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Heat gets new head coach in King By Tim Trower Jeff King�s goal is to be a position coach in the National Football League by the time he�s 40. That�s not so farfetched when you consider his expansive background and that he�s already turned down an offer to be the linebackers coach for the Los Angeles Xtreme of the expansion XFL. The XFL is surely high profile � it�s run by pro wrestling icon Vince McMahon and has a prime-time TV deal with NBC � but King is content as the head coach of the Southern Oregon Heat of the fledgling American Indoor Football League. King, 32, began as the Heat�s assistant general manager but has since replaced Al Burble as the club�s head coach in the biggest move in the continuing evolution of the franchise. In other developments, owner Kevin Wells attended league meetings earlier this month in Seattle and came away encouraged about the league�s direction; a second tryout session was held Saturday; Sam Pecktol, a top Medford powerlifter and coach, has been named strength and conditioning coach; and charitable community projects are in the works. Burrell was hired in August and ran one tryout in mid-October but had little contact with the Heat�s front office thereafter. The Portland resident, formerly a defensive assistant with the Portland Prowlers of the Indoor Professional Football League, had a philosophy that Wells deemed ill-suited to a program trying to gain a foothold here. Burrell intended to construct the team largely with players from outside Southern Oregon. During the fall tryout, he talked of bringing in ex-Division I players from around the country. Wells has been deeply involved in Rogue Valley semipro football in recent years, and he, along with King, decided the Heat should be home-grown. "Jeff�s philosophy � and something I agree with � is that we have enough talent in the Rogue Valley and Southern Oregon to be competitive," says Wells. "I didn�t believe we needed to bring in a complete team from out of town. We�ll probably have some guys from out of the region make the team, but the majority will be from here. "In the long run, Jeff is a better fit for the community and what we need to do here." King, who grew up in Fresno, Calif., was a semipro player-coach there from 1992-98 and served in the same capacity with German and Spanish pro teams the past six years. He was a head coach in Germany for three years and Spain for two. Football was a year-round gig. "For the money they paid, you had to keep playing," says King, an erstwhile linebacker. "If you took a month off, you were dead broke." Prior to that, he played a year at Washington, then junior and small college football in Fresno and at Western New Mexico University. After NFL and Canadian Football League tryouts didn�t pan out, he went semipro. King hooked up with Wells upon seeing the league on the Internet. After a phone interview and a review of King�s resume, Wells brought him in to help build the Heat. The tie-in to the XFL Xtreme came about, King says, because a man in NFL Europe operations now with the Los Angeles team recognized his name on an application form. Already signed on with the Heat, King declined a tryout as a player, then an offer to coach. "It (XFL) would be something better for me if I was only able to stay in the front office here," says King. "Then the XFL job would have been 10 times better. But I have an opportunity here for my first American head coaching job. The league is new, and it�s not so big-time financially backed. There�s less pressure at this level as a head coach than there is as a position coach in the XFL." King will serve as the Heat�s offensive and defensive coordinators. He ran the team�s second and final tryout on Saturday, and will spend this week reviewing data and film before choosing about 40 players to attend preseason camp. The camp will run from mid-January to Feb. 15, when a full scrimmage will be held for season ticket holders. Final cuts will be made after the scrimmage, and the season begins March 15. While Wells and King are sifting through players, they�re buoyed by the league�s machinations. Several teams from the old Indoor Football League, which was sold after a three-year run to the Arena Football League, have signed on with the AIFL. They are Rapid City, S.D.; Casper, Wyo.; Billings, Mont.; Kearney, Neb.; and Sioux, City, Iowa. The AIFL will likely have a West Coast division and a Midwest division. In the West, in addition to Southern Oregon, there are franchise commitments in Yakima, Wash.; Orem, Utah; Fresno, Calif.; and Flagstaff, Ariz. A Dec. 31 deadline has been set for joining the AIFL for the 2001 season. Reach sports editor Tim Trower at 776-4479, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.