Tuesday, Sep. 16, 2008

Davis begins recruiting for Fever

By Ben Reynolds, Herald staff writer

Richard Davis has coached for six seasons in the arenafootball2 league and he has established a certain method for putting together a roster.

The new coach of the Tri-Cities Fever said there is an easy way to do things, and then there is his way.

As Davis started making initial contacts with some players from last year's team and a few others who have played for him when he coached in Albany and Stockton, he is expecting a lot of new, fresh faces in the Tri-Cities next season.

"It would be a lot easier to fill a team full of veterans," he said. "I am a guy that goes to the colleges to recruit."

Davis, who was hired by the Fever last month, will officially become the team's coach later this week when his contract is approved by the league. Davis sent his contract into the league Monday, and once that is received he can start putting his coaching staff -- which he is still working on -- on the payroll.

Davis also has until Oct. 1 to re-sign players from last year's team before they become free agents.

"I plan on throwing a couple of contracts out there pretty soon," Davis said. "But I am not one to rush into things and want to make sure we've evaluated everyone."

Two players Davis has talked and would like to return are receivers J.R. Thomas and Phil Goodman.

Thomas is the Fever's all-time leader in touchdowns and receiving yards, and ranks near the top in almost every receiving category in the af2 record books. He also has been a fan favorite the past two seasons and has established roots in the community.

Goodman is another player that Davis would like to give another chance. Goodman played for Davis in Stockton during the 2006 season, and flourished. But recent legal troubles have set Goodman back, and his future in the af2 is in question.

"I'd love to give Phil another chance," Davis said. "I might give him five more chances.

"But he needs to get a few things taken care of before we can get to that point."

Aside from a few can't-miss veterans, Davis wants to develop young players. And a lot of the times, the guys with three and four years experience in the league are bypassed.

After that amount of time, "it's time to move on," Davis said. "Sometimes players can stay around too long."

Davis' method has worked. In his first four seasons in the af2, he posted a 39-19 record in Richmond, taking the team to the ArenaCup title game in 2001.

It's debatable if his formula is considered a failure in his last two coaching stops. In 2005, he lasted just six games before he was fired in Albany and never got to see his roster mature. The Conquest finished the season 4-12.

Then in 2006, the Lightning finished with a 5-11 mark. Davis does not make excuses for not having a winning record, but he's quick to point out that Stockton played 11 of its 16 games against playoff teams.

There has also been concern that his time away from the game has narrowed his list of contacts and recruiting tools. He says that is not a concern of his.

"All these guys have agents and agents are still the same," Davis said. "It's not like I haven't followed the game. I know who is out there and putting up the numbers."

Davis is just trying to discover some new player who can put up those kind of numbers.

-- The Lubbock Renegades are the second af2 franchise to fold after the 2008 season, joining Daytona Beach. Lubbock, whose majority owner is Doug MacGregor, the same as the Fever's, and his partners decided to fold the team after it failed to get local ownership and interest was dwindling in the team. The Renegades played two seasons in the af2.