With the UFL just a few days away from its debut in the New York City metropolitan area, New York Sentinels head coach Ted Cottrell and Versus’ UFL color analyst Doug Flutie took part in a conference call on Monday.
“I think the UFL is off to a heck of a start,” said Cottrell. “We just began practice on September 14 and the players are learning on the go. We’ve been working on the chemistry and we’ve made some changes in the last few days to increase the amount of experience we have on our (young) roster.”
“The quality of play has been awesome,” added Flutie. “The hitting in the first game (California at Las Vegas on October 10) was amazing. To watch these games and to think these guys have only been together for a few weeks speaks volumes about the players and coaching staffs. The coaching is second to none.”
The Sentinels host the Redwoods on Thursday evening at Giants Stadium, marking a return to the venue where Cottrell and Flutie have some special memories.
“I was at Rutgers when we played the first college game there,” said Cottrell, who must remember the 47-0 beating of Columbia on October 23, 1976.
Cottrell was with Rutgers from 1973-’80 and again in 1983. He was the defensive coordinator his last two years at the school before taking a job with the USFL’s New Jersey Generals in 1984. For three years in the early 2000s, Cottrell served as the defensive coordinator for the Jets so he’s pretty familiar with the venue.
“It could be a little tricky with the winds in there,” said the NY coach.
Flutie’s fondest memory of Giants Stadium occurred during his USFL days. “It was my first home game with the Generals and we were up against Steve Young and the (Los Angeles) Express. We were down by 21 and Donald Trump was so mad that he left the stadium. We rallied to win.”
However, the Heisman Trophy winner’s recollection of his first game at the stadium isn’t as pleasant. When Boston College visited Rutgers at Giants Stadium in 1983, “I got kicked in the head and don’t remember too much,” said the ex-NFL, USFL and CFL QB.
As part of the rules to improve the quality of play in the league’s first season, all teams are using a 4-3 alignment on defense and only five players can rush the QB.
“We settled on playing the 4-3 for the ‘Premiere’ season,” stated Cottrell, who is considered an architect of the 3-4 defense. “We wanted to make it appealing to fans and add offense to the game and only rush five guys. We’ve been seeing a pretty good brand of ball, but next year the defenses can play what they want.”
The 0-2 Sentinels will try and get their first win of the season on Thursday night when they host the 1-2 Redwoods at 7 pm ET. The game will air live on Versus and can also be seen online on the UFL’s Web site. All games air on either Versus or HDNet and online. All previous games are available on the UFL’s Web site by clicking on the Video on Demand links on the UFL’s Schedule page.
See the up-to-date UFL standings and Dennis Green’s mini-rant about his QBs after the Redwoods’ last game.
Photos courtesy of Michael Eng, SF Sports Photography Examiner.
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