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The Cambridgeshire Cats are pleased to announce their coaching staff for the 2007 season, with all last years’ staff returning, as well as some new recruits.
The Cambridgeshire Cats have bolstered their already impressive backroom staff with even more National Championship experience, with the addition of 5-time Britbowl winner Marco Fasulo. Indeed reading the coaching credentials of the Cats staff is akin to reading a list of available awards in the sport.
Head Coach Rick Bice returns for the Cats, having committed his long-term future to the organisation in principle. 2007 will be Bice’s second full campaign at the helm of the organisation, after joining at the start of the 2005 season as assistant coach to James Mitchell before assuming the reigns when Coach Mitchell was forced to leave the Cats due to personal circumstances two games into the campaign. Coach Bice called on some of his former players to join the regime prior to the 2006 season, bringing in both Chris Cooke and Sean Gray who worked under Coach Bice for the 2004 National Champions Personal Assurance Knights. Both recruits pulled double duty as player-coaches, and the Cats are pleased to announce this will continue into the 2007 season.
Coach Gray will once again be defensive coordinator and deputy to Coach Bice. Gray played most of the 2006 campaign with a broken right hand, and will again play a pivotal role at middle linebacker in this years defence. A multiple time all-star, Coach Gray has represented England, played in Europe at club level as well earning his Britbowl ring with the PA Knights. “Pride” being his motto, one of his proudest moments came when the Cats allowed him to guest as linebacker coach for his old club side PA Knights when the flew the Britbowl flag in Las Vegas.
Coach Gray adds “The team goal is Sheffield but also with that, as defensive coordinator, my goal with 20 years playing experience is to have the Cats defense feared in our division with fast, aggressive and hungry players that we have coming in to our Cats Pride”.
Coach Cooke will add his vast experience to a young but talented line. A true legend among the Britball fraternity, Cooke has played for nearly 25 years, a year more than the average age of his Cats line last season! Having truly seen it and done it all, including trials with the 49ers, he aims to facilitate his team-mates achieve, citing his goal as “To help any Cats players wishing to go NFLE and to make this team the best in the UK and push for playing in Europe”.
Cooke will be sharing line-coaching responsibilities with the latest addition to the Cats coaching corps, Marco Fasulo. Before having his playing career prematurely ended, Coach Fasulo was heavily decorated during the London Olympians glory days of the late 90’s, receiving 3 NFL Europe trials as well as representing the Great Britain side in a European Cup final in 2004, alongside Cooke and Gray. This will be Fasulo’s baptism into coaching; however given his credentials he’s confident about the transition: “My goal is to pass on all my knowledge to others and make Cambridgeshire a great team in the top flight once again. I believe in the Cats, the team just needs developing to make Sheffield a dream come true”
The youngest member of the coaching staff is Tony Reveglia. At 27, this all-purpose skill player has settled into a role at tight end and slot receiver, after rotating in at wide out or in the backfield. Still in his playing prime, Reveglia takes his role of offensive assistant from the 2006 season to a more specific role of receivers coach. Reveglia echoes the clubs single-minded mentality, which simply put is to “Take the team to the finals in Sheffield”.
Anchoring this honoured set of BAFL players, Head Coach Bice will lend his experience at coaching, an aspect the others are new to. Since the turn of the millennia, Bice two “Coach of the Year” awards for coaching in the local Forces in both 2001 & 2002. In Britball, his story is one of similar success, seeing promotion then a National Semi-Final with Ipswich Cardinals before “Winning the big one” with the Knights at Britbowl 18. His tenure as Head Coach at the Cats started by taking a hugely depleted squad through a tough Division 1A season that ended with 20 players, most of whom were rookies, and playing 3 games in 3 weeks all against teams that would reach Sheffield a month later. The recruitment of veteran talent was vital, the aforementioned Sean Gray and Chris Cooke as well as 2006 Cats MVP Ray Palmer, as well as an increasing depth of young athleticism and skill. Coach Bice and his coaching staff turned the organisation around after relegation, achieving a respectable 5-4-1 record in what was widely claimed the toughest conference in Britball, only stumbling against playoff teams.
Going into 2007, Coach Bice (who’ll also retain responsibilities as offensive coordinator, himself a quarterback in his playing days) has immediate on-field goals: “To pass on my knowledge and experience to the Cats players and coaches, to provide the tools needed to succeed on and off the field for all those who want to be a part of our team.” However, he also is looking at the wider picture, aiming to “Expand our team’s exposure and support to the Cambridgeshire area”. Of course the final word on the matter is one of a driven man, again showing the focus of the club: “My goal is to return the Cats to the top of American Football in this country by winning 2007 title”.