Could Atlanta Havoc Be AAL’s Surprise Team?

The Atlanta Havoc of the American Arena League have been shaping up their roster and coaching staff to be potentially the best in the AAL, and maybe even arena football.

Everyone has seen the eye opening, jaw dropping transactions made by this football team. But first we'll have to go all the way back to their first two signings; wide receiver Martell Moore and quarterback Michael Eubank. Those two alone made some arena fans get out of their recliner, but what since then has said this offense will be deadly? Receivers Thyron Lewis, Malachi Jones, Ryan McDaniel, Corey Alberty, Nnambi Agude, Isaiah Jupiter, Josh Holderfield, and Brian Robinson. Each of those guys are huge names, or have a huge ability to have a name in this sport.

The one thing this offense may have trouble with is the offensive line, but take it as a good sign that each of these guys have good size (ranging from 6'5-6'6, 300+ pounds), and the trench men came from big name colleges, with two veterans in the large group. Of the offensive line, keep an eye on Eric Janeau Jr., Spencer Whitehead, Brandon Lampkin, and Quentin Spencer-Jones.

The head coach of the Havoc, Boo Mitchell will most likely serve as the offensive coordinator of this team as well. He has served as a coach for 17 years and still going strong, and has a knack for offense.

He set records as a running back for Vanderbilt, won multiple SEC honors in his career, and as a coach he has won a state championships in the high school level as an assistant coach, and has two National Championship rings with the North East Georgia team as the offensive coordinator for the eighth grade Football University National Tournament.

Now let's talk about the defense of Atlanta. This side of the ball is extremely important. Defense wins football games, as the old saying goes. The defense is full of some serious, underrated skill. On the defensive line, they have guys such as Larry Ford, Dalvon Stuckey, Donte Rumph, and Larry Stallings. Ford and Stuckey are going reign havoc on some teams, for sure. But no one is throwing on the defensive back field that includes some great talents, young and old, from LaRoche "Action" Jackson, Eric Crosby, Antonio Bearden, and Calvin Harris.

A bold prediction for this defensive back field is allowing less than 50 percent of passes being completed. In the linebacker corp, you can see an intriguing name if you were a fan of the National Arena League this past season; Zachary Brown. Brown was one of the brighter lights on the Georgia Firebirds, a now folded team. He led the team in rushing with 79 yards and one touchdown, he also had one interception, eight tackles, two tackles for loss, one sack, and one forced fumble.

The other linebackers include Norman White, Jordan Grant, Derrick Cannon, and James Hairston. The defensive coordinator of the Havoc is Willie Gary. He played college football at Kentucky, and professionally with the St. Louis Rams, Scottish Claymores (NFLE), and Georgia Force (AFL). His coaching experience takes him to North Gwinnett, where he was an assistant coach for three years, then to the Georgia Force where he was a defensive coordinator for two years, then he was Clark Atlanta's defensive coordinator for three years, and last at Berkmar for three years.
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There is no doubting that the Havoc are very stacked and is shaping up to be the best in the AAL, and could even be thrown into the conversation as one of the best in arena football right now.