AZCENTRAL SPORTS
Guy followed the blueprint of perennial champion Sioux Falls
Arizona Rattlers QB Cody Sokol gets a play from coach Kevin Guy at practice on Wednesday. The team plays for the Indoor Football League championship Saturday.
Kevin Guy studies everything he can get his hands on.
So when the Rattlers broke off from the Arena Football League to enter into the Indoor Football League this year, the Rattlers coach and general manager dissected every piece of information he could get on the Sioux Falls Storm and its string of six championships.
“We looked at what they were doing as a blueprint to how we had to be to successful,” Guy said. “If they came into the Arena League, they’d be idiots not to study the Rattlers. “We showed them the same respect.” The Rattlers (13-4) have come a long way since their 40-29 loss to the Storm in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Feb. 17 in their first IFL game.
The Storm (15-2) will see how far on Saturday when the teams meet for the United Bowl championship in Sioux Falls. The game will be shown live on YouTube, starting at 3 p.m.
Since starting the season 4-4, the Rattlers have won nine in a row, letting go of its passheavy past and embracing the run and a rugged defense that relies mostly still on the AFL man-to-man coverage with two in the box.
“They adapted well,” said Storm coach Kurtiss Riggs, who has led Sioux Falls in this six-year dynasty. “He’s taken a totally differ-
ent perspective on the offensive strategy from the Arena League to the Indoor League. Now it’s heavy run with splashy pass.
“I think he’s done well. He took the things we do well and molded it around his personnel. Some of the schemes are there.”
Guy’s greatest task
The Rattlers were the winningest AFL franchise between 2011-16, during which the Rattlers won three ArenaBowls in a row (2012-14) and reached the final game five times.
Guy, the only coach in the history of indoor football to lead teams to title games in three different leagues (af2, AFL, IFL), has been the mastermind, calling the offense and the defense, and recruiting guys who fit into his system.
This was his greatest task since he tore up the 2007 Rattlers roster and rebuilt it in 2008, when the Rattlers went .500 in their first season under Guy and lost in the first round of the playoffs.
This Rattlers team looked like it was going to be much like that 2008 bunch. But the Rattlers flipped a switch at midseason and no longer looked like a rebuilding team but a team that gained confidence every week, even without a superstar.
Their main stars on offense run the football – tailbacks Darrell Monroe and Ketrich Harmon and receiver Jamal Miles, who had a combined 36 rushing touchdowns during the 16game regular season.
The defense didn’t click until the second half of the season when linebacker Justin Shirk (71⁄2 sacks) boosted the pass rush, along with defensive end Chris McAllister (10 sacks). Shirk joined the team after the fourth week of the season.
In the first half of the season, the Rattlers gave up 45 points a game. During the second half, they’ve allowed just 30 points a game.
But it all came down to Guy’s constant study of Sioux Falls.
“I told Coach Riggs, when we opened over there, that when we came into the league, I instructed our staff we were going to sit down in the offseason and we were going to watch Sioux Falls film and see why they’re winning so much,” Guy said. “We studied their personnel and schemes.
“They’re the king of the hill. We wanted to study them to see what we had to do to get to the top of the hill.”
For the Rattlers to reach the top, they’ll have to beat a team that has lost only once at home in its last 70 games in Sioux Falls.
Rattlers honored
The IFL honored the Rattlers this week with awards for being the best franchise, having the best fans and the best dance team.
On Friday, the league’s MVP and Coach of the Year will be announced.