Emil Riddle’s retirement was the first domino to fall in Louisville. After the rough 1-11 season, they were looking to clean house. GM Calvin Carpenter was fired shortly after Riddle’s announcement. Carpenter had been with the team since they came into the NAAF in 1957. DC Hugo Martinez then also stepped down from his Defensive Coordinator role to pursue new opportunities. Martinez has been Riddle’s DC through his entire career. OC Paul McMahon would not be officially fired from his OC role, but the team would likely be looking at other options.
Louisville was not the only team looking to make big changes. Boston’s embarrassing 2-10 season led to the firing of GM Earnest Bryan. Bryan had a reputation to stay pat unless given direction, so the team is hoping for a new direction.
The hunt for new GM’s saw many names come up. Both teams had 6 total candidates interviewed. Boston was able to narrow it down to 3 options with former Providence GM Allen Hutchinson, former Rouge GM and Boston native, Virgil Gross, and surprisingly former star QB Larry Larson who currently leads the NAAF’s players committee. Louisville had some similar names in their hunt with Allen Hutchinson making it to a second interview, but the finalists ended up being former Victors GM Jacob Harrell and Louisville’s current Assistant GM Robbie Wilson.
Thunder owner Vince Forsyth certainly likes to keep things close to home so in the end, he went with his more trusted candidate and hired Robbie Wilson as the new GM. Wilson will headline the start of a rebuild for the Thunder, luckily he has some scouting background which should help in the evaluation of young talent. As for Boston, owner Benjamin Harris is certainly ready for a more aggressive Boston organization and has hired Allen Hutchinson to be the GM. Hutchinson showed an ability to make the most out of tough situations during his time in Providence, so the hope will be he can do the same for Boston after the horrid season.
Louisville would immediately start their hunt for a new head coach following the appointment of Wilson as GM. However, Boston would join them as Hutchinson’s first move was to fire Johnathan Fox after just one season in the role. Louisville would interview 12 candidates for the role while Boston interviewed 10. The Thunder had 5 finalists in LI OC Levi Bray, IND OC Malachi Knowles, former BOS HC Ben McMillan, IND DC Carroll Moss, and BUF DC Steve Pallard. Bray, Knowles, and McMillan were looked at as the favourites with Bray and Knowles both being very talented and seeming deserving of the role, and McMillan who had a lot of success with the Independents. Boston on the other hand had only 4 finalists in LI OC Levi Bray, LDN OC Dewey Doyle, IND OC Malachi Knowles, and IND DC Carroll Moss. Bray and Knowles were once again the top dogs in this fight, but Dewey Doyle was an interesting change-up. Overall, Boston was hoping to grab an offensive-minded coach to get the most out of QB Nathaniel Braddock.
At the end of the process, the Thunder ended up hiring Malachi Knowles to be the new HC. The former Boston OL has lots of experience as an OC in the NAAF. He has also been a key factor in several QBs' success. Most notable, QB Nathaniel Braddock’s development, QB Lyle Painter’s MVP Season, and QB Tom Applewhite’s breakout year last season. His offensive mind is a great get for the Thunder.
As for Boston, they would end up with Levi Bray as their new coach. Bray has been with the Raiders for the last 6 seasons after coming over from the ACFL’s New Jersey Chargers. He’s been waiting for a chance to get a head coaching job since and after turning the Raiders’ offence into a strong force he’s been given the opportunity with Boston.
With all the key pieces in place, there were several other changes to coordinators around the league. Louisville ended up bringing OC Paul McMahon back, but Knowles decided to bring DC Carrol Moss over from the Victors. The two have worked together for many years and they would like to keep it that way. Boston ended up bringing on former Thunder DC Hugo Martinez to rebuild the defence. Martinez is a veteran and should provide a much-needed older voice in the locker room. As for the OC role, Levi Bray would bring in former New Jersey Chargers QB Charlie Shepard to take on the role as OC. Shepard had been the QB while Bray was in NJ and the two got along really well, so Bray knew he would be a great guy to have to help him on offence.
Elsewhere, the Blacksmiths decided to change things up on defence and would hire former Boston DC Arnold Baker. Baker needed a fresh start after having a very antagonistic relationship with Johnathan Fox in Boston last season. Providence would shift to University of Western New York’s OC Gregory Curtis to take on the team’s OC role. It’s a bit of a questionable move, but HC Garrett Boone is hoping to bring a fresh mind to rejuvenate the offence. Indiana needed to fill both of its coordinator roles after both Knowles and Moss left for Louisville. They would hire two former Independent coaches, bringing on OC Lou Granger for the offence and then HC Johnathan Fox to the defence. Granger has shown promise on offence and maybe with more control, can really show what he’s got, and Fox was in Indy for the season before going to Boston, so he should fit in nicely next to the well-respected HC Dannell Willis. Lastly, the Raiders would replace Levi Bray with former NAAF QB Andrew Glover. Glover was known for winning the 1953 McCallister Cup with Montreal and being a great leader in the locker room. He had also spent 1 season in Long Island in 1955.
TL:DR - New Hires
BOSTON
Out
GM Earnest Bryan
HC Johnathan Fox
OC Lou Granger
DC Arnold Baker
In
GM Allen Hutchinson - previously worked for PRO
HC Levi Bray - from LI OC
OC Charlie Shepard - QB from New Jersey (ACFL); Jersey State QB Coach
DC Hugo Martinez - from LOU DC
INDIANA
Out
OC Malachi Knowles
DC Carroll Moss
In
OC Lou Granger - from BOS OC
DC Johnathan Fox - from BOS HC
LOUISVILLE
Out
GM Calvin Carpenter
HC Emil Riddle - RETIREMENT
DC Hugo Martinez - RESIGNED
In
GM Robbie Wilson - From LOU Assistant GM
HC Malachi Knowles - from IND OC
DC Carroll Moss - from IND DC
LONG ISLAND
out
OC Levi Bray
In
OC Andrew Glover - from LOU QB Coach; former NAAF QB
PITTSBURGH
Out
DC Jerome Morris
In
DC Arnold Baker - from BOS
PROVIDENCE
Out
OC Dean Parrish
In
OC Gregory Curtis - from U of Western New York OC
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