Arizona Rattlers’ coach Guy: ‘The plan is to win it every year’
Feb 13, 2014, 8:06 PM | Updated: 8:06 pm
Winning a championship is difficult.
Defending it may be even harder.
The Arizona Rattlers were able to do just that in 2013, and are heading into 2014 as the two-time defending Arena Football League champions.
“I’m excited about this year,” he told Doug and Wolf on Arizona Sports 98.7 FM as part of Newsmakers Week Thursday. “Being able to, as an organization, win the last two championships and (have) a chance to come back and win another one.
“We’re not going to start screaming three-peat or anything like that; the plan is to win it every year.”
Guy, who has been with the Rattlers since 2007, has a record of 62-24 with the team. And if not for a last-second touchdown against them in ArenaBowl XXIV in 2011, they may be the three-time defending champs.
But the challenge now, just as it was last year, is making sure his team does not rest on its laurels.
“As long as we don’t allow complacency to set in and we’re hungry and we don’t become complacent, then I like our chances,” he said. “Obviously health is going to play a lot in it, playing 18 games, but our guys have been working hard.”
Guy said he’s seen a lot of his players training during the offseason, which is a big reason why he feels good about his team’s chances this season. He understands being the champs puts a target on his team’s back, meaning everyone is going to give the Rattlers their best effort.
“Teams are going to be ready to play, they’re going to be fired up to play us and we’re going to have to be in the right mindset and be ready to play,” he said. “We lost three games last year; all three of them I didn’t think we were mentally in it.
“That just comes with success, sometimes you just start getting complacent throughout the season and then you’ve got to get a little wake up call, then everything gets back on track and you get rolling again.”
Getting to that point is not easy, though, and Guy credits the team’s ownership for much of what they’ve been able to do.
“I think it starts at the top, our ownership,” he said of the success. “I’ve went on record and said this, when he’s gone, I’m gone. But I love working for Ron Shurts. He sets expectations and I’ve never worked for a guy like this before.”
Shurts has been the team’s majority owner since May 2011, and Guy said the boss made it a point to everyone at the time that no one will ever be ashamed to be an Arizona Rattler.
“He has held up everything that he has said, so I enjoy it,” the coach said.
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