German Football League: Stan Bedwell & entire coaching staff leave Allgäu Comets
At the midpoint of the German Football League season, the Allgäu Comets who are fourth in the GFL South with a record of 5-4, have lost their the entire coaching staff including head coach Stan Bedwell.
Citing philosophical differences, Bedwell and his staff have resigned. Defensive coordinator Hugo Pointillart, and assistant coaches Wojciech Andrzejczak and Jonathan Ashton, have all left the team as the club prepares to face the Marburg Mercenaries this Sunday, August 5.
The Comets, along with most teams in the German Football League, have been idle since July 8. In their last game before this four-week break, Allgäu suffered an embarrassing 66-7 loss to the Frankfurt Universe, coached by the Comets previous head coach, Brian Caler.
As Bedwell stated on his Facebook page:
“Over the weekend, we collectively made a decision to resign in unity because we felt it was best for the team’s chances of making the playoffs (a team divided is going nowhere) and the current environment is one that we did not want to work in. At the end of the day, this was not a match made in Heaven and we did what was best for the team and ourselves as individuals. I wish the Comets nothing but the best going forward.”
According to the club, Hesham Khalifa and Rafael Jagielski will handle the coaching duties for the game this weekend. Khalifa has been a part of the coaching staff for many years and will serve as offensive coordinator while Jagielski, who ran the defense for the Comets U19 team last year will take care of the defense.
Bedwell arrived in Kempten, Germany to coach Allgäu amid much fanfare, immediately created headlines touting the “Flying Circus” which saw the offense rely virtually completely on the passing game. Quarterback Justin Sottilare, set new records for passes attempted, passes completed, passing yardage per game. After dropping their opening game in a lopsided loss to the Schwabisch Hall Unicorns, Allgäu settled down winning three straight as the offense continued to put up gaudy numbers. Then, after losing three of the next five, including that blowout loss to Frankfurt, tensions allegedly rose and the situation came to a head on the weekend.
Apparently there was dissension among the players and differences of opinion with the coaching staff, causing a major division on the team. This was the situation when Bedwell and his staff made their decision.
The team has stated that the search for a new head coach is already underway.
