The midnight train to Serbia

I am going to start off by saying that I consider myself pretty well traveled and have encountered a number of things in my travels. Not a whole lot surprises me and I am pretty much able to make anything work. I have driven 20+ hours by myself on multiple occasions. I have driven non stop to both Utah and Louisville. I have been snowed in for 3 days while trying to get home from Christmas. I have flown home at midnight and gotten on another plane the following morning headed overseas. Even with all of those experiences, nothing prepared me for our travels this weekend.

We had our game on Sunday in Belgrade Serbia against the Vukovi Wolves. For a number of reasons that I don't quite understand our travel arrangements were as follows. Drive 5 hours to Villach on the Austrian/Slovakian border, hop on the overnight train for 12 hours, arrive in the morning, play the game, eat dinner, hop on the midnight train back, drive back home. So all in all, it is about 40 hours of travel in a 55 hour period.

Our driving experience was the least problematic, although stuffing 8 grown men and all of their bags doesn't leave a lot of room for creature comforts. We got to Villach just fine and grabbed a little dinner before we boarded the train. Before we got on our train we had to take a bus 30 minutes up the track because they were working on the track. When we got to our train it was at this little podunk outpost and when I saw our "sleeping" car all I could do was laugh to keep from crying. This thing might as well have been built in the 1940's and last updated in the 1970's. There were six bunks per cabin and the cabin was 6x6x8. So we stuffed 6 grown men in this cabin and proceeded to hang out until it was time for bed.

Bedtime came and we turned out the lights, locked the door, and tried to get maybe 6 hours of sleep. At about 1 o'clock the train attendent came rapping on the door yelling "Passports! Passports!" We were at the border and had to do a passport check. So we got up, turned on the lights, unlocked the door, fished out our passports, and waited for border patrol to come check. This happened another 3 times throughout the night. Suffice it to say I didn't sleep well. Plus I was a little concerned about getting my stuff stolen during the night since Coach Roman had his computer stolen the last time he was on the night train.

On top of that, at our stop in Zagreb Croatia about 200-300 drunken soccer hooligans jumped on our train and were coming up and down the aisles baning on cabin windows. I was half asleep at the time, but I have a vivid memory of the train stopping, looking out the window, seeing all of these soccer hooligans and immediately checking to make sure the door was locked. I don't want to say that I was afraid, but I was concerned. I felt pretty safe knowing that I was traveling with a bunch of football guys who are some of the toughest men that I have ever met. If I were to ever get into a fight, these are the guys who I would want with me. That being said, I wasn't really in the mood to throw down with some soccer hooligans. Plus, I am more of a lover and not a fighter.

Once we finally arrived in Belgrade at 7 am with approximately 2 hours of sleep max we were picked up at the train station by a bus that had been arranged to take us to a restaurant for breakfast. The breakfast left a little something to be desired as it was what ammounted to a hot dog and 2 fried eggs. We then got back on the bus and arrived at the stadium at 8:30. Kickoff was at 1. Without exception, the whole team including coaches slept on the locker room floor and benches until 11. Let me say that again, a whole football team slept on a cold, locker room floor the morning of their game because they were so exhausted.

As one might imagine, we were a little sluggish come game time. We managed to move the ball pretty well though and were able to pick on their corners a bit. It was a good day for the passing game and we must have thrown for over 300 yards. The game ended up being a seesaw battle back and forth with one team making a play and the other team answering.

It ended up going into double overtime. We scored to make the game 48-49 and decided to go for two. We ran a sweep around the right end and their was a big collision at the pylon. From my vantage point, there was no doubt that he got in. The referee didn't see it the same way. He ruled him out short of the goal line. In watching the video, it is clear that he did get in. You can watch it for yourself at http://www.cefl.com/ and go to 2nd half highlights.

To make matters worse, the referee who called him out was so out of position it was ridiculous. On the goal line the official is supposed to back straight away from the goal line so he maintains a true visual on the goal line. Well this beloved official backed away up the field. Consequently he make the call from the sideline at the 7 yard line. He was in absolutely no position to make the call. I am not one to bag on officials because it is a tough, thankless job. That being said, at least be in the right position to make the call. If the wrong call is made and the official is in the correct spot I can live with that. When the chips are down and the game is on the line the official needs to be in the correct position to make the call.

Losing that way made everything that we went through just to get there that much harder to swallow. I really could not be any more proud of this team and the players. We traveled through hell just to get there and the 22 players that we had gave it absolutely everything that they had. Those guys truly hung it all out there and held nothing back. I couldn't ask for anything more from those guys. We had guys playing hurt and by the time it was all said and done we looked like the walking wounded. I hate to use the term "warrior" because of its military context, but in this situation we truly had guys who were warriors.

Our travel back home was much the same just in reverse order. And without the hooligans. We got back home at 5:00 PM. I slept from 6:00 to midnight and then from 3 AM to noon. And I was still tired the whole day. There have been moments and times where I have grinded it out and gone on little sleep. Nothing compares to this experience though. I said it when I first signed on for this that if nothing else it would be an adventure. Well this past weekend I got an adventure and then some.

On the 10th my parents are flying in and will be here and doing some traveling themselves at the same time. I am really excited for them to come and show them where I have been and what I have been doing. If everything works out right we will be able to do some sightseeing together as well. Should be a good time.

That is all I have for now. Hope all is well back home. Take care

--Josh

Hanging it all out

This past Saturday we traveled to Vienna for our game against the Dragons. The Dragons are an AFL team and one of the better teams we will see all year. For a number of different reasons, we went there with only 20 players. To say that made things a little difficult would be an understatement. Our guys battled it out and hung it in there for 3 quarters. Eventually they just wore us down. It was 17-28 at the beginning of the 4th quarter and we were driving when there was a controversial fumble. They scored on the next play and that was the beginning of the end. We just could not sustain the effort and focus for the whole game with so few players. I am really proud of the players and have no doubt that they hung it all out there and gave everything they had.

Last week on one of our off days I took the opportunity to go down to the local pool/park that everyone had been raving about. It is only a 10 minute walk from my place. When I got there I was quite impressed. It is right along the Rhine river that separates the Swiss Austrian border. The best way to describe it is as a city park with 3 nice pools, a restaurant, an area for beach volleyball and soccer, a couple of slides and a river flowing through as well. All in all a great place. If a person can't have a good time there they can't have a good time anywhere. Next time I go I will be sure to take pictures as well as apply sunscreen all over. I made the mistake of thinking that we wouldn't be there for that long so I need not apply all over. Well we spent the whole day there and I was that guy with streaks all over my back.

That is all I have for now. Hope all is well back home. Take care

--Josh

A win, a loss, a win

The title pretty much sums it up. We went to Linz and played the Steelsharks and got a win 49-14, came back home and got hammered by the Innsbruck Raiders 3-41, and then won this past weekend against the CNC Gladiators 33-0. It is kind of hard to know exactly where we are when we go from handling a team to getting hammered to completely controlling another game. I guess we will find out more when we play this weekend against the Danube Dragons. The Dragons are one of the top teams in the league and are tied for 1st place at the moment. I feel good about our chances. The thing is that I also would have said that before the Raiders. Time will tell.

That is all I have to report right now. I just wanted to get a quick update in before practice. Hope all is well back home. Take care

--Josh

A win and injuries

We played the Ljubljana Silverhawks in a CEFL game this past weekend and came away with a win 47-8. It was one of those games where offensively we could do whatever we wanted. The running game was working well so we just kept with it and our starting running back ended up with over 200 yards. All in all, a pretty good showing. That is the good news. The bad news is that the injury bug has started to creep up again. Two of our American players Zach Howard and Joe Sturdivant are injured and will miss this weeks game and possibly the next as well. This makes our already thin secondary and receiving corps even thinner. We will trot out there for this Saturdays game with 3 receivers and 3 defensive backs and pray that no one gets hurt. That could be said about every game we play, but especially this week. These injuries faciliated some drastic measures this week.

I went through the necessary step to be eligible to play! Both Zach and Joe were backup QB's and we have an Austrian kid who can kind of play QB, but it would be a struggle. If nothing else, I would at least know the offense and be able to hand the ball of to the right guy. It is a lot of paperwork and BS to be honest in order to become certified. The kicker was that I had to get a physical before I could be certified. Now a routine physical is no big deal. I have had one of those before and while I am not in tip top shape I am as healthy as most 24 year olds. The only problem was that this was not a routine physical. This was an athletic performance physical. So along with all of the usual things they test and ask, I had to be hooked up to a machine that monitored my heart rate while riding a bike. Now the best part about this little bike ride was that I had to pedal at a certain speed while every minute it becomes more and more difficult until I could no longer maintain that speed.

Let me rephrase that in athletic performance terms. THEY MADE ME GO TO FAILURE! Now there is nothing wrong with that, except for that fact that I haven't pushed myself to failure while exercising since high school. Suffice it to say that my performance and subsequent heart rate was sub par. I had to explain to them that I came over here in "coach shape" and not playing shape. There is a vast difference. All in all, it was a cool thing and I am now quite aware of my current physical fitness state. I would have paid good money for something like that in the states. If I had only known ahead of time I maybe could have done some running so my performance would have been less embarassing.

Here is the best part. After I went through all of the hoops in order to be certified to play, I won't be able to play because I am classified as an "A" player. My understanding of an "A" player is that it is anyone who has played NCAA or professional in the U.S. Since I do not fall into that category, we all assumed that I would be certified without any problems. I just learned today though that since I am paid by the team for coaching that I would have to be classified as an "A." Long story short, it is BS. What the written rules say and what actually happens here tends to be different. There are those who in power in this league who often pull power plays. No matter where one goes in the world, there is always political games involved.

This week marks the unofficial halfway point for my time here in Austria. The strange thing is that it means that I am starting to think about what I will do when I get back home to the states. There is not a day that goes by that I do not check the coaching job board. I would be lying if I said that it has been encouraging. At this point in time, I am looking for a full time coaching job with a good program. To say that those are hard to come by would be an understatement. If I am unable to secure a full time college coaching job, I am going to explore any and all options including getting out of coaching entirely.

I love the game, I love coaching, and I truly believe that it is the best job in the world. All that being said, I have come to learn that coaching itself just simply is no longer enough. This is my 5th season coaching and I have poured an inordinate amount of time and energy into coaching. I love it, but I know 15 years from now I do not want to be that coach who is 40 years old, single, has been at 7 or so different colleges waiting for that big break, and sits in the bar all the time chasing skirts. That just isn't me nor do I want it to be. It may come to fruition that I will get out of coaching, move to the Twin Cities, and get a regular 9-5 like everyone else. Right now, I just don't know what the right move is and I am keeping all of my options open. If anyone knows of any job opportunities available don't hesitate to let me know.

That is all I have for now. Hope all is well back home. Take care

--Josh

Less is more

Forgive me for my gap in postings. I would like to say that it is purely due to being so busy all of the time, but that is not necessarily the case. I feel as though I have really started to settle in here and am beginning to enjoy things despite some of the challenges. The weather has been beautiful for the past couple of weeks and I have taken the opportunity to enjoy it. A lot has happened in the last 3 weeks so let me start at the beginning.

We played the St Polten Invaders 2 weeks ago and were able to come away with a win 49-10. It was a good day for the offense as we scored 49 points. The bad news was that we were not as sharp as I would have liked. We did not turn the ball over so that was a positive thing. When we hang onto the football, we are a good football team. One of the more interesting things that happened was that the game was played with only 2 officials. Apparently, the rest of the officiating crew didn't get the memo. What ended up happening was that 2 officials refereed the game and 2 of our injured players were used as side judges. All things considered, the officiating was quite good and everything went off without a hitch. I will just chalk it up as another experience of European football.

The following week was a bye week due to the Easter holiday and it could not have come at a better time. To be perfectly honest, the grind of football all the time was starting to get to me. We had a practice on that Tuesday and we were football free until the following Tuesday. I didn't know where I wanted to go for the Easter holiday, but I was certain that it was going to be A. Somewhere warm B. Somewhere with a beach and C. Somewhere where they don't speak German.

The plan was for myself, 3 of our American players, Brad, Joe, and Zach, along with Joes friend Kirk, who was visiting from the states, to go to the travel agency and find a last minute deal to anyplace with the above criteria. We got up early and went to the travel agency as it opened. There was only one slight problem. There was not a single flight to any destination with those prerequisites. That left us without a plan or a destination.

We then decided that our only option was to head to the train station and see what and where we could go on the train. Someone said that we should go to Cinque Terra Italy and I figured why not. I had no idea where it was or what was there, but I wanted to get out of Austria and I knew either way it would be an adventure. We were going to be heading out of Austria with no real plan and only backpacks on our backs.

We got our tickets to arrive in Genova Italy, which is about 2 hours from Cinque Terra, and jumped on the train. As would become custom, our travel was far from smooth. Our train was late getting to Innsbruck and we missed our connecting train. Therefore we had to wait for the next train out and more importantly we would not be getting to Genova that evening. Instead, we got into Milan at 11:30 with no place to stay or no idea where we could get a place. We walked around for a good half hour to hour before finding reasonable accommodations for the night. On a side note. the Milan train station is very impressive. It is what you would expect a major European train station to look like. Utterly massive with fantastic architecture.

On Thursday morning we got to the train station and jumped on the next train to Genova. We arrived in Genova mid afternoon and made our way to the only hostel in town. It was at the top of the mountain, while the main part of the city was near the harbor. That made for some interesting bus rides going up and down the mountain. Nothing like standing on a bus going up and down switchback roads. We spend the better part of the afternoon and evening walking around Genova. It is a neat harbor city that has some cool architecture along with some interesting museums. It is also the birthplace of explorer Christopher Columbus.

Finally, on friday we boarded a train headed for Cinque Terra. (Wikipedia Cinque Terra so that the rest of what I am going to talk about makes more sense) By that point in time, I had my fill of trains and was ready to just be somewhere and stay. We got off the train in the first city of Monterroso and it was absolutely breath taking. You get off the train, take some stairs, walk out into the city and you see the Mediterranean staring you in the face with mountains to your left and right and a warm breeze against your body. Minnesota may be Gods country, but Cinque Terra is right up there with it.

We spent the next 3 and a half days there and what an amazing experience it was. I can't say enough good things about the place. It is a touristy place, but not commercial touristy. It is very local and authentic. I had some of the best pizza of my life there as well as some great pasta. The region there is known for its pesto and it did not disappoint. I had a pesto lasagna that was worth all 7 Euros that I paid for it and then some.

Every single afternoon was spent at the beach soaking up the rays. Sadly, I didn't get too much color. It was sunny and 75 everyday, but the water was a bit too cold to really swim in. I did jump in for a minute though just to say that I had swam in the Mediterranean. One of the other interesting things was that there were American students everywhere. I can't even count the number of American students that we ran into. They aren't exactly hard to pick out. Americans stick out like sore thumbs there. All of them were studying abroad in Italy and on Easter break like us. The only difference was that we got to say that we were playing/coaching football. In some ways, it was kind of like being on spring break. Although on a much smaller scale.

If I had not needed to get back for football, I may have just stayed there another week. Eventually, it was time to go because we had practice on Tuesday and maybe more importantly, we were out of money. Thus, we embarked on the train trip from hell. I will spare you the details, but it took far too long in my opinion. We left Monday at 1:00 PM and got back to Hohenems at 7:00 AM Tuesday morning.

Once I had gotten back and taken a little nap, it was back to the grind preparing for the Graz Giants, the league favorite and #1 ranked team in Europe. We developed a very good game plan and I felt very confident going into the game. In the end, we lost 23-13. It was a game of missed opportunities and key mistakes. We turned the ball over 4 times and missed some touchdown opportunities.. After watching the film, we left points on the field. that was probably the most disappointing thing. Knowing that we should have won and failing to capitalize on a great opportunity. After the game, there were some fans and people involved with the team who were shall I say surprised that we had played them so close. I made sure that everyone here knew that I don't care what has happened in the past with this team. I didn't come here for moral victories or to keep the score close. I came here to win!

That is all that I have for now. For those that don't have facebook, I have my pictures in a Kodak Gallery and you can view them from there.

Hope all is well back home. Take care

--Josh

Spring has sprung?

As I write this, it is absolutely beautiful outside. It is the type of spring day that makes getting through the winter worthwhile. I can only hope and pray that this is not an aberation, but the beginning of some great weather. Technically, it is our day off with a home game on Friday, but I am here at the office making some last minute preparations.

Let me go on record right now. I long for the day when no one asks me to do video exchange or seeks my advice for computer or video related matters. My knowledge is very basic and standard for someone my age, but being that I have always been the only coach to have grown up with computers I have a better understanding and knowledge base. That doesn't mean I always know what is going, it is just that I am the most familiar. Quite frankly, it is one of the reasons I am slightly apprehensive to be a GA once I get back to the states. I can certainly do the job, but it is a thankless job being a video guy. Everyone understands the importance, but no one really wants to put the time and energy into learning all of it. I can't wait until all I am asked to do is to coach and recruit. The reasons we become coaches is to coach, not to spend hours on computers or video rooms downloading, uploading, making cutups, or entering data.

As I have mentioned before, there hasn't been a whole lot of activity outside of football. That being said, I have spent a good amount of my free time reading and watching movies. On our trip to Vienna I finally cracked open the book "The Dirt" which is the story of Motley Crue with help by Neil Strauss. Each member kind of tells his story and they are intertwined in a fantastic way. Let me say that I have about zero interest in Motley Crue. I don't have a single song of theirs on my Ipod nor could I name one of the top of my head. That being said, I found it to be a great book and I could not put it down. They tell their story in a very real, honest, raw, and flawed way. Those guys all know that they are messed up and far from perfect. They have issues and are very upfront and forward about it. Part of that is what is probably what I find fascinating. I always love hearing and reading stories about people who are deeply flawed and yet they still rise to the top on the back of their tremendous talent and passion.

Our first home game is this Sunday against the St Polten Invaders. Preparations are nearly complete to get everything in order. I am kind of curious to see how everything unfolds. Not just with the game, but everything that goes into it. As anyone who is involved in athletics knows, sometimes home games are worse than road games. For a road game, you just show up and play. For a home game, there are a million and one things that need to be in order and taken care of just to be able to play the game. We don't know a whole lot about the St Polten team other than that they have 2 Americans and the rest of the team is Austria. Other than that everything will be a mystery.

That is all for now. Hope all is well back home. Take care

--Josh

Slop Fest

Long story short, we lost 27-0. Long story long, it was the worst field conditions that I have ever seen or been associated. There was a cold rain that started when we arrived at the stadium and never quit. It wasn't a hard driving rain, but just a constant steady drizzle. Quite frankly, it was miserable. By the end, there was not a single blade of green grass between the hashes from 25 to the 25. Just a mud bowl. Go here http://foto-bluedevils.npage.de/blue_devils_2_19759742.html and that will tell much of the story.

Consequently, our vaunted passing game became pretty much worthless. Not so much because of the field conditions and the rain, but more because of the mud and a constantly wet ball. We struggled to run the ball consistently as well. They were blitzing us and daring us to try and throw the ball. We tried, but it just wasn't happening because we were unable to throw the ball down the field and make them pay for their blitzing.

Conversely, the weather played right into the Vikings hands. They were bigger and more physcial, but not as fast or athletic. It was one of those days where everything went right for them and we could not get anything going. Even with all of that, I was really proud of the way our guys continued to fight and to battle. They never gave up and never threw in the towel. I truly believe that if we play them again on a beautiful July day we will give them all they can handle and then some.

Everything else besides the game was splendid. Travel went off without a hitch and our accomodations were very nice. I give the Vikings and their whole organization a lot of credit. They are first class and do everything the right way. I can tell why they are one of the premier football clubs in Europe. They put on a good show and make everything an event. Pregame introductions were like an NFL or Division 1 college game; Running out from under the stadium, fireworks for introductions, and even flameshooters for Vikings individual introductions. Go to youtube and search for Vienna Vikings introductions and that is exactly what it was like. A fun atmosphere and pretty cool if you ask me.

Things outside of football are going fine, although I am not really sure what those things are. Pretty much all of my time and energy is devoted to football. This is good and this is bad. When things are going well and falling into place it is great. When we are struggling and trying to figure things out it sucks. The saving grace is that the 4 of us coaches get along well and no one has tried to kill another person yet. We spend virtually all of our time together and the biggest accomplishment of the season will be us not killing each other.

There is a lot of frusration around here at the moment. Not so much because of the game, but due to a number of different things. Primarily being our lack of players and depth. The rules over here reagarding player eligibility are making it even harder as well. It is like the cards are stacked against us. At times it feels as though we are banging our heads against the wall.

It is hard trying to figure out how to maximize as much as possible out of the players and team when there are 5-6 guys going both ways and we only practice 2-3 times a week. I must detach myself sometimes just to keep from going crazy. If I get too worked up or worry too much about things I know I won't make it. Things are just so much different. Jim and I were talking and we would compare the program and organization as a whole to a low level Minnesota high school football program. It is a struggle and a grind to keep our heads above water.

I think it would be fair to say that we are all waiting for the weather to break. There was a glimmer of hope last week when it was beautiful for 2 days straight last week. It quickly faded though and it has been dreary and overcast since. I would say that since I have been here there has been maybe 4 or 5 really nice sunny days. All I can say is there better be some beautiful, sunny days come June and July to make up for this crappy weather.

That is all I have for today. I will post some non football related items later in the week. I have been doing quite a bit of reading and have had a lot of time to think so I will share my brilliant or not so brilliant thoughts at that time. Lastly, I want to send out a belated big congrats to Brandon Mensink and Ali Hempel on the birth of their son Jack Henry. I can't wait to get back to the states to see the little bugger.

Hope all is well back home. Take care

--Josh

A Win is a Win

The trip to Budapest was a success all the way around. We ended up winning the game 39-7 and everyone made it there and back just fine. The game wasn't nearly as pretty as the score would indicate. A win is a win none the less and it gives a starting point to move from. There is a lot of work to be done and we must get much better in order to get to where we want to go.


While we won fairly handily, there were some down spots. Most importantly, we got hit by the injury bug which we can't afford. Joe Sturdivant injured a knee and will be out this week as well as next week. That really hurts because Joe is a guy we could plug into multiple spots on both offense and defense plus he is a great leader and teammate. Also OL/DL Tobi Biehl got a knee injury and was out for the second half of the game. Heading into this weeks game, he will likely play, but he is going to be less than %100.

The game itself was quite the experience. A big cluster if you will. Suffice it to say, I have been involved in sandlot pickup games that were more well organized and cleanly run. This was due to a number of factors. #1 The officiating was anywhere from terrible to downright dreadful. They just don't have enough experience or know how to properly interperate the rules to make quality calls. #2 The field was 90 yards long and probably about 47 yards wide. So not a regulation field because it was on a soccer field. #3 No game clock or play clock. The officials had both the game and play clock on their watch. The play clock was ridiculously fast too. It would start almost immediately after the play was whistled dead. That forced us to rush a little bit with our play calls and getting them into the huddle. #4 We were traveling with a skelton crew. This meant no athletic trainer or no one in charge of water/equipment. #5 Like I mentioned before, the travel was going to be a grind and it most certainly was. All in all, the travel was as smooth as possible and went off without a hitch.


The city of Budapest was like you would expect a formet Soviet bloc city to look like. There were parts that looked amazing and just like any major industrialized city. Other parts looked very rough and poor. After the game we had dinner downtown and spent a few hours walking around and taking pictures. We then jumped on the bus to Vienna and then took the train back to Hohenems. I went to bed at 7 in the evening and didn't wake up until morning. I was exhausted.

Now we are preparing to play the Vienna Vikings and we will have our hands full. They are one of the premier teams in Austria and all of Europe. As you might imagine, they have a bit more money and a better set up than we do. We plan on giving them all they can handle and we do have the benefit of having played a game while this will be their first game of the year.






That is all for now. Hope all is well back home. Take care

--Josh

Game time baby!

Our first game is finally upon us. We will be taking on the Budapest Wolves in a CEFL game. It should be a good game and it will really tell us where we are at. I am nervous and curious to see how we will perform given our limited amount of practice time. To be perfectly honest, we are not ready for this game. None the less, it will be played anyways. The way I have figured it, we have had 14 2 hour practices prior to this game and a scrimmage. That practice time has been split between offense and defense as well. In the states, that would be like playing a game after 1 week of two a days. On top of that, not all of the players and starters have been at every practice.

Even with all of that, I will be disappointed if we don't execute in certain areas and come away with a win. Our limited scouting report is that they should be big, but slow. Conversely we will be small, but fast and athletic. As long as we can protect the QB, I feel as though we should be able to move the ball. Our skill guys are as good as any and they can run by and around anyone. If there is one thing that I learned at SJU, it is that you can get away without having a great front if your skill guys are just better than theirs. Mistakes and plays made on the perimeter turn into touchdowns. Mistakes and plays made between the tackles turn into yards.

Our final import arrived this week. OL/DL Chris Osborne from Elizabeth City State University arrived on Tuesday. He will provide us with an anchor on offense and a big run stuffer and pile mover on defense. From the two practices that I have seen him, I believe that Chris should fit in great and fills a big need for us. In some ways, it may be a blessing in disguise that Zach Sledge ended up getting hurt. Given our depth and skill on the perimeter and our lack of depth on the offensive and defensive front, it is nice to be able to bring someone in who will help us there.

As I am writing this, our American players along with Jim, Joe, and Christoph are traveling to Budapest. The Americans and Christoph are taking a car there, while Jim and Joe are taking the train along with all of the equipment. Myself, Luis, and the rest of the team are leaving at 5:15 am tomorrow and busing up to Stuttgart (a 2 and a half hour ride) and then flying to Budapest. We will land approximately 3 hours before kickoff. It has been a logistical nightmare getting everything organized and ready to go. There have been about 8 different travel plans since I have been here for this game. As I have mentioned before, this is Europe and they do things different. None of this go the day before and stay in a hotel. No, you see that costs money that is not available. Consequently everything must be done as cheaply as possible. The almighty dollar(or Euro here) rules. So if that means that the team must wake up at 4 am and travel on game day, then so be it. Long story short, it is the road trip from hell.

Something that has been surprising for me is my lack of homesickness. I miss certain things about the states, but not so much where I am dying to go back home. When I committed to do this thing, I knew how long it would be. I committed for the long haul and I have the mind set that I am going to be here until July so there is no use longing for things that I can't have. It also helps that I feel purposeful and am doing something that I love. The sights, the smells, and the sounds of the game are absolutely wonderful to be experiencing again. There are just certain things that I just love about this game. The smell of the locker room, the sound of pads cracking against each other, the sight of a perfectly executed play. It doesn't get much better than that.

On top of that, I feel very invested in this teams successes and failures. Both Joe and Jim have given me a lot of rope and allowed me to coach and teach and I am extremely grateful for that. Jim has been very liberal in allowing me to coach the offense and the passing game especially. He said from the beginning that the two of us would work as a team and that input and ideas needs to flow freely between us. So far that has worked well for us and I imagine it will continue to do so.

That is all I have for now. I will report back sometime next week with how the game went. If you want to follow the team more closely, you can go to the team website www.blue-devils.at. Or if you want to read the web page in English and not German, google Hohenems Blue Devils and hit the translate button. It isn't a great translation, but it is better than nothing.

Hope all is well back home. Take care

--Josh

Successful Training Camp

Our training camp has concluded with a successful scrimmage against the Zurich Renegades. Camp went well and we were able to install most of our offense and defense. We did have to content with some sub par weather though. On Wednesday morning we went through the 4 seasons in a two hour practice. There was dreary, cold rain, snow, and then pleasant sunshine. Kind of crazy, but it is what you get in a mountain town this time of year.

The best part of the whole camp and scrimmage was that we came away without any injuries. Not even a hold your breath just get up type of moment either. A team with as few players as us can not afford to lose even one player.

The Renegades were a solid team and a great matchup to see where we are at. It was a very even scrimmage throughout. Both teams made some plays and did some good and not so good things. We were very sharp during our 7 on 7 period and threw the ball fairly well when we went 11 on 11 as well. That was certainly encouraging since we have felt from the beginning that would be a strength.

Our run game and line play was solid at times and suspect at others. Right now that is without a doubt my biggest fear and concern. We need to get better on the offensive line or we won't be able to do much of anything. All great teams can run the ball and right now we are struggling to consistently do that. We have flashes and moments, but not enough consistency. There is help on the way though.

Chris Osborne a OL/DL from Elizabeth City College is arriving on Tuesday and will immediately make a difference for us. #1 because he will be another guy who will always be at practice. #2 because he should be the anchor for our offensive line as well as be an impact player at DT. He won't be playing in our first game vs Budapest Wolves since two practices isn't enough time to digest an entire offensive and defensive playbook. On top of that, this is a game where we get a 3-3. Meaning we can dress 3 Americans and play 3 Americans. It doesn't make sense to sit down one of our Americans who has been here the whole time and understands the entire offense and defense.

The weather here is slowly, but surely starting to change. We are right at that point where winter meets spring. Also known as mud season. I am not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I certainly would like some nicer weather, but at the same time it is gorgeous around here with snow on the mountains.

I kind of find it hard to believe that I have now been here for almost a month. Seems like just yesterday I was packing up my apartment and running all of these errands just to get ready to leave. I think that I have found a good routine and will enjoy my time here. Things are different, but the football has been great despite some of the challenges. No matter where in the world I am, it feels good to be coaching and teaching football.

American arrival

We finally have our whole team here. Well at least for the most part. Our 3 American import players arrived last Monday. They have been spending a lot of time getting adjusted to things here as well as us coaches trying to give them a crash course in our schemes. It is less than 2 weeks until our first game and suffice it to say that there is a lot of work to be done.

We are going to kind of mesh what our American players are familiar with and run it along with what Jim and I are familiar with at St Johns. It didn't make a lot of sense to not mesh the two. No use forcing something on the Americans that doesn't fit their skill set. Long story short, we brought over some thoroughbreds and we plan on riding them as far as they will take us.

Now that we have our American players here we have finally gotten a chance to really put in both our offensive and defensive schemes. Prior to them getting here, we kind of had to keep things real generic and just work on skill development. That is all well and good, but at the end of the day you have to be able to run some offensive plays as well.

Our training camp starts this Wednesday and we will have 2 a days until Saturday commencing with a scrimmage against the Zurich Renegades. It will be nice to see some different schemes and personnel to work against. I am sure that there will still be a lot of work to do even after camp, but we should have a much better feel for where we are at and what needs to be done before the first game.

I have said it before, but I will say it again, things are just different here. Our squad is quite small so practice can be quite a challenge at times. Just running a full 7 on 7 or 11 on 11 period doesn't work at times because we just don't have the bodies. Guys will drive a distance of up to 2 hours just to make it to practice. The European players here love the game and want to work, there just isn't enough of them. Again, it makes me appreciate having 160 guys at practice like we do at St Johns.

Hope all is well back home. Take care

--Josh

Tough break

As everyone knows, injuries are a part of the game and we had our first injury occur on Wednesday. The good thing is that it wasn't contact related. The bad thing is that was one of our American imports. WR/DB Zack Sledge from SMU was working out back in the states and while back pedaling got his foot caught in the turf and wrecked his ankle. Consequently, Zack needs to have surgery and will not be coming over. That kind of puts us in a scramble mode to find a new American import that is ready to go and can be here in about a week. We have some leads and some calls still need to be made, but I think we will still be able to bring over an impact player who can really help us.

Wednesday was an off day from football and Jim, Joe and I took the opportunity to head up to Germany and visit a castle in the city of Meersburg which is nestled along the Bodensee. It was an absolutely beautiful day. There was a few wrong turns along the way, but that just allowed us to see more scenery. Not to mention that there was also quite a few "adventures" at the multiple roundabouts that we had to navigate. The castle was pretty amazing and I took some cool pictures as well.

Let me also introduce a few other people involved with the team that I will likely write about.

Elka - She is our office manager and takes care of most the communication with the players about practice times. Her English is pretty good, but she isn't quite fluent so there is some difficulty communicating what needs to get done at times.

Luis - He is our other Ameican coach. Luis also coaches the 3 youth teams that play and this will be his 3rd year with the team. He has been a big help just showing us around and letting us know all about the city, team, league, players, and other that we come into contact with. Luis is also my roommate.

Which brings me to my other point. Our apartment is less that a 15 walk from the office and the view is pretty amazing. Let me take you on a tour

Last Saturday, Christoph Piringer our team president took Jim, Joe, and I out for dinner. We went to this restaurant that was on top of the mountain. The only way to get up to the restaurant was to take a cable car. Once you get up to the top, you can see for miles and miles and can see the whole region, which stretches into both Switzerland and Germany. It was kind of foggy on Saturday, but you get the jist.

We have two practices this weekend. One on Friday and another on Saturday. We are starting to install some of our offense and defense this weekend which is a good thing. The only problem is that our American players have yet to get here. They come on Monday and it will be a day or two before they are really adjusted and ready for football activities. Not to mention that we are short an American too, but I have no doubt that once training camp starts on the 11th we will be ready to go and be able to get everything installed.

That is all for now. Once again, don't be shy about sending emails and letting me know what is happening back in the states. Take care

--Josh

The season has started

Things are starting to get settled here and I am starting to feel more and more comfortable everyday. I think I am finally over my jet lag and on a local sleeping schedule. The area here is absolutely beautiful. It is very much like I imagined. I can look out my kitchen window and see the Austrian Alps to the east and the Swiss Alps to the west. Suffice it to say, the scenery isn't bad.

The weather here has been kind of miserable to be honest. The temperature has been around 25-40 degress so it hasn't been too cold. We have had snow/rain for the last 3 days and it is the wet sloppy kind. I don't think I have seen the sun since I have been here either. It is supposed to warm up this week, which will make things even sloppier, but also should allow the snow to melt as well.

On Saturday we had our first official practice and team meeting. We spent the better part of the day doing football related activities at the Olympic Center in Dornbirn. During the morning we did physical testing and then in the afternoon we had meetings. To cap it off we were able to use the turf field there and get in our first practice. It was great to be out coaching again and starting a new season. Plus the fact that I could look up and see the Alps was pretty amazing. That is something that you don't see everyday. Since the snow has yet to melt, we are fairly limited in what we are able to do practice wise. It is either that we are able to secure the turf field at the Olympic Center or we have to practice inside in one of the gyms in town. The turf field isn't the easiest thing to get either since the American football team isn't exactly the highest team on the priority list. Which brings me to my other point.

In case you were wondering, football isn't the #1 game in town around here. It is more like #10 behind soccer, soccer, soccer, basketball, soccer, volleyball, soccer, soccer, and team handball of all things. Suffice it to say, that is kind of strange and frustrating. It is tough going from being the big dog and the premier sport to not even being a secondary sport. It makes everything more difficult because we must wait our turn in line for things. Things are very fluid because of this and if there is one thing that I have learned it is that nothing is set in stone. I am pretty flexible, but it is hard not knowing what to expect at times.

Many have asked me what the level of play is like over here. After our first practice, here is what I can tell you.
#1 There is a wide range of abilities and knowledge base. Some guys are playing football for the very first time. Others have been playing for 15-20 years now. In some ways, it makes it very similar to high school football.
#2 Some guys are very good and easily scholarship athletes. I would say that there are half a dozen Europeans on the team who would be anywhere from low level D2 to 1AA kids.
#3 The guys who have been playing for a while understand everything that you are telling them and are quite well versed in schemes and technique.
#4 In any language and any country, the game doesn't change. The same skills are techniques are required to play well.

It is time for practice. I should go now. Don't be afraid to email and let me know how things are going. j_kuenzel@hotmail.com. We still don't have internet at the apartment, but I will be checking here at the office. Hope all is well back home. Take care

--Josh

I made it

Just wanted to update everyone and let you all know that we made it just fine. It was a long travel day and kind of a pain, but it all worked out. The apartment looks good, but we don't yet have cable or internet. We are starting to get settled and have started working on football stuff. Our first practice will be on Saturday and we will do testing then as well. That is all for now. I will post pictures when I get a chance. Take care

So I am really doing this!!!

I received my flight information at long last this week. Wednesday the 18th is the day that I head out. There is no turning back now. We leave from MSP and go to O'Hare. From O'Hare we make the long trek to Frankfurt Germany. Lastly we go from Frankfurt we fly into Freidrichshafen Germany which is just on the other side of the Bodensee about 45 minutes from Dornbirn. It should be a long travel day, but I wouldn't expect it to be any other way. I will either be exhausted from the travel or excited beyond belief to be there. Hopefully the latter.

As I write this, I am sitting in my office at SJU finishing up the last of the football stuff by creating files and burning DVD's that we will use as coaching tools. It should be helpful to show the players what the plays are supposed to look like when run well. Technically, I guess this really isn't my office anymore since Mike Trewick has taken it over. He has made some nice upgrades and adjustments with the place and I must say it looks good. Suffice it to say that Mike doesn't have the pack rat mentality that I seem to have inherited and is slightly better at interior design. None the less, I don't think he will mind if I use the office for a few more days.

Last weekend I took care of a few loose ends by making a business trip out to Seattle to drop off my car and leave it with my sister Becca. It works out great for the both of us because this way I won't have to find a place to store my car while I am gone. Plus Becca will have a car for the next 5 months while she gets settled out there. I made the trip in 2 days stopping over night in Billings Montana. There wasn't too much trouble except for the last part going over the mountains at the Idaho/Montana pass and in the Washington pass as well. I do love road trips, but I love them a lot more in the summer without the threat of snowstorms. All in all it was a great trip and fun to see Becca and spend a little time with her before I take off.

While I was out in Seattle, SJU Sports Information did a press release about Jim and I heading over to Austria. Consequently, one of the local sports reporters for the St Cloud Times Frank Rajkowski did an article about it that you can read here. I don't know how long the link will be active, but if it does die and you still want to read it just let me know. Frank did a nice job and I had a few people that weren't aware of it congratulate me so that was nice.

As my leave date approaches I am growing more and more excited with moments of sheer panic sprinkled in. I am not so much apprehensive about going and being gone. I am just more consumed with getting everything done by the time I leave. It is reassuring that a) Jim will be there with me and we will be going through a lot of the same things together for the first time and b) I have lived in a foreign country before where I barely spoke the language and got along just fine. Packing is going slowly and every day a few more things are organized and a box or two more get filled.

That is all for now. Next time you hear from me I will be on the other side of the pond. Take care everyone.

--Josh

Back from Phoenix

I just spent the past 3 and a half days down in Phoenix with Joe and Jim talking as much Austrian football as we could muster. It was really good to finally meet Joe and get to know him a little bit. He is an interesting guy with lots of stories and I know we are going to get along really well. Joe also gave me his entire defensive video playbook to digest in the next couple of weeks. Suffice it to say there is a lot to learn about his defense, but I am excited about the challenge.

Our team roster is going to be fairly small and is going to be in flux until we get there and see the whites of every ones eyes. In some ways, it isn't much different than being at SJU where you plan on having certain guys, but you can't be for certain until they actually show up on the first day. We will still have the same 4 American players, but the rest of our European roster is yet to be determined. There should be a good mix of players from Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and a couple other parts of central Europe.

Due to the roster being small, we will have guys playing both offense and defense. This will also affect how we practice since guys will have to learn and play both sides of the ball. It is going to be different from what I am used to at SJU, but not completely foreign to myself or Jim. Both of us had players going both ways when we coached high school so we understand some of the difficulties it presents. At the same time, I kind of like it because more guys are invested in the total team success. Not just the offensive or defensive success. You win and lose with a small core and everyone will have to play a part for us to be successful.

One of the more interesting challenges will be the availability of the American players depending upon the league. Since we are playing in multiple leagues, there are multiple rules regarding the eligibility of the American players. In some games we can dress all 4 and 3 can be on the field at the same time. This is obviously ideal since we have a QB, LB/FB, WR/DB, and a WR/DB. Naturally you can see how we can be flexible and put the right 3 guys out there in this case. In other games, we will be able to dress 3 and play 3 and in others we can only dress 2 and play 2. This will obviously affect our game plan and our ability to do certain things. Kind of a messed up deal for the players, but as a friend of mine once said "those who are flexible are not easily bent out of shape." We will make it work and we have to keep in mind that our opponents will be playing with the same rules.

While in Arizona, we took the opportunity to watch a lot of film on our players as well as take a look at our first opponent. After watching our guys, I have to say that I feel really good about our American players. We should be awfully strong at the skill positions with the Americans and a few of the Europeans. There are quite a few guys that can play. It should be a lot of fun figuring out the best ways to get the ball into their hands.

Things don't look quite as strong on the offensive line. They are lacking quite a bit of fundamentals and technique. That is where Jim and his expertise should come into play. Jim made a career out building great offensive lines and riding them. I have no doubt that our offensive line will improve greatly over the course of the season and we will lean on them at times.

Right now I am taking the time to pack up most of my belongings and put them into storage. It is a long process and one of those things that is a necessary evil. I suppose I should get used to it if I am planning on living the life of a coach. At least it will give me a chance to go through my things and weed out and give away or throw the things I no longer need. The last 18 months has been the longest I have lived in one place in the past 6 years. I must say it has been nice. I am going to miss this little place in Waite Park, but as with all things we close one chapter and open another. And this chapter just happens to be opening up half way across the world in Austria.

In preparation for the journey, I recently made a couple of purchases that are borderline necessary. One of the things that I did need was new luggage. I bought a new 3 piece set with 2 big pieces that I am planning on maxing out and pushing the 50 pound weight limit the the max. As anyone who has traveled with me can attest, I tend to over pack and I have intentions of doing so once again. I figure I at least have a good excuse this time. If I am going to pick up and move my life half way across the world, well then I am going to take as much as I possibly can.

The other things that I purchased are a new laptop, an ipod, and 4 new books. My laptop will be used for football things as well as personal use. Quite frankly, I couldn't really imagine not having access to my own computer. I have grown far too accustomed to having one and internet access as well. It is part of my daily routine now with reading the paper online and checking my email. On top of that it will be nice to have my own work station to watch film. I work much better when I can watch things for myself at least one time and then bring what I see to the rest of the staff where we talk and figure out things together.

The ipod, well it is my want but don't need purchase. If there is one thing that I learned while I was in Spain, it is that no matter how versed one becomes in another language we want to hear our native language spoken. Hence the ipod full of American music and the ability to download podcasts. Which bring me to my other purchase. I got 2 John Feinstein books. One about the final four called "Last Dance" and the other about a season in the NFL titled "Next Man Up." The others are a book about legendary Oregon track coach Bill Bowerman and one about the band Motley Crue called "The Dirt." I don't anticipate it being a book full of classy and well behaved individuals, but hopefully entertaining. As is most often the case with my choice of literature, they all carry strong elements of true life. I know it pains my mother, but give me a true story over classic fiction any day.

Lastly, if you are reading this please don't hesitate to leave comments. I would love to know that people are reading my blog and enjoying it. If you have questions and want to know more leave a comment and I will try to answer ASAP.

T minus 1 month

Before I go any further, let me introduce you to the cast of characters up to this point. I am sure they will come in and out of my writings.

Joe Roman - Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator. He is a "retired" high school and college coach and has spent 9 seasons coaching in Europe. Joe had a tremendous amount of success as the Defensive Coordinator at the junior college level winning a national championship before retiring.
http://www.geocities.com/coachroman/

Jim Mader - Offensive Coordinator. Jim is the one that got me hooked up with this job. He and Joe go way back and were college roommates. Jim is also an assistant coach at St Johns with me. Prior to St Johns, he was the HC at Albany HS where he won multiple state championships and too many section and conference championships to count.
http://www.gojohnnies.com/staff.aspx?staff=29

Christoph Piringer - Team President. I don't know a whole lot more about Christoph at this point in time. All that I know is that he is our contact person over there and I am sure I will get to know him more when I get over there.

I just got back from the AFCA Convention in Nahsville and it was a good time. The convention is the yearly convention for all the high school and college coaches. There are clinic presentations, awards ceremonies and luncheons, exhibits, and committee meetings. That being said, it is mostly a networking event where everyone is either looking for a job or positioning themselves when that time comes. It has a unique dynamic and you can just feel the testosterone and ego when you walk into the convention center.

Now that the convention has passed, I am starting to focus on getting everything ready for when I do leave. I still do not yet have an official date when I am going to leave, although I should know within the next week or so. Jim and I are planning to head down to Phoenix to meet with Joe for about 5 days. When we are down there, we are going to spend a lot of time just ironing out all of the football and living details so that we can hit the ground running.

I have made a list of all the things that I need to take care of before I leave and sadly more things are being added faster than I can cross them off. None the less, I am sure it will all get done. Those of you that have lived overseas and had to pack up and move your life for months on end, if you have any tips for me please don't hesitate to mention them or let me know. I was over in Spain for 5 weeks a few years ago, but this will be a little different. Anything that you did before, during, or after that made your life easier let me know.

I am a blogger now

Family and friends

This is my attempt to keep you all update on my travels and adventures as an American coaching football in Austria. While it is my hope to update this at least once a week, I have little doubt that as my time wares on, my postings will become less and less. As often is the case with me, the less you hear from me, the better I am doing. So if you don't see a blog entry for weeks on end, you can just assume that we are on our way to winning the league title, I have met a beautiful woman whom I can't get enough of, the beer is far too good to not try and sample it all, I am doing way too much skiiing/snowboarding to be bothered to write, and or any combination of the above.

Many have asked questions about what exactly I am going to be doing and how this will all work. The honest answer is that a lot of it I just don't know. In many ways, I am going into this blind. I know nothing more than what I hear from Mader and the occasional email or phone coversation with Joe. Here is what I do know.

- I am committed to be there through the end of July or whenever we are eliminated from the playoffs. The option is in my contract to stay through the end of September to play out the central European league schedule. More on that later.

- The team is made up of 4 american players (2 guys are from SMU and 2 are from Missouri Rolla) and the rest are Austrians who work regular day jobs. I have not met or spoken to any of the American players so I am hoping that they are cool dudes since we are pretty much the same age and will be sharing much of the same experience

- We play against other teams from Austria and central Europe. From what I understand, we are going to be playing in 2 simultaneous leagues during my time there. One is the Austrian league and the other is the central European league. I don't quite understand how or why it works that way, but I guess my job isn't to understand why we are playing a certain team, just that we play well.

- More or less all of my living expenses and accomodations minus a few things are taken care of by the team. Again I am acting on faith and going into this blind. It is my hope that all things that are promised in my contract come to fruition, but a healthy dose of skepticism seems appropriate at this point in time.

- The team name is the Cinneplexx Blue Devils and we play in the city of Hohenems. We will be living in Dornbirn which is just a few miles up the road.

I know there are a lot more questions to be answered, but for now I hope this will suffice.