CoachGade.com

Now you can access this blog by going to www.CoachGade.com! Coach also has a new email addresss for his blog, kevin@coachgade.com. Be sure to spread the word, this blog is even easier to access.

Of course you will always be able to access this blog through the old address as well, http://www.coachgade.blogspot.com. If you are reading this and would like to have a blog of your own, you can create your own in about 5 minutes. All it takes is a valid email address and a few clicks. You will be blogging in no time. If you would like some free assistance in building your blog or customizing your blog, email me! I will help you.

Hass

Port Huron

We are preparing for Port Huron this week. They are defending champs, and have not lost in 13 straight games. Good team (obviously). After watching the game tape from last week, we are also a good team, we just made bad mistakes, and Kalamazoo took advantage. We cannot afford to make those mistakes this weekend, and we need to play like we know we can play. The coaching staff was as critical in evaluating ourselves as we were in players, and we made mistakes too. We will continue to get better, and we have to learn from those mistakes. Our team has the players and ambition to be great, we just have to put it together, Saturday is a true test of our talent, character, and ambition.

Here We Go!!

Well I have to apologize for not being on here and updating everyone. I have been up usually every night until about 1:30 am. Then getting up and going to work at 7:00 am. I just haven't had the time. It is Friday and I'm excited, and nervous as a person on death row waiting for a pardon!!! Every night I think, "did we pick the right 25 guys, did we prepare enough, do we have a good scheme, is our back up scheme good? But in the end we prepared hard, our guys are ready, the question is Springfield ready to "Run with the Stallions?"

The team had two excellent practices on Wed and Thursday night. We looked sharp in every aspect of the game. We slowed down the intensity, and really focused on the mental part of Saturdays game, getting everything right, especially the little things. I feel the players are tired of beating on each other, and just will Xplode on someone else in a different color jersey.

Thats all for now, come Monday look for some good news!!!!!!!!!! Thanks to the SJ-R for coming out to practice, and Robert Burns for calling and doing an interview with me and the owners. Look in tomorrows paper (Saturday) for an article.

Kalamazoo

Coach Rychel, Justin, and I all made the 6 hour journey to Marion OH, on Saturday to watch Marion play Kalamazoo. As you all know we open with K-Zoo in April 7th. The game was a tale of two half's. Score was 30 - 7 at the half with K-zoo in the lead. By the time the game ended the final was 37-35, and Marion had the ball on K-Zoo's 1 yrd line and just flat ran out of time. I will not go into specific details on what we saw but here is a basic overview. K-Zoo's front 6 (OL/DL) and big and physical. D-ends are pretty quick, and WR's run good routs. They are an overall physical team, and they cause turnovers on Defense and Special Teams. We have a lot to prepare for, but I am confident will will have a great scheme, and will hopefully come out on top. It will be a great game.

Saturday

Saturdays scrimmage went well with about 200--250 people attending. Thank you to all of those who spent a bit of there St. Patricks day with us. The scrimmage started out a bit slow, and it took the players a series or two to get going. I was pleased with the effort by all of the players and their conduct on the field. I am also pleased that sooooo many kids and fans took the opportunity to come down on the field after the game to meet the players and coaches, and take pictures and get autographs. The coaching staff met after the game in a closed door meeting and trimmed the roster down some more. We are hopeful that players understand the nature of the game, and it is simply a numbers game at this point. We would have liked to keep everyone, but we unfortunately cannot. Thanks again to everyone who attended and please continue to support Springfield's only PROFESSIONAL sports team.

PS----- Did anyone see any media from the SJ-R there??? I didn't think so. Please tell them to support us (not just cover us). www.sj-r.com

Sgt. Hass

I need to say THANK YOU to Sgt. Dan Hassinger. Hass has been my supervisor, and is leaving to go to law school. He has helped me professionally in my short time working under him. Hass is the man who helped me create this blog, and is a big supporter of the Springfield Stallions. (I more or less just watched as he created it!!! I'm not that smart!!) Hopefully when were in Michigan you can come and watch us play. You have helped me as an Investigator, and a person, thanks Hass, you will be missed!!!!!!! (That ain't new baby!!!!!!!!!!) If I can ever do anything let me know!!

03/16/07

Well its Friday, day before the scrimmage. I feel like I have been working non-stop, with practice, rosters, getting the scrimmage together, talking to GM, and owners, and coaches, (etc.) We had great news yesterday at practice, we are now an "OFFICIAL NIKE TEAM" Our owners have worked hard at getting this deal done, and they succeeded in securing that sponsorship. I know they worked late into the night and had some sleepless nights, but thanks for "taking one for the team" I cannot and will not say it enough, thanks to my family for all of their support. Sorry this entry is all over the map, but I'm tired and need to work on scrimmage stuff. Hope to see everyone there on Sat.

Scrimmage

Well the end is near for many players. We will have an "open house" scrimmage on St. Patty's day at the Convention center. It is a final chance to impress the coaching staff, and make this team. It is free, FREE to the public. Players will be available after the game to meet the fans and kids, sign autographs and take pictures, just an all out day for us to meet the fans and thank them!! After the game the coaching staff will have to meet and cut the roster down to the final 24. Its been hard up to now, and now it gets harder. We have had an uphill fight with the newspaper here in Springfield, getting them to cover and SUPPORT us. Tell them to help us out!! Contact Robert Burns at www.sj-r.com We are trying our hardest to make this work, and be entertaining for the Community. The Stallions organization will be making a donation after the game to a local charity. For more information on the scrimmage go to the Official Team web site at http://www.springfieldstallions.com/

Training Camp 2

This weekend went very well. Guys pushed themselves and work their hardest, pushing through the soreness, and aches and pains. The offense is starting to gel, and the timing between the QB's and WR's is getting better each practice. The defense is starting to understand all of the different stunts and fronts, and blitz packages, and we got some hitters!!!! Be ready to watch some film we took from the team sessions, we saw plenty of things we need to improve on. Keep up all of the hard work, and we will see everyone in Litchfield!!!!

Training Camp

This past weekend, players reported to training camp. I want to thank Dr. Taylor, Dr. Bell, and Dr. Suhumski, for all of their help! After a long day at their offices, they helped us out with player physicals Friday night. I also need to thank the Holiday Inn Express and Soccer for fun for their hospitality. Here is a shortened schedule of what our players had to do:

Fri-- 9:00 pm. Fitted for equipment, get physicals, fill out paperwork

Sat--7:30 am --10:30am Practice
11:30am--12:30pm Lunch
1:30pm --2:30pm Offense Meeting
6:00pm--8:00pm Defense Meeting
8:30pm-- 11:30pm Practice

Sun-- 7:30am--10:00am Practice
11:00am Team Meeting
11:30am Camp Dismissed

The players had a full contact camp. We hit and got after it each practice. Guys were sore and beat up. It was evident that most guys were a bit out of shape, but they know that we will not accept that. The coaching staff was pleased with the way camp went and the effort put forth by the players. We were able to assess "pure" football abilities with the pads on. Many players moved up on our lists, others did not. We still have a long way to go with personnel decisions. However, next weekend we will reduce our roster again. The players know there are still opportunities to earn a spot on both offense and defense. It is gut check time, do you have what it takes? Keep after it, keep the goal in front of you, TAKE IT!

Special thanks need to go to Justin and Chris (owners), they make it easy for me to get things done. Jerry Lakin the GM, you are the best!! If I need something, you get it for me yesterday, and I truly appreciate it. My coaching staff is the best, period. The commitment you have made to this team is beyond measurable. I think we all respect each others decisions, and get along better than I would have ever thought at this point. There were times over the weekend that we met until 2:00 in the morning then were up at the facility at 7:00am for practice. Then met in between practices and player meetings. I know it was looooonnnngggg weekend for me, so I know you had a long one too, thanks.

Coach JT's offense is complex, but he is a very skilled teacher. Watch out, because the scoreboard is going to be on fire this season. Coach Edmunds will have the O-line ready to protect the President if he comes to town!! Coach Rychel and Taylor work the D-Line and LB's to death, and I feel sorry for opposing QB's!! The pain train is coming baby. Coach Hunt's DB's will end up in jail for theft with all the INT's. Coach Dodd thanks for helping (???????) with the equipment.

We are very fortunate to have a diverse group of people on staff. Each of us brings a different perspective to the table and in the end, it all works out. We are charged with making some tough decisions, but I like this little rule:

"Am I doing the right thing, the right way, at the right time, for the right reason?" Answer these questions and stand behind it.

Camp resumes next weekend at 7:30 am at soccer for fun. Practices are open to the public and media. See you there.

Coach Gade

AND THEN THERE WERE........

38 AND HERE THEY ARE:

CHRIS REYNOLDS, SKIP SUTTON, KI, BRAD ALBERTINI, PETE SMYSOR, JASON SWICK CHRIS CLAREDY, RYAN BAST, GEORGE WILSON, JOSH ALLOTEY, WINSTON TAYLOR CHUCK RIDGEWAY, JASON HOWARD, DERRICK DEBOEF, TY RODGERS, DOM SALVO RYAN BENHAM, BRIAN BARTOSZKIEWICZ, ELTON BROWN, PARTICK BLANKS, DONNIE MOORE, JACKSON (db), ADAMS TAYLOR, QUINCY ROE, PABLO CASTILLO, MATT ROE ERNEST STRINGFELLOW, ROBERT BOYD, DARVIN JONES, KAREEM WISE, JARON DENT, TODD TOLLIVER, MARCUS DALLAS, MARC HOWELL, WILLIE GREEN, KASEY YOUNG, JOHNNEY COOPER, HARPER (OL/DL),

CONGRATULATIONS TO THOSE WHO HAVE MADE IT THIS FAR. THOSE WHO DO NOT SEE THEIR NAMES ON THE LIST THANK YOU SINCERELY FOR ALL OF YOUR HARD WORK AND EFFORT.

Mini Camp 3

WOW!! This has been the hardest camp yet. I have never gone through so many emotions in a 2 hour time span. We had another excellent turn out with about 55 players showing up. Camp was intense, and guys worked hard. Camp ended, and then the worst part of the job came to a front, ...cuts. The position coaches let players go, and emotions came out. I guess I knew this time would come, and knew it was going to be hard, but not THIS hard. It was especially hard for me, to release players that I played with last year, and have formed a friendship with. I hope they understand that this time it is a business decision, and we have to do what is right for the team. Next week will be even tougher because we need to be down to a 35 man training camp roster. That's all I have for this week from snowy Springfield where we have about 7 inches of snow, and more to come!!!!!!!!!!!!

Camp #2

We had our second "mini camp" on Feb 4th, and had another great turnout. There was approximately 60 potential players at camp on Sunday. The coaching staff met for about an hour after camp and decided that we needed to start trimming the roster. We are having a hard time getting a good look at players that are on the "bubble". There are players that will make the 35 man roster, and guys that despite their effort, will not make it any further. The guys we know that won't make it any farther are taking reps away from our "bubble" guys, thus limiting the amount of time we have to make an evaluation. These next few weeks will be the hardest for me, having to cut guys I played with last year, but they have to understand that this year is different, and I have to put out the best product, with the best players for our fans, and the city.

Press Conference

Here is a link to the entire press conference. Sound kinda stinks, sorry. You may have to turn up your volume.

Stallions Press Conference

Mini-Camp

On 01/11/07 we held our 1st Mini-Camp down in Pontoon Beach Illinois. We had about 55 prospective players show up for camp and it went very well. We will be holding 4 total camps, 3 more in Feb. Each prospective player needs to attend 3 out of the 4 camps, to be evaluated by the coaching staff. There is alot of competition for the WR and DB slots, and some great athletes are unfortunately not going to make this team due to the fact we might have some players a wee bit better, and have more experience. I am looking forward to the next Camp which is on 02/04/07, and we should have about 60-70 players there. Competition should be fierce and guys should know, they only have 3 more opportunities to impress myself and the rest of the staff.

Go Bears!!!

Major Announcement

Today the Stallions ownership group got a new member, and he knows how to bring the pain train. Owners Kris Underwood and Justin Gettys will announce WWE wrestler D. Lo Brown as part of the ownership group. Its going to be great to have D Lo as part of the Stallions family and the experience he brings in the entertainment buisness. D Lo is also going to bring some of his wrestling counterparts to home games for autograph and photo sessions, and maybe a match or two. To see all the information go the the Stallions web site at www.springfieldstallions.com

Welcome to Coach's Corner

Hello there and welcome to Coach's Corner. Here at my blog, you can find out what is going on with the Springfield Stallions Professional Arena Football Team. You'll get the inside scoop right here from the Coach's perspective.

I will be working on the format of my blog over the next day or two, but I will be posting frequently. I would love to hear from you, so leave a comment or send me an email at coachgade@danhassinger.com.

This is going to be a great season! Check out my link to the Stallions Home Page for tons of great photos and information about how you can help support your local professional arena football team.

Talk to you Soon,

Coach G.