+- International Simulation Football League (https://forums.sim-football.com)
+-- Forum: Community (https://forums.sim-football.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=5)
+--- Forum: Media (https://forums.sim-football.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=37)
+---- Forum: Graded Articles (https://forums.sim-football.com/forumdisplay.php?fid=38)
+---- Thread: *Interview w/ Liberty GM (/showthread.php?tid=3253)
*Interview w/ Liberty GM - Yurt6 - 08-11-2017
A big thanks to @adam2552
Also I accidentally said Libery at the top - not sure how to fix that
The Philadelphia Liberty are one of the league's newest teams, and as with most expansion teams are an exciting project to watch. As of this writing, the Liberty are 1-5 and in last place in the NSFC. However, the GM has high hopes for the near future. Read our in-depth interview with him, as we cover topics ranging from this season, the draft, and the league's future. Stay tuned for interviews with GM's from across the league in this new series.
As an expansion team, no one was expecting big things from your team. Has there been a player or part of the team that has impressed you thus far?
It's tough to single out a player because we have had so many of them step up. Fox North though has been invaluable to the team. He came on as Co-GM shortly before the NSFL Rookie Draft and really helped with the trades we made leading up to the draft and building the draft board. In addition to his GM duties, he's also been a heck of a player on the field. Despite his recent lack luster performances, I'm sure he will bounce back.
What do you see as your teams strengths, and what are the weaknesses?
Our biggest overall strength is our locker room culture. Since almost the entire team is rookies, it was one of the biggest question marks we had. We didn't know how the players would gel, how they would interact, etc. They have exceeded all expectations, we built an extremely active, passionate, and dedicated locker room. On the field, our biggest strength is probably our DBs. Tyler Oles and Kristoffer O'Sullivan have been exposed early, but are improving at a crazy rate. They are both on a trajectory to be shut-down corners in a season or two. Behind them we have two of our few veterans, Vikian Marmeladov and Lincoln Jefferson lined up a safety. They have also both had strong seasons and Jefferson has already made a name for himself as one of the best safeties in the game. Our biggest weakness is our offensive line. Like most teams in the NSFL we are struggling to bring an active group of five together. We found our anchor in the NSFL draft with Micah Hendrix. We also found some potential in a WR that converted to OL in Adam Bennett. However, they just aren't enough yet. We have to do a better job of adding talent to the OL this off-season.
Who would you say the most underrated player on your team is?
The most underrated player is probably Micah Hendrix. He's an absolute beast on the field, but also a key cog in our locker room. He is not underrated due to his personal play, but he takes on the brunt of responsibility for the whole offense. So if the running game struggles, people ask him why he struggled, if the passing game is off, he is one of the first to shoulder the blame. As the most vocal guy on the OL, he has done a great job of handling that. I'm sure when we build a better supporting cast around him, he will be in MVP conversations just as Angus Winchester was last season.
On defense, Perry Tucker is also criminally undervalued. This off season he made the switch from TE to LB. He is really the quarterback of the defense and has been a key contributor on the field and in the locker room. I think he is a sleeper for defensive rookie of the year as he continues to improve every game.
Any player that you expect big things from in the future?
Paul DiMirio is the one guy that everyone is waiting for to break out. He has the talent, skill, commitment, but just hasn't had that one game yet. I think he'll get there soon though and then be a name that everyone in the league is following.
No one likes to lose. Whats the morale like in the locker room?
The morale is actually very good. Everyone knew what were going up against this season. They see the minor victories and improvements every week. There is just a feeling that our team is something special, and everyone has been patient as we build to the final product.
Where do you see the Liberty and the league as a whole in the next 5 years?
In five years, the Liberty are going to be continuing their dynasty of domination. It might not look like it now, but with such dedicated players we should be competing for the playoffs as early as S3 and championships beyond that. I don't think we'll see another NSFL expansion in the next 5 years, with the DSFL coming and all. It should be exciting to see the DSFL develop though, and become the feeder league the NSFL needs.
Coming into the draft, whats the strategy?
We are going to take the same strategy into next draft as we in this one. Find quality people at every pick. We take the "Best Player Available" approach to every pick and try to find the guys who fit the mold we are trying to build.
Looking forward to the playoffs, who do you see as being the biggest threat to the rest of the contenders?
If I were a fringe playoff team, I'd be scared to play us late in the season. We continue to close the TPE gap between S1 teams and ourselves each week. The teams that played us early in the season played with biggest TPE advantage. The teams that play us at the end of the season will have a significantly smaller TPE advantage, if they even have one at all.
(Word Count: 972 Words)
Graded
Payout=$1,372,000
*Interview w/ Liberty GM - kckolbe - 08-11-2017
@adam2552 I think S3 is a good target for playoffs. You'll finish this year 4th in the conference, but possibly 6th overall in TPE. After losing a bit of ground in the S2 draft, you should be able to quickly make that up and finish just below middle of the pack in S2. S3, though, anything is possible.