Ron Selesky Speaks PIFL, Cleveland Gladiators 2017 Season

Before he coached the Cleveland Gladiators, Ron Selesky was the director of football operations for the Professional Indoor Football League (PIFL). The league seemed to do well until it folded all of a sudden in 2015. He was also a full-time US scout for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL).

There were some solid franchises with committed owners. There just weren’t enough of them,” Selesky said. “One of the owners ran two teams and he just couldn’t afford to keep doing it.”

Selesky went on to become the defensive coordinator and assistant head coach for the Gladiators. After head coach Steve Thonn’s contract was not renewed following the 2016 season, Selesky was named their coach for the 2017 season. After just one week of training camp, the team cut quarterback Arvell Nelson. He had been the leader of the team in the 2016 season.

“At the time the other two quarterbacks [Shane Boyd and Tanner Marsh] were progressing well and Arvell was struggling,” Selesky said on that decision. “I was running our defense and I entrusted our offensive coordinator [Siaha Burley] to give me his objective assessment. Hindsight is always 20/20.”

After two weeks in which both Boyd and Marsh had started and gotten injured, Selesky decided to bring Nelson back. Despite him coming back to lead the team, Cleveland got off to a 1-6 start to the season. Had it not been for the expansion Washington Valor having the same record, Cleveland would have been in jeopardy of missing the postseason.

On May 22, Cleveland traded both Boyd and wide receiver Brandon Thompkins to the other expansion franchise in the Baltimore Brigade. Cleveland got former defensive back Brandon Stephens, who Baltimore drafted in the AFL Dispersal Draft. They also acquired KC Obi, who went on to record 6.5 tackles and a sack.

“Baltimore asked for Boyd and Marsh was getting healthy,” Selesky explained why he traded Boyd. “With Thompkins, he’s a great player, but we felt like we had other wide receivers that fit what we were doing offensively a little better.”

Cleveland overcame their very slow start to the season and after a win in Washington at the end of July, they clinched a playoff spot. In the final week of the season, Baltimore lost, which meant that Cleveland would get the three seed.

Unfortunately for them, they fell one game short of the ArenaBowl for the second consecutive season.

Now, the focus is on 2018. Selesky knows exactly how him and the team will prepare for next season.

“Consistency. Starting from day one. Stick to the plan and execute it,” he said. “Injuries hit us hard but we’ll be better prepared. We found our offensive identity [in] the second half of the season so we’ll build off of that.”

The Philadelphia Soul defeated the Tampa Bay Storm in ArenaBowl XXX on Aug. 26. Philadelphia had to overcome a 13-point deficit to win, the largest comeback in ArenaBowl history.

Tampa Bay Storm Wide Receiver/Kick Returner Kendrick Ings Named Arena Football League Playmaker of the Year

Leading up to ArenaBowl XXX, the Arena Football League began announcing its end of the season awards. On Thursday, Kendrick Ings picked up one of the first of the 2017 awards, as he was named Arena Football League Playmaker of the Year, earning the first postseason award of his career.

Ings (5’10”, 180 lbs), in his third season with Tampa Bay, was not only an integral part of a dynamic receiving corps but also boosted the Storm with his talents on special teams.

On the season, Ings lived up to his nickname “Mr. All Purpose,” finishing in the top 10 of several different categories. His 2,219 all-purpose yards led the league by almost 1,000 (Brandon Thompkins finished second with 1,256). Of the top four games in terms of all-purpose yards, Ings had three. His best performance came against ArenaBowl opponent Philadelphia in Week 2. That night, he finished with 346 total yards (137 receiving, 209 kick return).

As a kick returner, he led the league with 1,063 yards (averaging 21.7 yards/kick and 81.8/game) and four returns for touchdowns.

As a receiver, Ings not only finished in the top ten, but in the top five. He finished with 98 catches (fourth in the AFL, also fourth in average at 7.0 per game), 1,141 yards (third, fourth in average at 81.5 yards per game), and 22 touchdowns (fifth).

Ings will use all of these skills to help the Storm bring home their first ArenaBowl since 2003 on Aug. 26.

Can Baltimore Brigade Upset Philadelphia Soul?

The Baltimore Brigade wrapped up a surprising first season last week as they clinched a playoff sport and finished with a better record then the Washington Valor, their expansion rival. But they have a tough task ahead of them if they want to get to the ArenaBowl in their first season.

The Philadelphia Soul have one of the AFL’s best home field advantages in the Wells Fargo Center. In fact, they are 9-1 at home all time in the playoffs, the one loss coming to the Jacksonville Sharks back in 2015. So how does Baltimore, the only team to beat Philadelphia in the regular season, go into the Wells Fargo Center and end the reign of the soul? Here are three possible ways.

Brigade quarterback Shane Carden is most definitely going to be the rookie of the year in the AFL, and he is the reason for Baltimore’s success. However, in the second to last game of the year, ironically against the Soul, he went down with a concussion. Now the Brigade turn to another Shane: Shane Boyd. Boyd has had his fair share of ups and downs in the AFL, but he has two great receivers in Brandon Thompkins and Reggie Gray. If they can support Boyd by making big plays, the Brigade can do some damage on offense.

As mentioned, the Soul don’t lose at home. Philadelphia has won 16 straight games at the Wells Fargo Center, and as mentioned is 9-1 at home in the playoffs. Is it possible the Soul could struggle? Philly did lose to Baltimore in the regular season, and every matchup between the two except for the last one was competitive. Baltimore has to bring it’s A game from a competitive standpoint if they want to win.

Varmah Somie has played well for Baltimore in recent weeks. His defense has helped the brigade stay in games all season long, and in order to beat the Soul, he’ll need another big performance.

All in all, the Brigade have their hands full as they play their first playoff game in team history.

Cleveland Gladiators Beat Baltimore Brigade, 59-48

The Cleveland Gladiators hosted the Baltimore Brigade at the Q Arena in Cleveland, OH Friday night. It was a must-win for Cleveland to catch up to Baltimore for the third seed in the Arena Football League playoffs.

Cleveland got on board first with a deep touchdown pass from Arvell Nelson to Quentin Sims after just two plays. A Shane Carden sack-fumble was recovered by the Gladiators in the end zone for a touchdown to give Cleveland a 14-0 lead.

Following a touchdown pass from Carden to Pablo Gonzalez, Nelson found Sims for his second touchdown to give Cleveland a 20-7 lead. A deep touchdown to Brandon Thompkins for Baltimore made it a 20-14 game at the end of the first quarter.

The two teams went back and forth to start the second quarter. Nelson found Tom Gilson for a touchdown. Baltimore responded with a touchdown from Carden to Julian Talley. Both teams continued to go back and forth, and the Gladiators took a 40-28 lead into halftime.

Cleveland took over midway through the third quarter. Leading 46-35, Kenny Veal picked off a Carden pass at the goal line. The Gladiators would capitalize with Sims’ third touchdown of the night. Following a second consecutive interception, this time by Lonnie Outlaw, another touchdown made the score 59-35. By the end of the third quarter, the score was 59-42.

Baltimore would attempt a comeback in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough as the Gladiators went on to win by a final score of . Cleveland’s defense was key to their victory in this one as they picked off Carden a total of four times in the second half alone.

With the win, the Gladiators also close in on half a game behind the Brigade for the third seed in the Arena Football League playoff picture. They will host the Philadelphia Soul next weekend while the Brigade will host the Washington Valor for the first time ever.