FRISCO, Texas – Football is back. The Frisco Fighters hit the road to kick off the season in Spokane, Wash. against the Spokane Shock this Saturday, May 15 at 9:05 p.m. CT. 

 

The team is led by prolific AFL quarterback-turned-coach, Clint Dolezel. His 13-year playing career landed him a spot in the AFL Hall of Fame. Dolezel found just as much success in his 13 seasons of coaching, named AFL Coach of the Year three times. 

 

“Our mindset is to win – to go out, play well, and execute,” said Dolezel. “The focus right now is to make sure all eight guys are doing their job. After having a year off, I’m pretty excited to get back out there.” 

 

And the team is just as excited. Let’s meet the 2021 Frisco Fighters. 

 

QUARTERBACKS 

 

Coached by Dan Raudabaugh, the Fighters are entering the season with three quarterbacks. There’s the arena vet, Jonathan Bane, the electric playmaker and former University of Texas wide receiver, Jerrod Heard, looking to return to his quarterback roots, and the talented rookie from the University of Nevada, Malik Henry. 

 

“We’ve got playmakers back there,” said Raudabaugh. “In football, you go as the quarterback goes. We want to make sure they’re all believing in themselves first of all. When you touch the ball every play, you’ve got to be confident to play that position. They’re all getting better and they help each other. You see it, as soon as one of them makes a good throw, the other ones are there to pat them on the back.” 

 

RECEIVERS 

 

Quick. That’s one word to describe the receiving corps. 

 

“Everybody’s fast. Every one of them is physical, has good hands, and runs very precise routes,” said receivers coach Bobby Olive. “Although Sam Bruce is a smaller guy, he’s probably one of the fastest. But everyone else is considered a big receiver – we have big, strong guys. They’re all playmakers.” 

 

Some other receivers to keep an eye on are Chris Sanders-McCollum, a 6-4, 220 lbs. receiver who played for the NAL’s Columbus Lions in 2019, and Lance Evans, a two-time First-Team All-Lone Star Conference receiver with NFL and CFL experience. 

 

RUNNING BACKS 

 

If you follow Texas high school football, then you know the name Johnathan Gray. An All-American out of Aledo High School, Gray continued his career at the University of Texas. He’s one of two Big 12 running backs on the team, both with great pedigree. The other is former Texas Tech standout, Demarcus Felton. 

 

“We’re just ready to play, and we’re talented at that position,” said Bobby Bounds, both the running backs and linebackers coach. “We’re excited about the talent that we’ve got – those are guys that fans will recognize from their college days, and I think it’s going to be exciting to watch them in a close-up atmosphere.” 

 

OFFENSIVE LINE 

 

“Mentally they’re pretty good with the playbook, so we’re able to add stuff do it daily,” said Dave Ewart, offensive and defensive line coach, along with assistant head coach and director of player personnel. “We’ve got a pretty strong group; we’ve just got to find the right combinations.” 

 

A couple players to watch are Damian Love and Maea Teuhema. Love was a First-Team All-SWAC at Alabama State with experience in the IFL and CFL. Teuhema was named a 2015 True Freshman All-American his first year at LSU before transferring to Southeastern Louisiana in 2017. He has experience at both guard and tackle. 

 

DEFENSIVE LINE 

 

The defensive side of the ball is stacked with veterans like Malcolm Goines and Charles Williams, who both played for The IFL’s 2019 Sioux Falls Storm championship team.  

 

“They’re big and athletic, and that’s what you need in this league,” said Ewart. “It’s not just a one-dimensional pass offense like the arena league has been in the past. This is run/pass, so you have to be versatile in this league.” 

 

LINEBACKERS 

 

Fast and physical. That’s how coach Bounds described this group of linebackers. 

 

“We’re going to be aggressive; we’ll be an aggressive defense,” said Bounds. “They won’t do much standing around watching. They’ll be heavily involved in both run game and pass game.” 

 

Kris Frost is a notable linebacker on the Fighters’ defense. He’s a former SEC linebacker out of Auburn with some experience between the NFL and AAF. Bounds described Frost as athletic, fast, and physical. Frost finished his time at Auburn with 247 career tackles, 131 solo tackles, and 19 tackles for a loss of 57 yards. 

 

DEFENSIVE BACKS 

 

Coached by James Romain, a highly decorated AFL defensive back, this position group is learning from the best. If anyone can teach a DB how to adjust to arena football, it’s James Romain. 

 

“I think it'll be an adjustment because they’re used to 11-man football,” said Romain. “It’s eight-man football and the field is a little bit smaller. There’s a guy running at full speed when they’re used to covering standstill guys, but they get into the game they’ll get used to it. I’m just looking forward to those guys going out there, taking control of the secondary, and being the playmakers they’re supposed to be.” 

 

Trey Caldwell, safety, is an asset to the secondary. An alum of Louisiana-Monroe, he was drafted to the Cleveland Browns in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Two other notable DBs are Khalil Williams and Joel Dullary. Williams is a rookie out of the University of Houston who led all defensive backs in The American Conference in 2017 with 54 tackles and 8.0 tackles for loss. Dullary was a key player for Nicholls State’s defense. Romain describes him as a playmaker who can manipulate coverage and go steal a football. 

 

Watch the game live on The Indoor Football League’s YouTube channel or tune into Dave Barnett calling the game live on KHYI 95.3.