Wheelers coach mistakenly told he's suspended
TODAY: (Updated 8:09 p.m.) If you thought the trip was a trip, try figuring out the penalty.
Quad-City Steamwheelers managing partner Mike Bawden and Q-C head coach Sean Ponder both were under the impression that Ponder had been suspended for the remainder of the arenafootball2 season early Monday evening, just two days after the first-year coach was ejected from a game for tripping a celebrating Mahoning Valley player.
League president Jerry Kurz, though, later insisted no penalty had been issued, and said his final decision will not be made until Tuesday morning.
“I think I know what I am going to do,’’ said Kurz, who will make the final decision. “(But) I still think reflection here is a good and appropriate idea. ... It is a far-reaching decision and it has long-range consequences for the team, the league and the coach.’’
Kurz spent much of the previous two days investigating the incident, which occurred with 10 minutes left in the third quarter of the Steamwheelers’ 63-34 loss in Youngstown, Ohio.
Kurz spoke with Ponder by phone on Saturday, exchanged e-mails with the coach on Sunday and, on Monday, discussed the incident with AFL commissioner David Baker.
Finally, he spoke with Bawden and Mahoning Valley representatives during a conference call that included members of an af2 coaching peer review committee, which later gave Kurz an unspecified recommended penalty.
A videotape of the tripping incident has surfaced on the internet and, Kurz said, “I have watched more YouTube than I ever thought I would.’’
Kurz said he merely informed Bawden of the range of potential penalties in an afternoon pone call. Those include termination as well as suspension and loss of pay, he said.
“There has been no decision,’’ he stressed. “Sean has not heard from me.’’
Bawden later conceded there was a miscommunication that left Ponder under the impression he had been suspended for the remainder of the season.
If that ultimately is the decision, the coach said he would not appeal.
“I apologize for my actions,’’ he said. “I have to be accountable for what I did.’’
What he did was stick out his right leg and trip former Steamwheelers player Reggie Perkins after Perkins had returned a 10-yard interception for a Mahoning Valley touchdown and was running down the sidelines, behind Ponder, slapping high fives with fans.
Ponder would not comment on the incident Monday, but said Saturday on the WOC-AM radio broadcast of the game that Perkins, who had been taunting his ex-teammates much of the night, hit the coach in the back of the shoulder as he ran along the wall.
“I was trying to protect myself,’’ Ponder said Saturday. “I thought he was going to run into me ... so I put my leg out.’’
Monday, a somber Ponder was in the process of moving his children, who formerly resided in southern California, to the Quad-Cities full-time.
“I am making the Quad-Cities my home,’’ he said.
Ponder said a suspension for the remainder of the season would be painful.
“I love coaching football,’’ he said. “You take that away, it hurts.’’
Still, he said, “I think it hurts me more that I let the players down. You wish you didn’t put the players in that position.’’
Because all players and coaches technically are league employees in af2, Bawden said he has asked Kurz to name defensive coordinator Troy Biladeau as Ponder’s interim replacement. He said he was told Biladeau will be interviewed Tuesday.
A close friend of Ponder, Biladeau said such a promotion would be “bittersweet,’’ but said he is ready to lead the team for however long is necessary.
“I love the Quad-Cities and I am just trying to keep the ship afloat,’’ he said.
Craig DeVrieze can be contacted at (563) 333-2610 or cdevrieze@qctimes.com.