings

2007 ARKANSAS TWISTERS SCHEDULE

Date, Opponent, Result, Score, Record

3-31, @ South Georgia, L, 31-47, 0-1

4-15, @ Lubbock, W, 51-48, 1-1

4-20, @ Amarillo, W, 63-55, 2-1

4-28, CORPUS CHRISTI, W, 93-19, 3-1

5-5, @ Laredo, W, 55-33, 4-1

5-12, BOSSIER-SHREVEPORT, W, 64-50, 5-1

5-20, SOUTH GEORGIA, L, 37-40, 5-2

5-26, @ Tulsa, W, 36-19, 6-2

6-2, LUBBOCK, L, 49-51, 6-3

6-16, OKLAHOMA CITY, W, 51-39, 7-3

Date, Opponent, Time, Streak, Series,

6-23, @ Everett, 7:05, ---, ---

6-30, TULSA, 7:05, W4, 7-8

7-7, @ Bossier-Shreveport, 7:05, W7, 8-2

7-14, LAREDO, 7:05, L1, 0-1

7-21, @ Oklahoma City, 7:05, W1, 1-4

7-28, AMARILLO, 7:05, L1, 2-1

TWISTERS HEAD COACH:

John Gregory has seen just about everything a coach can see in one sport. His first job in football was back when Lyndon B. Johnson was President of the United States. Since then he has consistently taken over football programs that have struggled before his arrival and led them to success.

The former 2-time AFL Coach of the Year built the Twisters into a playoff contender in 2006. Gregory led Arkansas to its best start ever by winning his first three games. The Twisters won 10 regular season games for just the second time in franchise history and advanced to the National Conference Championship game. He coached the team to its first victories over Oklahoma City and Macon while beating rival Tulsa three times, the final time coming in the playoffs. The team set a franchise record for most total wins in a season with 12 and the 10 regular wins was the second most in franchise history.

The '06 Twisters also featured one of the best defenses in af2, tying a league record for sacks in a season with two Twisters players being named to the All-af2 first team for the first time ever.

Gregory started his coaching career as an assistant head coach and athletic director at Iowa Central Community College where he was charged with building a football program from the ground up. In just three years, the program had a 24-3-1 record and won the Wool Bowl in '69. Gregory's success at Iowa Central CC went on after he left. John Matusak was a Gregory recruit, and he went on to become the number one pick in the 1974 NFL Draft.

Gregory got his first college head coaching job at South Dakota State in 1971 and stayed for 10 years. To this day, Gregory is still second in school history in coaching victories and he led the team to a single season best of 9-2 in '79. SDSU didn't have a winning record the previous 11 seasons before Gregory's arrival.

After a one year stop as offensive coordinator at his alma mater of Northern Iowa, Gregory went further north to Canada and the Canadian Football League.

While in the CFL, Gregory won a CFL championship in '84 as the offensive line coach for Winnipeg. Gregory's offensive line helped the team set a CFL rushing record in '84 and Gregory was named CFL Outstanding Offensive Line Coach.

Saskatchewan noticed what Winnipeg had, and gave Gregory his first professional head coaching job and he didn't disappoint. Saskatchewan didn't have a winning season in the 11 years prior to Gregory's arrival, and they didn't win a Grey Cup (CFL Title) in 22 years. In 1989, Gregory led a Saskatchewan team that no one gave much of a chance of winning, and won the Grey Cup championship. In the process, Gregory was named CFL Coach of the Year, and he was elected to the Saskatchewan Hall of Fame in 1996. Gregory went on to coach for Hamilton of the CFL in '91, making the postseason four of the five years he was with the team before the founder of a new football league came calling.

Jim Foster invented Arena Football and needed a coach for a team he was starting in Des Moines, IA. Foster interviewed and hired Gregory to build the Iowa team from scratch. Gregory looked high and low for players; even recruiting a little known quarterback he heard was working at a local grocery store. Gregory gave Kurt Warner a tryout, and the rest is, as they say, history. Gregory coached the Barnstormers to five division titles in six years, led the team to two Arena Bowl title games, and the offense was the one of the most innovative offenses the sport had ever seen. Warner and his processor, Aaron Garcia were recently named as two of the greatest AFL players ever. Gregory earned AFL Coach of the Year honors in '95 and '96, the only coach in AFL history to do so, and nearly made it three in a row when he finished second '97.

The Barnstormers relocated to New York in 2000 and Gregory left the team in '03. After a brief stop at Carolina, Gregory decided to call it a career in coaching. Then Gregory got another call from Jim Foster. Foster told Gregory of a team that is the "Jewel of the af2" and needed his help. The team was successful early on, but had won just 4 of its last 20 games. Along with af2 President Jerry Kurz, and Jack Lankford, Gregory was convinced staying in retirement was the thing to do. Gregory took over the Arkansas Twisters four games into the 2005 season, going 5-7. The final four losses were by a combined score of 19 points, with two games being decided in the last minute of play.

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