MIAMI KILLER WHALES [GM JUSTIN]

[GM Gates]

1. Talk about your teams performance this week.

We let the game get away from us in the second half. We went into halftime with the lead, albeit a small one, and then got outscored 31-13 in the second half. It's as if the team wasn't fully there for the second half. We seemed to have a lot of three and outs, we couldn't stop them at all...we dominated the final numbers outside the scoreboard, so I guess I could point to turnovers kicking us in the ass. But that might only be a small portion of it. And we will have to figure it all out if we want to have any chance this season, otherwise we will be in too big of a hole.

2. How do you feel about your team after two weeks?

I look at this team, and I know we still have a lot of talent. We still have playmakers. We still have skill. But for whatever reason all of that hasn't come together in games yet. I mean, I know we haven't played scrubs, but I expect us to be better then what we have been. So I'm feeling less optimistic about things now then I was last week, but still have hope that things turn around and we start to rattle off wins the way I know we can.

3. What do you make of the teams 0-2 start? Are you starting to panic?

If you're asking if I'm as panicked as the releases article states, I'm probably not that high. But with the high expectations this franchise has there is an element of panic. I wouldn't say I've pressed the proverbial red button, but I'm also not sitting back with my feet up.

4. Talk about your opponent for week 3 and what you will need to see from your team.

This week we play Cleveland. What we need to do to win is score more points than the other team and keep them from scoring points. But seriously, what I need to see from this team is a complete game. I don't need to see us dragging our heels to start a game or taking plays off here and there. I need to see a team that is playing a strong game from start to finish.

[Talon]

Is this a "must win" game for you and your season?"

[GM Gates]

I wouldn't say we have hit must win status yet. If we lose and go to 0-3, the season isn't lost quite yet, it just makes things a bit tougher going forward. What I will say is that this is a game I want to win, and I know it's a game that the rest of this team wants to win as well.

[Talon]

We need this win, but Cleveland is a tough out.  We're in for a gutsy fight.

[GM Gates]

We definitely need this win. 0-3 is not somewhere I want to be. It's going to be tough since our team has been so inconsistent quarter to quarter. I don't even know if there's anything we can do to "fix" it, or if we just roll with what we're doing and see what happens.

[Talon]

 

I wonder if changing to a balanced offense and balanced defensive attitude might level us out a little. Slow our tempo down to normal, try to focus on the basics and get things right.

[GM Gates]

It can't hurt right? Something has to work to make sure this isn't a lost season because if we fall to 0-3 the discussion of looking to next year starts to creep in.

Defensively though...we just seem to not be able to stop those big moments. I know losing Coach Peterson was a big blow but I had hopes that we wouldn't lose too much with the talent we have on the field. You mentioned changing our attitude to balanced, but what has been the biggest downfall on defense for us so far?

[Talon]

 

Our pass defense has been getting shredded.

[GM Gates]

Do you feel it's a player issue or just a scheme issue? We have a lot of the same pieces in our secondary that we had last season, and I don't believe we were getting shredded this bad.

[Talon]

 

Its so hard to tell.  Coach Schwartz is a very detail oriented and well prepared coordinator, so I feel like his scheme is strong.

[GM Gates]

I'm not going to mess with too much else for this week, so hopefully the change to balanced attitude helps and doesn't hurt us.

While I switch to a balanced offensive focus, do you want the ratios changed about to maybe reflect more of an even spread and not a heavy lean on the pass? Or are they fine where they are for the time being?

[Talon]

 

We just shifted more to the pass to give Kitchen more chances, I dont think we should change that yet, lets see how the balanced aggression changes things.

[GM Gates]

Alright sounds good.

Let's go beat the Mustangs.

—————

Strategy/Depth Chart Changes:
Tempo - Normal
Offensive Focus - Balanced
Defensive Attitude - Balanced

CB1 - Rodney Greenwood
CB2 - Daniel Coleman
CB3 - Willian Gray
CB4 - Shehu Akin
CB5 - Greg Juarez
CB6 - Leonard Hollis

Lock In

[GM Gates]

1. Talk about your teams performance this week.

That was the best game of the season for us so far. Not just because we won - that's always a plus - but because we looked like a team and played a complete game. Was it perfect? No, but we fought against a good Cleveland team and won the game. Kitchen was finding his receivers when he needed to towards the end of the game, our defense did a great job at limiting what Cleveland was able to do and we walked away with the win.

2. Do you feel a particular coach has stood out on your staff, and why?

All of our coaches have been doing an admirable job to help turn things around. One coach that has stood out, and this goes back to last season as well, is our O-Line coach Ronnie Andrade. Not just with how things are on the field, but with the work he puts in off the field to help these younger guys grow. Another is Gene Williams, our WR/TE coach, who always has those players ready to go when they get called upon.

3. Talk about your opponent for week 4, do you see any holes in their game that you can exploit?

We head into our first division game against Alabama. It's a tough test as the Nighthawks are a team who is hungry for wins like we are. Just like us they were sitting 0-2 and trying to climb out of that whole. They have a good defense and weapons on offense. I feel that if we make life tough for Ortega, limit his rushing and force him into bad throws. We also need to take advantage of what opportunities we have.

[Talon]

 

Alright, we broke the seal.  Now time to stack some wins in this 3 game divisional stretch.

[GM Gates]

For sure coach. We can flip the division on its head right here.

While I don't want to change anything after our first win, with the Nighthawks being our next opponent is there something we need to do to give us a bit more of an edge? Do we focus on the run on defense? Or leave that as balanced?

[Talon]

 

Its Ortega. I don't know that focusing on the run really factors into his brand of offense.

[GM Gates]

Alright then let's leave things as is and beat Alabama.

——————

No changes from last week.

Lock In

[GM Gates]

1. Talk about your teams performance this week and through out this first quarter of the season.

We didn't play well this week. You always know you need to step your game up against Alabama, and we didn't do that. We couldn't stop their pass rush, we couldn't get anything going on the ground, or through the air for that matter...and we couldn't stop them from doing whatever they wanted. Score wise it was close early, but as the game got longer it got farther and farther away from us.

But it's just a small part of the first quarter as a whole. This team is much better than the 1-3 record we have, and yet we can't seem to figure that out. We can't seem to work together to realize we are better than that and do it for a full game. Truthfully, it's not even about the fact that we've lost 3 games. It's the fact that we haven't been competitive in the second halves of those three losses. If we were losing close games that could have gone either way, maybe that would make things easier to swallow, but we haven't.

Hopefully we figure it out soon, or else serious changes will be made, either by me or someone else. If we continue to underperform, who knows how this team will look.

2. How do you feel about your players placement in the league leaders, a quarter of the way through the season?  Who is an unsung hero on this roster?

We don't have players that appear in the majority of top 5s and some of the ones they do appear in are ones that you don't want to be apart of. Honestly, we don't deserve to be in those league leader discussions.

As far as an unsung hero, I'm going to say Gary Fenton. He doesn't always get the praise that others get who are constantly putting up stats, but he's consistent. And again is being consistent this season.

3. Talk about your opponent for week 5, do you see any holes in their game that you can exploit?

We welcome Cancun to town for another divisional showdown. In seasons past, I would have this one marked down as a win, but Cancun is a different animal. Now that they have a GM who is actually competent, they are turning it around quickly. They have been pretty good so far this season so finding something to exploit may be hard. I think the one thing we need to do is make sure we control the clock. Doing that will limit their ability to move the chains and score and put the pressure on us. We also need to never take our foot off the pedal and just keep going. A full 60 minutes of solid football from us and we should be in a better position then we were this past week.

[Talon]

  The league is really sent for a loop this week. If you have anything we need to do, just let me know but if not I've got nothing that can't wait.

[GM Gates]

I'm still trying to come to grips with it myself.

As for the team, honestly I don't know what the problem is. I mean Bama is a tough team so a loss to them isn't the end of the world, but we didn't just lose we got kicked around.

What's holding us back on offence? I was hoping to be a bit more explosive and potent with Kitchen under center but it hasn't come to fruition yet. Has it just been the tough teams we are placing or is there something deeper here?

[Talon]

 

  Kitchen likes to throw it deep, we are currently playing a more balanced passing zone scheme, maybe letting him take more deep shots can help him click with the receivers?  I'm not totally sure.

[GM Gates]

Do we really have anything to lose by letting him do so? I feel like if there's a chance it could help then we should try it.

[Talon]

Its risk vs. reward. He will have more deep shots down field but he'll have to hold the ball longer to let it develop. If we can block for him, he'll be fine.

[GM Gates]

Well let's see what happens.

——————

Strategy/Depth Chart Changes:
Passing Preference: Long
Passing Target Area: Outside

CB1 - Daniel Coleman
CB2 - Willian Gray
CB3 - Shehu Akin
CB4 - Greg Juarez
CB5 - Leonard Hollis

Lock In

[GM Gates]

That was a solid win and it keeps us right in the thick of the division. We made some changes to our strategy and it paid off in a big way. We are dynamic on offence, we controlled the time of possession, and we came away with the win. I've been talking about playing a complete game and this was one of them. Was it perfect? No, but we didn't give up, we didn't let up and we made sure we put the game out of reach.

Aaron Kitchen had his best game as a Killer Whale and now that we've changed our strategy to something he is more comfortable in, it should only be the beginning. Hunter McDonald continues to be a great receiver this season, and seems to have created a nice connection with Kitchen. Which is fantastic to see because it gives us so many different dangerous weapons out there that we can throw to.

And we will need that because the schedule doesn't get easier. We face off against Orlando in round one of the Florida Cup, and currently, Orlando leads the division. A win here brings everything on even tighter and keeps us fighting. And with the way we've changed things, I see a win as a real possibility. That game against Cancun was almost like a "get right" game and now that we have, it's time to string together some wins and turn this season around.

[Talon]

 

Big win. Now to put Orlando in their place and climb back to the top of the hill.

[GM Gates]

That's the goal, and with the new changes, I think we should be able to do that. The team as a whole seemed to look more comfortable. That Cancun team is no slouch.

If we can replicate that against Orlando, we should have the game wrapped up.

[Talon]

Their defense has been a stingy unit this season, we'll have our work cutout for us.

[GM Gates]

For sure coach, but nothing is really easy in this league so I know it won't be easy to score. I have hope that our changes will have a positive impact, especially with the connection Kitchen and McDonald have made.

[Talon]

 

Absolutely.

[GM Gates]

Fantastic. I'll let you get to practice.

——————

Selina, Aaron Kitchen please.

——————

Aaron, fantastic game! Looks like we've finally unlocked what works for this team and for you, and you responded with a fantastic game. I know you've had a good connection with McDonald but how's the chemistry with the rest of the receivers going?

[Talon]

Chemistry is fine. Nothing to report really.  We aren't exchanging friendship bracelets or taking long showers together, but we're getting along just fine.

[GM Gates]

Glad to hear things are going well. I won't take up too much more of your time, and I'll let you get to practice.

—————

Selina, I think we're ready to get things ready for this week.

—————

No changes from last week.

LockIn

[GM Gates]

Well that was not the outcome we hoped for.

We controlled time of possession, we won the turnover battle, had more total yards, but in the end it just wasn't enough. And while we had more turnovers they had the one that counted. We fought back in that second half from our first half deficit to make a game of it but it was too late to take over the game.

Now we enter into the bye week with some questions to answer. We sit last in the division with a lot of teams to jump over if we want to be in contention for a playoff spot. We are going to have to get things right so that coming out of the bye week, we are flying high and can start stringing together some wins.

[Talon]

Is there any chance you choose to sell and look at a soft reboot or retooling of the roster, or is this the team you believe can win the division?

[GM Gates]

This team has the talent and the personnel to win the division, I am confident in that. We need to take this bye week to get right and make a run.

[Talon]

 

Alright boss, what do you want to do?  We can tweak the playbooks, we can play with personnel, what do you think we need to hit most?

[GM Gates]

Everything? Anything? We've got a lot of work to do to move up and leapfrog some teams and the ones we play out of the bye aren't exactly slouches.

I guess my first question to you would be, are there any players who aren't pulling their weight? Guys who aren't giving it their all? At this point I might be inclined to move some out of it means bringing in guys who are capable of giving us something useful.

[Talon]

Moya has struggled at times at guard. Fenton and Brill each have struggled at times as well.  We could use help on the offensive line.

With Lash and Everson being underwhelming at end, we could even consider moving Chow down to DE and rushing the passer more.  Its a gamble, but one we could try instead of trying to trade for a big name pass rusher.

[GM Gates]

Would you say those are our Achilles heels of the season? And to further that, do you feel like it might be beneficial to move Lash and/or Everson out and bring in something else? Whether it be picks or players to help on the line or elsewhere.

I know that you don't have to make the calls, and I'm not asking to, just wondering if you see value in them hanging around if we do end up moving Chow to DE.

[Talon]

 

I can't answer that one boss, and I don't know if moving Chow is the answer either, its just that as talented as he is, and the skills he has, he can do it to help us but obviously it also means he's not at linebacker doing his thing.

[GM Gates]

I hear what you're saying coach. If we trade them and move Chow down and it doesn't work we're worse off then we were.

So then let's talk about the coaching staff. Offensively the staff is the same but defensively everything changed. We don't necessarily have the money to make any huge changes there, but is it worth trying to upgrade any of the positional coaches on defense? I know some of them have been working hard to improve, but does replacing them actually do anything or, at the end of the day, does it all come down to the DC??

[Talon]

 

Replacing them mid-season means we have to hire someone else, and the pickings are slim when the NCAA, PFL, IFAF, and HIFL all have full staffs.  Anyone unemployed right now is probably unemployed for a reason.

[GM Gates]

I figured as much.

I'm making some calls to see if I can improve our team, or bring in some new faces to maybe give us a kick.

Other than that though, seems like we just have to roll with what we have and tweak here and there. Basically letting the dice fall where they will and seeing what comes of it.

[Talon]

 

We're in uncharted waters, its gut check time from now until the deadline and we don't have any easy opponents.  We sink or swim and see what shakes out.

[GM Gates]

It definitely is. It's a tough road from here to the deadline for us so, hopefully, as we get closer we have a better idea of what this team is and isn't.

Scheme wise is there anything you want to try?

I'm thinking about moving our pass focus to deep and not just long. Let Kitchen air it out. I am probably also going to create some packages to get Van Driver outside with Kidwell so we can utilize their speed and the deep ball. It might come at the expense of Little in some formations, but it is what it is.

Anything else you can think of?

[Talon]

 

I've been tweaking the playbook a bit with Coach Spuds, so my changes will already be reflected moving forward.

[GM Gates]

Good, good.

I wanted to get your thoughts on Jaime Marquez. I know our secondary has been getting torched this season and it seems like he hasn't faired so well out there. Is that a case of his talent level slipping or that he's being asked to do too much cause the corners aren't? I'm just wondering if now is a time to switch thibnext up and make Sparks our starter at strong safety.

[Talon]

 

Jaime has graded very well.  His not the best in coverage, but he's made tackles all over the field and he's been solid.  Sparks is a very similar player, so moving him in to Jaime's spot wouldn't offer improvements in his weak areas, in my opinion.