By EVAN VLADEM

TAMPA BAY – Sitting at the large mahogany desk in his spacious, ground floor office at the St. Pete Times Forum, Head Coach and General Manager Tim Marcum’s eyes are glued to his computer screen. A highlight reel of a recent open tryout player, Frantz Hardy, plays via YouTube on his monitor.

   “Regardless of who you are, you are looking for splash plays,” Marcum explained. “A guy goes through a block and boom, he makes a big tackle. On defense, with a deep ball, the player finds the ball and intercepts it. Plays like that. Being able to hit, move, being a little faster and a little stronger than the guy. That’s what you’re looking for.”

   The office walls are draped with white boards, an idea he got from a visit with the Green Bay Packers years before. The wall to the right of his desk is filled with tallies aside player’s names. Each tally represents a splash play. Another wall lists the Storm’s current roster, beside that is a long list of prospects and free agents.

    Marcum, the winningest head coach in Arena Football history, watches hours of game film a day, hunting for players to fill the team’s 35-man roster come training camp on March 14. The roster will be cut to just 23 men with the onset of the regular season on April 3. When the Arena Football League took a yearlong hiatus in 2009, Marcum’s team was back at square one.

    “The first thing we did was go back to the players that were on our roster in 2008 and were going to return in 2009. We asked a number of players if they wanted to play football. We have 11 of those players to this date. That gave us a real good jump-start.” Marcum said.

     The list of returning players included star quarterback Brett Dietz. Dietz, who is entering his third season in the AFL, started every game for the Storm in 2008. His scorching numbers translated to becoming the fastest quarterback in AFL history to reach 4,000 career-passing yards and tying for the fastest quarterback to reach 80-career touchdown passes.

     “We mutually talked several times when there was rumor of the league coming back,” Dietz said. “It was clear that he wanted me to be a part of the team and I wanted to be there as well.”

      The comeback of Dietz panned out to be more influential than Marcum expected. Immediately, Dietz worked the phone lines.

    “I made some calls and talked to some guys around the league,” Dietz said.

    “I was really trying to talk to some of the guys that we had because I knew we had a good team. I talked to Hank [Edwards] and Tyrone [Timmons] to let them know we were coming back. Not only did the coaches want them but also I wanted them on the team. I let them know that I was coming back as well so if they were thinking about coming back. If they were thinking of going somewhere else, I let them know that we had already built a relationship and had that receiver-quarterback connection.”

     With Dietz’s help, Marcum successfully re-signed both Edwards and Timmons, two young, electric wide outs. Edwards finished his sophomore season in 2008 second in the AFL in yards per catch. Timmons, who is entering his second season in the league, was named the Tampa Bay Storm’s Rookie of the Year in 2008.

     “After resigning those guys, we looked at some of the other players from around the league that we played against. For instance, Jermaine Smith and Brandon Hefflin, some of those guys that really were a pain in our butts that we want to be a pain in someone else’s butts.” Marcum said.

        Smith, a seasoned veteran for the Georgia Force, ranks 13^th all-time in the AFL in sacks. Hefflin was a force for the Cleveland Gladiators on defense during the 2008 season earning several Defensive Player of the Week honors. Both players signed contracts with the Storm for the 2010 season.

     After securing the initial players on the roster, Director of Player Personnel Dave Ewart looks for leads. 

     “Friends,” Ewart said, “In this business it’s not about what you know, it’s about who you know. That helps. It helps get players through agents. We are fortunate enough to be in Florida. We have a good name around the Tampa area; it is an ideal place to recruit. Last time I checked I think about every college comes down here looking for players. We try to focus on the area.”

      The focus in the area translated to the team’s open tryout on February 20 at Skyway Park in Tampa, FL. The team signed two and is looking into adding another for training camp.

     Ewart is entering his 15^th season in the AFL while Marcum is entering his 21^st season as a head coach in the league. In 1990, Marcum joined Steve Spurrier at Florida as a linebacker coach. Marcum also spent time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Atlanta Falcons. It’s safe to say that both coaches have “friends” in the business for help with leads.

    “The theme that we usually build our team on is looking for a kid that has played in the NFL who may be a ‘cap-casualty.’ In other words, he has five or six years and they have to pay him an X number of dollars. That’s one avenue.”  Marcum said.

    “We are looking at other leagues now,” Ewart said, “more so than what we looked for in the past. We used to be able to get more of the NFL ‘cap-casualties.’ Back then we were dealing mainly with ‘cap casualties.’ They reached a certain point to where they were either going to make a lot of money or make a decision on a young kid. We were able to attract those types of guys. Now, with the AFL’s lower pay scale you aren’t going to attract a guy that has played in the NFL for three years unless he is in your back yard. So, you look at the AIFA, the indoor leagues. We had a couple of guys that went through our tryouts and were in those leagues.”

     Once the 35-man roster is set the players and coaches prepare for Training Camp on March 14.

     “The Monday before the first game we will cut the roster to 23. I think we will rely heavily on the practices and practice tape leading up to the first game week. We’ll go back, look at it and determine what is good or bad about it. We have an exhibition game against Orlando and we’ll take a good look at that. We already know what some of these kids can do. Tyrone Timmons, Hank Edwards, those guys we know. We watched them play for years. We are looking at those young kids and the guys that haven’t been here. We’re seeing if they flash. If they flash, we will give them a chance to help us win.” Marcum said.

     There is still constant evaluation once the roster is narrowed down to 23 men during the regular season.

     “Something we try to do is bring guys in for two days.” Ewart explained.

    “There will always be a tryout going on. There will always be a couple of guys in here trying out whether we need it or not just for the use of legs and bodies in practice.”

    “We’ll bring them in on our two hard practice days, whatever that may be on our schedule, usually Tuesday or Wednesday or Wednesday or Thursday. They will just go right into practicing with the team, which is easier for us. That’s a good advantage that we have that the NFL doesn’t. The guys that come in to tryout with the NFL really don’t do anything [with pads]. They usually just run, lift and do some drills. We are able to put them in pads and put them in a team drill. You put up a guy against one of our starters to see how they match up. That’s helped us over the years because you have so many guys.”

      The Storm kickoff the 2010 season on Saturday, April 3 when they invade Tulsa and take on the Talons.  The Storm return home to the confines of the St. Pete Times Forum for its home opener Friday, April 16 at 7:30 p.m.  Season Tickets start as low as $50! To be a part of all the hard-hitting action call 813.301.6600 (season tickets), 813.301.6900 (group tickets) or visit www.tampabaystorm.com.