ELF: Munich Ravens HC Kendral Ellison brings a wealth of experience in Europe

In his first year as head coach of the Munich Ravens, Kendral Ellison obviously would like to see improvements at the midpoint of the season.

Still, he is not totally unhappy.

With six games left in the regular season, the Ravens are 3-3 and sit third in the Central Division behind the Raiders Tirol and Stuttgart Surge. Ellison is not deterred. He feels that the Ravens are growing as a team. He has definitely improved the defense. A former linebacker/defensive end, he served as defensive coordinator for the Hamburg Sea Devils for the past three seasons and in his first season with the team he was named the ELF Assistant Coach of the Year. The following year, his defense became the top ranked in the ELF. He has already made his impact on the Ravens defense. They gave up over 28 points a game in 2023 and under Ellison they have reduced that to 18.

The 36 year old first arrived in Europe in 2010 as a player and moved into the coaching ranks in 2018. He was head coach for the Hamburg Huskies in the GFL in 2019 before joining the Sea Devils in 2021.

AFI: You are heading into the second half of the season with a 3-3 record but could well finish with a 9-3 record and as a playoff contender given your schedule. What do you feel you need to improve on for that to happen?

Ellison: We simply need to improve in all phases of the game. When we play as a team and we execute, we look great. But we haven’t done that consistently enough. We have to get out of our own way and trust one another.  Nevertheless, that comes with time and maturation as a team, which the outside world (media) will have you thinking you don’t have. We took a few on the chin and that hype bubble has been burst, which I think is a blessing in disguise. Give that rat poison and Kool-Aid to someone else, we don’t want it.  Now we can focus on us and what needs to be done to become the team that we know we can be. Week by week, our aim is to become a better team and work on the chemistry needed to win games. The talent is here, but talent only gets you so far and that’s what we’ve had to learn the hard way. But I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. Every week we just want to go 1-0, that’s our focus from here on out.

AFI: As a first year head coach in the ELF, what have you learned about coaching your team?

Ellison: A lot of what I’m doing now, I did the past years in Hamburg anyway, so I feel like I was prepared for this. Now the decisions just go through me, unlike in Hamburg. Every day its something new to learn, be it the management of the team or dealing with 65+ personalities. There have been high moments and there have been low moments but ultimately you must take both in stride and find the lesson in each situation. I’m very happy here because I know that every day, I get to go to work with a group of men that want to be great. So, it’s a fun challenge for me to teach and show them how to be great and as much as they may be learning from me, I am learning from them also.

AFI: The ELF has some interesting rules including the kickoff rule, a version of which the NFL is adopting. What other rules changes, if any, would you like to see?

Ellison: I wouldn’t say there are any rules changes that I would like to see, but I’d just like to have more clarity on some of the rules we already have. What is and what isn’t holding is one of the main ones that I and probably other defensive coaches would love to know. As the game evolves, we just have to find ways to beat these new techniques that would have been 100% holding back when I was playing. Ands that’s not a complaint, just something to adjust to which we are each year.

AFI: You may well be one of the most experienced player/coaches among all the ELF head coaches having first started playing in Europe in 2010. How much do you feel that the ELF has changed the landscape of football in Europe?

Ellison: As I look around, I’d definitely say I’m not one of the most experienced, but I am an old head in Europe. I’ve been around the European American football scene for a long time, and I’ve been able to see the good, bad, and ugly of its growth. That alone, makes me thankful for what we have now. Is it perfect? Not at all. But it’s a lot better than when I came to Europe in 2010. In year 4 now, this league has been able to give American Football in Europe a face and identity. It’s what I thought I was coming into in 2010. So to now see it coming together and being a small part of it is nice. But with that being said, there are many things that need to be done to continue growing this league. The potential is there but the vision and plan needs to be clear and focused for the long term and not the short term successes.  I think we all want to see competitive games week in and week out, so I do hope that the league aims to fix the competitive balance within the league. Doing that will be great for everyone involved.