Firecats look to repeat as division champs
With the Florida Firecats’ season beginning Sunday at Texas, it’s a good time to take a look at how the team will hold up against their American Conference South Division foes in the Arenafootball2 League.
This year brings some major changes to the South Division. The Birmingham Steeldogs are no more, and their place is taken by a new team, the Daytona Beach Thunderbirds.
The new team, along with the Firecats, the Tennessee Valley Vipers and South Georgia Wildcats comprise the shortened four-team division.
“We play Daytona four times this year,” said Firecats coach Kevin Bouis. “Play-ing them so much will cut down on travel time, whereas before South Georgia was our closest (division) competitor.”
The expansion team, plus with wholesale changes to the rosters of their other divisional rivals, should make the road to another South Division title easier.
Main division rival South Georgia, who bounced the Firecats from the playoffs last season, is in a rebuilding mode after losing both of its starting wide receivers and all-pro quarterback D. Bryant to the AFL. Unable to find a suitable replacement for Bryant, the Wildcats were forced to move former backup QB Cecil Lester into the starting role. They also lost key players on their defensive front and those replacements are as yet unproven in professional football at any level.
In the words of former Tennessee Valley defensive coordinator and new Firecats line coach Dominic Bramante, the Vipers “Always seem to be rebuilding. They like to overhaul the team nearly every year.”
This year appears to be no different. Besides losing Bramante on their coaching staff, the Vipers also have a new head coach, Dean Cokinos, who came from the Nashville Kats of the AFL. Hopes in Tennessee are high that new quarterback Andy Hall can improve on last season’s 7-9 record. Hall is a former NCAA Division I-AA standout who was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the sixth round of the 2003 NFL draft. Hall should be a work in progress, though, as he is joined by rookies at the key wide receiver and running back positions.
Daytona is full of rookies and players released by other teams both in the AFL and AF2. In its favor is head coach Herkie Walls, a hall of fame wideout who appeared in three Arena Bowls over his six-year career in the league. Behind Walls’ leadership Daytona should be competitive, but is not expected to rise to the top of the South Division in its first season.
The Firecats again look to be the class of the division.
After posting a division-winning 11-5 record last season, the Firecats suffered disappointment in a home loss in the first round of the playoffs to South Georgia because of shaky line play.
The Firecats are set about fixing that. The first step was bringing in Bramante.
Despite the Vipers’ 7-9 record last season, Bramante coached one of the better lines in the league. The Firecats also completely revamped both their offensive and defensive fronts with some impressive players, all with at least one or two years of professional experience.
The key questions facing the Firecats, however, are how they will cope with the loss of potential Hall of Fame wideout Magic Benton and current AFL standout DB Levi Brown.
In Benton’s place, Chris McKinney returns after joining the team midway through last season, and can expect to see more touches.
As a rookie, Brown led the league in interceptions with 13, and already is excelling in the AFL. Hoping to fill the void left by Brown, the Firecats brought in rookie DB Lewis Barr of Georgia Southern. Barr has a keen sense for the ball, tackles well and has the speed to run with other receivers within the division. As a yet unproven commodity and a rookie, Barr may end up being a work in progress in filling the void left by Brown and the retirement of Quincy Sorrell in the secondary.
The Firecats appear to be the dominant team in their division, but likely repeat as South Division champs with Bramante coaching the lines.
The Firecats’ first chance to prove themselves comes Sunday in the season opener with the Texas Copperheads. They make their home debut at Germain Arena April 12 against Tennessee Valley.