John Wolfe has a new position with the Baltimore Blackbirds, but he still has the same goals.

Blackbirds Owner Alexander Austin introduced Wolfe as the team's vice president and director of corporate operations last month, beginning a front-office expansion for the first-year American Indoor Football Association franchise.

“John has been a great contributor for the Blackbirds in the 2007 season and has helped steer the team in the right direction for the upcoming 2008 season,” Austin said in a statement.

The Blackbirds have named Jay Pelham the assistant director of corporate operations and Nick Markakis, who is not related to the Orioles’ outfielder, the senior account executive in charge of the team’s sponsorship program.

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Wolfe, the general manager during the inaugural season, expects the nine-person front office to “double or triple in size.” This past season, Chris Simpson, the team’s coach, doubled as the director of player personnel and Dan Culliver, the assistant general manager, also served as an assistant coach.

Baltimore (1-12) struggled in its expansion season, dropping the first eight games and its final four.

“We realized that if we have more people, everything will run much more smoothly,” Wolfe said.

The Blackbirds plan on adding a general manager in the next few days, a board of directors, a chief financial officer, several other account executives and three more paid coaching positions, according to Wolfe.

When Wolfe joined the team’s staff before last season, he had 10 weeks to prepare for the upcoming season — duties ranging from ticket sales to scheduling to travel arrangements.

“For the whole organization, it was a huge learning experience,” he said. “I was involved in everything from picking up drinks for the game to getting the sponsors to picking up equipment after the game. We really walked away from it knowing what we need to improve.”

With nine months between seasons, Wolfe and the Blackbirds will take their time developing a business plan that enables the organization to thrive on and off the field.

“It definitely hurt us some,” Wolfe said. “We just weren't able to pay as much attention to detail. If we had more folks, we could've gotten things done much quicker. Would it have turned us from 1-12 to 12-1? Probably not. But we're looking to win a few more games next season.”