La Periodica De Barcelona
Bullfrogs Finally Name Head Coach
December 27, 2010
It's been a mystery since day one, nobody knew who Bullfrogs owner Corey Johns had in mind to run his football team. But after naming his coordinators and going through 26 rounds of the WFL draft he finally hired his guy: Denny Green.
The previous coach of the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals of the NFL and Sacramento Mountain Lions of the UFL, Green will be the first coach of the WFL's Barcelona Bullfrogs.
Green's most successful stint as a coach was in Minnesota, where he went 97-62 (.610) and went to the playoffs eight times in ten seasons. While at Minnesota Green had one of the league's top offenses, running the West Coast offense that he learned while coaching under Bill Walsh.
"I can't think of a more qualified guy to run our team," Johns said. "He's had an incredibly successful coaching career and we think he will continue on that road with us."
All of a sudden the personnel decisions on offense make a little sense. Josh Freeman fits his West Coast system incredibly well. He has a big arm, is mobile enough to extend the play and he's pretty accurate as well. Also, he has three incredibly fast receivers to through to that will spread the field.
"I knew what I was doing a little bit," Johns said. "I knew if I could get Denny to run this team then I had the perfect personnel to run this team. I decided to build an incredibly strong defense and let a great defensive mind like Ron Rivera run that. Then we let a tough in your face coach like Mike Mularky assists a great offensive mind like Denny."
Read more:http://www.thewfl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bb&action=display&thread=212#ixzz19LUgCHzt
It's been a mystery since day one, nobody knew who Bullfrogs owner Corey Johns had in mind to run his football team. But after naming his coordinators and going through 26 rounds of the WFL draft he finally hired his guy: Denny Green.
The previous coach of the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals of the NFL and Sacramento Mountain Lions of the UFL, Green will be the first coach of the WFL's Barcelona Bullfrogs.
Green's most successful stint as a coach was in Minnesota, where he went 97-62 (.610) and went to the playoffs eight times in ten seasons. While at Minnesota Green had one of the league's top offenses, running the West Coast offense that he learned while coaching under Bill Walsh.
"I can't think of a more qualified guy to run our team," Johns said. "He's had an incredibly successful coaching career and we think he will continue on that road with us."
All of a sudden the personnel decisions on offense make a little sense. Josh Freeman fits his West Coast system incredibly well. He has a big arm, is mobile enough to extend the play and he's pretty accurate as well. Also, he has three incredibly fast receivers to through to that will spread the field.
"I knew what I was doing a little bit," Johns said. "I knew if I could get Denny to run this team then I had the perfect personnel to run this team. I decided to build an incredibly strong defense and let a great defensive mind like Ron Rivera run that. Then we let a tough in your face coach like Mike Mularky assists a great offensive mind like Denny."
Read more:http://www.thewfl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bb&action=display&thread=212#ixzz19LUgCHzt
Bullfrogs Finally Draft a QB, Who's This Guy?
December 22, 2010
Josh Johnson comes from Division I-AA San Diego. One can only wonder if the jump to the WFL will be too big for him.
Josh Johnson? Who's that? The Barcelona Bullfrogs passed on the likes of Matthew Stafford, Chad Henne, Josh Freeman, Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy, Brady Quinn, and Tim Tebow to select Johnson as their starting quarterback for the inaugural World Football League season.
Instead of getting a guy who dominated his competition in the SEC, Big 12, or Big Ten Corey Johns is rolling the dice on a guy from San Diego, a Division I-AA school.
It's hard enough to find good players from Division I-A schools but it's few and far between when searching for top notch talent in lower divisions, especially starting quarterbacks. Sure there have been some good players to come out of that level of football, most notably Steve McNair, who was incredibly successful at Alcorn State, Tony Romo, Brian westbrook, and to a lesser extent Jamie Martin, Dave Megget, Brian Finneran, and Adrian Peterson, but even those guys won the Walter Payton award, the top player in Division I-AA. Johnson never won the award, losing to Erik Meyer, Ricky Santos, and Jayson Foyster, none of whom have even declared to play football in the WFL.
But in order to pass on multiple Heisman finalists and a two-time Heisman winner Johns must have seen something in Johnson's game that he really liked. Johnson started for three seasons at San Diego and in that span he threw for 9,177 yards and 1008 touchdowns while throwing only 14 interceptions. he also rushed for 1,739 yards and 17 touchdowns in those three seasons. During his senior season Johnson started becoming more of a pocket passer, relying less on his running ability to make plays, and he passed for 2,976 yards, 42 touchdowns, and only one interception.
"He's really grown into a solid quarterback while at San Diego," Johns said. "It's not all about starting at the biggest and best schools. Sometimes players find it better to go to a smaller school where they'll play more and you shouldn't take anything away from Josh for that."
Johns said what really led to the decision to take him, a guy with questionable arm strength and awkward throwing mechanics, over other guys was that he spend two seasons learning under Jim Harbaugh.
"Jim Harbaugh is one of the great up and coming minds in the game and he will bee good at the next level when he decides he is ready to but the fact that Josh spent two years learning from a guy who a very long and successful professional career has really helped him," Johns said. "The proof of that is just how much better and more dynamic he became when Harbaugh showed up to San Diego."
For a team that has already decided to wait on bringing talent to the offensive side of the ball and go heavy on defense to take Johnson is an incredibly risky move, especially when the guy talent wasn't even expecting to be a starter. But who knows, maybe it will work out. only time will tell, and it will likely tell really quick with this one.
"I'm just happy to be in the WFL," Johnson said. "I can't say I wasn't a little bit surprised that I was taken to be a teams starting quarterback. I thought it was possible but there were good names out there. Now I just have to make Mr. Johns look like a genius for drafting me."
Read more:http://www.thewfl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bb&action=display&thread=212&page=1#ixzz18sqXBI2c
Josh Johnson comes from Division I-AA San Diego. One can only wonder if the jump to the WFL will be too big for him.
Josh Johnson? Who's that? The Barcelona Bullfrogs passed on the likes of Matthew Stafford, Chad Henne, Josh Freeman, Jimmy Clausen, Colt McCoy, Brady Quinn, and Tim Tebow to select Johnson as their starting quarterback for the inaugural World Football League season.
Instead of getting a guy who dominated his competition in the SEC, Big 12, or Big Ten Corey Johns is rolling the dice on a guy from San Diego, a Division I-AA school.
It's hard enough to find good players from Division I-A schools but it's few and far between when searching for top notch talent in lower divisions, especially starting quarterbacks. Sure there have been some good players to come out of that level of football, most notably Steve McNair, who was incredibly successful at Alcorn State, Tony Romo, Brian westbrook, and to a lesser extent Jamie Martin, Dave Megget, Brian Finneran, and Adrian Peterson, but even those guys won the Walter Payton award, the top player in Division I-AA. Johnson never won the award, losing to Erik Meyer, Ricky Santos, and Jayson Foyster, none of whom have even declared to play football in the WFL.
But in order to pass on multiple Heisman finalists and a two-time Heisman winner Johns must have seen something in Johnson's game that he really liked. Johnson started for three seasons at San Diego and in that span he threw for 9,177 yards and 1008 touchdowns while throwing only 14 interceptions. he also rushed for 1,739 yards and 17 touchdowns in those three seasons. During his senior season Johnson started becoming more of a pocket passer, relying less on his running ability to make plays, and he passed for 2,976 yards, 42 touchdowns, and only one interception.
"He's really grown into a solid quarterback while at San Diego," Johns said. "It's not all about starting at the biggest and best schools. Sometimes players find it better to go to a smaller school where they'll play more and you shouldn't take anything away from Josh for that."
Johns said what really led to the decision to take him, a guy with questionable arm strength and awkward throwing mechanics, over other guys was that he spend two seasons learning under Jim Harbaugh.
"Jim Harbaugh is one of the great up and coming minds in the game and he will bee good at the next level when he decides he is ready to but the fact that Josh spent two years learning from a guy who a very long and successful professional career has really helped him," Johns said. "The proof of that is just how much better and more dynamic he became when Harbaugh showed up to San Diego."
For a team that has already decided to wait on bringing talent to the offensive side of the ball and go heavy on defense to take Johnson is an incredibly risky move, especially when the guy talent wasn't even expecting to be a starter. But who knows, maybe it will work out. only time will tell, and it will likely tell really quick with this one.
"I'm just happy to be in the WFL," Johnson said. "I can't say I wasn't a little bit surprised that I was taken to be a teams starting quarterback. I thought it was possible but there were good names out there. Now I just have to make Mr. Johns look like a genius for drafting me."
Read more:http://www.thewfl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bb&action=display&thread=212&page=1#ixzz18sqXBI2c
Who Is Going To Coach The Bullfrogs?
December 22, 2010
Through three rounds of the WFL coaches draft owner and general manager Corey Johns has yet too select a Head Coach, instead he has selected all three of his coordinators, taking Ron Rivera to head the defense, Mike Mularkey to head the offense, and Bobby April to head the special team's units. But there has yet to be somebody named the team's head coach.
"Great coordinators can make a coach look like a genius and right now we have three of the best around and they'll do their part to get this team ready," Johns said. "What the head coach does is motivate this guys, plans out how exactly they are going to beat these teams, gets the personnel together."
But who could that guy be? Johns said "you'll just have to wait an see."
Read more:http://www.thewfl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bb&action=display&thread=212&page=1#ixzz18sr2SBtz
Through three rounds of the WFL coaches draft owner and general manager Corey Johns has yet too select a Head Coach, instead he has selected all three of his coordinators, taking Ron Rivera to head the defense, Mike Mularkey to head the offense, and Bobby April to head the special team's units. But there has yet to be somebody named the team's head coach.
"Great coordinators can make a coach look like a genius and right now we have three of the best around and they'll do their part to get this team ready," Johns said. "What the head coach does is motivate this guys, plans out how exactly they are going to beat these teams, gets the personnel together."
But who could that guy be? Johns said "you'll just have to wait an see."
Read more:http://www.thewfl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bb&action=display&thread=212&page=1#ixzz18sr2SBtz
Rivera Plans to Have the Best Defense in the WFL
December 21, 2010
All he wants to do is have the league's number one defense.
It's not very often that a team decides to hire a defensive coordinator before a head coach but when Corey Johns was dealt the number two pick in the WFL coaches draft that is exactly what he did by selecting Ron Rivera.
There is a big difference between being able to sign coaches and having to draft coaches. It takes a lot of thinking. Coaches may be the most important part of a football team. Good ones get there players to overachieve. Bad ones have players who fail to live up to expectations. So when Johns realized that by having the second pick there would be 18 other coaches selected before he had a chance at taking another one, he knew he had to take Rivera first.
"There may not be a guy that has more knowledge of how defenses work...he knows the ins and outs of both the 3-4 and 4-3, that's pretty rare," Johns said. "I drafted a bunch of defensive players. I want them to succeed and Ron is the guy that can get them to do that and I did not want to risk somebody else snagging in before my second pick in the coaches draft as a defensive coordinator, or possibly head coach."
Having learned under the great defensive minds of Jimmy Johnson, Buddy Ryan, and Lovie Smith, Rivera likes to blitz.
"If the opposing quarterback doesn't have time to get the ball out it doesn't matter how good his receivers are," Rivera said. "You have to be smart when you blitz but good ones rattle the QB and keep them guessing the next play of where to worry about blocking."
The defense constructed so far really fits his mentality as a coach.
"This defense is absolutely loaded with talent," Rivera said. "If we don't have the league's best defense I would be shocked. Keith, Curtis, and Aaron are special players that are ferocious in run support and in blitz' and they are all great in coverage to.
LaRon makes things a lot easier for me though. He is like another linebacker but a lot faster and a lot more athletic. He could have been a first round pick easily. He blitz', stuffs the run, intercepts the ball. He's a play-maker."
with this group Rivera said he plans on using the 4-3 defense but also said, "nothing is out of the question. I'm not going to be close-minded. If the 4-3 isn't working I'll make the switch to the 3-4. That is why I left a 4-3 system that I knew so well to learn a 3-4 system in my previous coaching stints. It was for scenarios like that. If something does not work I can fix it."
Johns said he is ruling nothing out with Ron. While he is named the team's defensive coordinator right now, there is a chance that he gets promoted before the season. Which is fine either way with Rivera, saying, "I just want to coach defense but if the cards line up and I get called into Mr. Johns' office and he asks me to take over the entire team I wouldn't say no."
Read more:http://www.thewfl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bb&action=display&thread=212#ixzz18ngsI4wn
All he wants to do is have the league's number one defense.
It's not very often that a team decides to hire a defensive coordinator before a head coach but when Corey Johns was dealt the number two pick in the WFL coaches draft that is exactly what he did by selecting Ron Rivera.
There is a big difference between being able to sign coaches and having to draft coaches. It takes a lot of thinking. Coaches may be the most important part of a football team. Good ones get there players to overachieve. Bad ones have players who fail to live up to expectations. So when Johns realized that by having the second pick there would be 18 other coaches selected before he had a chance at taking another one, he knew he had to take Rivera first.
"There may not be a guy that has more knowledge of how defenses work...he knows the ins and outs of both the 3-4 and 4-3, that's pretty rare," Johns said. "I drafted a bunch of defensive players. I want them to succeed and Ron is the guy that can get them to do that and I did not want to risk somebody else snagging in before my second pick in the coaches draft as a defensive coordinator, or possibly head coach."
Having learned under the great defensive minds of Jimmy Johnson, Buddy Ryan, and Lovie Smith, Rivera likes to blitz.
"If the opposing quarterback doesn't have time to get the ball out it doesn't matter how good his receivers are," Rivera said. "You have to be smart when you blitz but good ones rattle the QB and keep them guessing the next play of where to worry about blocking."
The defense constructed so far really fits his mentality as a coach.
"This defense is absolutely loaded with talent," Rivera said. "If we don't have the league's best defense I would be shocked. Keith, Curtis, and Aaron are special players that are ferocious in run support and in blitz' and they are all great in coverage to.
LaRon makes things a lot easier for me though. He is like another linebacker but a lot faster and a lot more athletic. He could have been a first round pick easily. He blitz', stuffs the run, intercepts the ball. He's a play-maker."
with this group Rivera said he plans on using the 4-3 defense but also said, "nothing is out of the question. I'm not going to be close-minded. If the 4-3 isn't working I'll make the switch to the 3-4. That is why I left a 4-3 system that I knew so well to learn a 3-4 system in my previous coaching stints. It was for scenarios like that. If something does not work I can fix it."
Johns said he is ruling nothing out with Ron. While he is named the team's defensive coordinator right now, there is a chance that he gets promoted before the season. Which is fine either way with Rivera, saying, "I just want to coach defense but if the cards line up and I get called into Mr. Johns' office and he asks me to take over the entire team I wouldn't say no."
Read more:http://www.thewfl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bb&action=display&thread=212#ixzz18ngsI4wn
Bullfrogs Getting Defensive Early
December 17, 2010Ron Rivera is the great mind that will be putting this defense together week to week.
Defense wins championships. That is an idea that Bullfrogs owner and General Manager Corey Johns has built his team around so far, using his first seven and nine of his first 10 draft picks on players on the defensive side of the ball.
After the first eight teams in the draft selected offensive players in the inaguaral World Football League draft, four of those being quarterbacks, the Bullfrogs took outside linebacker Keith Rivers, and just three picks later, MLB Curtis Lofton.
But they did not stop there, trading up to the last pick in the second round to get the hard hitting LaRon Landry before completing their linebacker corp. with Aaron Curry, getting DT Brandon Mebane 10 picks later, CB Josh Wilson 11 picks later, and then Eric Weddle, giving three fourths of their starting secondary.
While they took a break from defense with the selection of Pierre Garçon, they went right back to it, getting Tyson Alualu and Lawrence Jackson, two pass rushing defensive lineman.
"We saw how teams were going, obviously they were all building offenses and talent was really thinning out early on offense right away so we called an audible and decided to build the best defense in the league, which we think we are well on our way of doing," Johns said.
He also picked Ron Rivera to be the team's defensive coordinator, who may be promoted to the teams head coach depending on who is available in the coaching draft.
"Ron is a great defensive mind," Johns said. "There may not be a guy in the history of football that knows the 3-4 and 4-3 as well as he does. He always gets the best out of his defenses and we think he will have us on track to having a very shutdown defense."
That does not mean they are giving up on defense. Johns took Garçon as his first offensive player and eventually traded to get Mike Wallace to join him.
"Both guys are really fast and really physical," Johns said. "I don't think words can say enough about how fast Mike Wallace is. We were incredible happy we got ahold of him. He and Pierre are going to make for a very dynamic receiving duo for us."
Soon after coming to a trade agreement with the London Hooligans for Wallace, Johns struck another deal with the Hooligans for a 14th round pick to take Pierre Thomas, a running back out of Illinois.
"I was shocked to see him still around," Johns said. "He's really, really good and I can't say how happy I am right now. I'm celebrating how well things are coming together for this franchise and this team. We will be a force to be recon with."
Read more:http://www.thewfl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bb&action=display&thread=212#ixzz18ngHJunT
Defense wins championships. That is an idea that Bullfrogs owner and General Manager Corey Johns has built his team around so far, using his first seven and nine of his first 10 draft picks on players on the defensive side of the ball.
After the first eight teams in the draft selected offensive players in the inaguaral World Football League draft, four of those being quarterbacks, the Bullfrogs took outside linebacker Keith Rivers, and just three picks later, MLB Curtis Lofton.
But they did not stop there, trading up to the last pick in the second round to get the hard hitting LaRon Landry before completing their linebacker corp. with Aaron Curry, getting DT Brandon Mebane 10 picks later, CB Josh Wilson 11 picks later, and then Eric Weddle, giving three fourths of their starting secondary.
While they took a break from defense with the selection of Pierre Garçon, they went right back to it, getting Tyson Alualu and Lawrence Jackson, two pass rushing defensive lineman.
"We saw how teams were going, obviously they were all building offenses and talent was really thinning out early on offense right away so we called an audible and decided to build the best defense in the league, which we think we are well on our way of doing," Johns said.
He also picked Ron Rivera to be the team's defensive coordinator, who may be promoted to the teams head coach depending on who is available in the coaching draft.
"Ron is a great defensive mind," Johns said. "There may not be a guy in the history of football that knows the 3-4 and 4-3 as well as he does. He always gets the best out of his defenses and we think he will have us on track to having a very shutdown defense."
That does not mean they are giving up on defense. Johns took Garçon as his first offensive player and eventually traded to get Mike Wallace to join him.
"Both guys are really fast and really physical," Johns said. "I don't think words can say enough about how fast Mike Wallace is. We were incredible happy we got ahold of him. He and Pierre are going to make for a very dynamic receiving duo for us."
Soon after coming to a trade agreement with the London Hooligans for Wallace, Johns struck another deal with the Hooligans for a 14th round pick to take Pierre Thomas, a running back out of Illinois.
"I was shocked to see him still around," Johns said. "He's really, really good and I can't say how happy I am right now. I'm celebrating how well things are coming together for this franchise and this team. We will be a force to be recon with."
Read more:http://www.thewfl.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=bb&action=display&thread=212#ixzz18ngHJunT
Roster
MLB - Curtis Lofton - Oklahoma
ROLB - Keith Rivers - USC
SS - LaRon Landry - LSU
ROLB - Keith Rivers - USC
SS - LaRon Landry - LSU
Information
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Mascot: Bullfrog
Colors: Black, Kelly Green
Owner: Mr. X
Founded: Season 1
Mascot: Bullfrog
Colors: Black, Kelly Green
Owner: Mr. X
Founded: Season 1
Bullfrogs Message Board
