Tough week ends well for Keefe
I put together some Shock notes with the focus on Rob Keefe's crazy week last week. Read on for the unedited version that will run in Wednesday's S-R.
By Jim Meehan
jimm@spokesman.com; (208) 765-7131
Put yourself in Spokane Shock head coach Rob Keefe’s shoes last week.
His team had just suffered a crushing home loss to
The Rattlers have six former Shock players, which dialed up the intensity a couple more notches.
Roughly 24 hours before kickoff, Keefe’s father, Wallace ‘Rob’, began suffering from chest pains. Keefe’s parents traveled to
And after a tense game that saw
Keefe believes a number of issues went into Guy’s post-game fit. According to the
There were also hard feelings left over from off-season recruiting, much of which centered on the ex-Shock players that joined
“I’m not scared to say this at all,” Keefe said. “I don’t really have too much respect for him. I felt he lied to our (ex-Spokane) players, which pretty much all of them came up to me and said they made a mistake signing with him.
“He was good friends with ‘Shack’ (former Shock coach Adam Shackleford, Keefe’s predecessor) and he felt I stabbed him in the back. He was pushing for Matt (Sauk) not being able to be at the game. The first thing he started complaining about (after the game) was the officiating and then he throws his own guys under the bus, saying there are no leaders on the team. It was just a series of things he couldn’t handle and all that nastiness came out.”
Keefe said Guy texted AFL Commissioner Jerry Kurz, claiming Sauk was attending Shock practices. Keefe said Sauk went home to
Keefe detailed Guy’s post-game tirade in an e-mail to Kurz, but he’s not sure the league office will take action.
“There was an article down there where he said if Nick stayed in
The teams meet July 2 in
Calling plays
Keefe said his biggest chore in calling the plays was learning the terminology. From film study, he knew what he wanted to call, but wasn’t sure how to put it into words.
“I worked with our guys, watched a piece of tape and I’d say, ‘This play will work against this defense, how do I say it?’, and they’d tell me,” Keefe said.
Keefe, who played defensive back and has coached on the defensive side of the ball, studied the plays with flash cards. He spent time learning terminology, formations, protections and the various motions. Then the high-energy Keefe had to call the plays in a controlled, timely fashion.
“He basically memorized the offense in 2½- 3 days,” quarterback Kyle Rowley said. “We actually sat together on the plane and I brought that up. I said, ‘Are you going to be calm when you’re calling plays?’ He said he’d be two different people, he’d be excited with the defense and calm with the offense.”
Dad feeling better
Keefe’s parents arrived in
“It was a big scare,” Keefe said. “He had an angina, which is like the first stage of a heart attack. Obviously he has to watch what he eats and be smarter, but he was in some pain. It was hard to see him like that.”
His dad attended the game and he’s played some golf in