Arizona’s two indoor football coaches sat in the lobby of an east-side Hilton as Tuesday night turned to Wednesday morning, talking X’s and O’s and preparing for an announcement that would make them both partners and rivals.
Hours later, Kevin Guy introduced Marcus Coleman as the head coach of Tucson’s yet-to-be-named Indoor Football League expansion team. Coleman comes from the IFL’s Iowa Barnstormers, where — as defensive coordinator — he led the club to a United Bowl championship. Coleman will spend the next six months assembling a staff, signing players and preaching the gospel of indoor football, an 8-on-8 game played on turf that covers hockey rinks. The franchise will play its first home game next spring at Tucson Arena.
Coleman said he plans to win — and soon.
“This isn’t going to be a deal where we wait it out three, four years,” he said during a Wednesday news conference at Playground Bar and Lounge downtown. “I’m trying to get it going yesterday.”
Coleman, 44, is the man most affected by the odd dynamic facing both of Arizona’s IFL teams. Guy and his wife are the majority owners of the Tucson franchise. Despite that, Guy will continue to coach the Arizona Rattlers — a franchise he has led to four championships since 2012.
Coleman said he’ll lean on Guy as a first-time head coach, and that the two had already discussed philosophy, strategy and the finer points of the job.
There will come a point, however, where things will inevitably get awkward.
Coleman and Guy will compete to land the same types of players. And Tucson and Phoenix figure to play each other at least twice next season. Coleman said the unique dynamic — his boss is the coach of his team’s biggest rival — won’t be a distraction. If anything, he said, it’ll be motivation to stay sharp.
“You’ve gotta beat him either way,” he said. “During the game, once we get out onto the field, it goes out the window anyway.”
Fortunately, Coleman is one of the few coaches who has beaten Guy. Coleman’s Barnstormers beat the Rattlers once in 2017 and three times in 2018. How much of an accomplishment was that? The Rattlers lost just three regular-season games all last season.
“We didn’t beat him; that’s why I hired him,” Guy said with a chuckle. “I don’t lose many games.”
Coleman spent two years in Iowa following one season as defensive backs coach with the now-defunct Tri-Cities Fever. He was a star defensive back at Texas Tech who went on to play 11 seasons (1996-2006) the NFL’s Jets, Texans and Cowboys. Coleman initially didn’t think he’d go into coaching, in part because of the time commitment involved. He chose radio, and spent some time working as a broadcaster in San Antonio. But Coleman said he had a hard time watching games as a fan — or even as a journalist. He would break down plays from the press box, or wonder why certain players did certain things in certain sets.
The time commitment suddenly wasn’t a big deal.
“I missed the grind,” he said.
Now, Coleman can be found breaking down film of all levels — including the NFL — while he thinks about high-minded organizational concepts, roster construction, free agency and scheduling. His eyes lit up Wednesday when he talked about setting up a training camp schedule in Tucson.
Coleman, like Tucson’s owner and his new boss, is obsessed with football. And if that leads to a few late nights in hotel lobbies talking ball, well, consider it a perk of the job.
“He has been preparing for this his entire career,” Guy said, “and he’s ready for the responsibility and its challenges.”
Extra points
- Coleman said he’s open to adding Tucsonans and former Arizona Wildcats to his roster, but will be judicious with which players he chooses. He said that it’s “not fair to anyone” to sign a local player who might not be ready for professional football simply to sell tickets. IFL rosters included just two ex-Wildcats in 2018 — linemen Steven Gurrola and Lene Maiava, both of the Rattlers.
- Tucson’s Indoor Football League franchise will announce its name and release a logo and team colors next Thursday, team officials announced. The team will also announce a winner for its “name the team” contest.
