The Hildesheim Invaders have announced the signing of one of the most successful coaching duos in Europe, head coach Shuan Fatah and offensive coordinator Lee Rowland.
Speculation has been rife since Fatah and Rowland announced their departure from Austria’s Swarco Raiders last month after spending nine highly successful years there.
The Invaders had released their former head coach Matt LeFever late in the 2019 German Football League season and the team was then eliminated in the quarterfinals by the Frankfurt Universe, after posting a 10-4 regular season record.
Fatah:
“After a number of very successful years in Austria, it was time to look for a new challenge. The Invaders and their very dedicated management team have really impressed me, and made it clear to us from the beginning that they are very interested in our commitment. Their very successful season, which culminated in the first playoff appearance in the history of the Invaders, has created the basis for greater things. There is a lot of work waiting for us, but that’s exactly what makes this job challenging. For the next few months, we will focus on putting together a powerful team, improving the infrastructure and installing our program, as it will be vitally important to sustainably improve not only football success but also the immediate environment. We want something we have never achieved, so we have to do things we have never done before. And that’s how we start today. “
Fatah and Roland signed multi-year contracts with the Invaders.
Invaders CEO Frank Meyer:
“We’ve been very busy with the search for a coaching staff and are happy to have found in Shuan and Lee two experienced coaches who are successful on the football field, but above all in terms of sustainability. We want to consciously set an example with this commitment and not only hope for on-field success but also want to improve the structure of the club including our youth program. We want to benefit from the expertise of a specialist like Shuan, so he can improve our infrastructure and co-develops Invaders into a sustainable team and association.”
Since 2011, the pair have been behind the enormous success of the Raiders, building the team into a juggernaut. Since joining the Raiders, the pair have helped the team to a record of 99-20 in both Austrian and international play, including five Austrian titles and three Central European Football League, CEFL, crowns as well as one Eurobowl championship. In 2019, the duo fashioned a perfect undefeated season winning the Austrian, CEFL and ECTC titles.
Prior to joining the Raiders, the Berlin-born Fatah had carved a highly successful career as a player and coach. In the 1990s, he was with both the Berlin Adler and Berlin Rebels. In 1996, he moved to the US for three years, where he worked as a position coach and defensive coordinator at Nichols College. Then he followed the call of NFL Europe back to Germany. He worked as a coach for Berlin Thunder and won the World Bowl with the team three times (2001, 2002 and 2004). He repeated this in 2007 as a running back coach of the Hamburg Sea Devils.
After NFL Europe folded, Fatah took over as head coach of the Dresden Monarchs in 2008 which he led immediately from a relegation team the previous year to the playoffs. In 2009, he moved back home and led the Berlin Adler from the state to the German championship. Only a year later he reached the German Bowl again and also won the first Eurobowl in the history of the Adler.
Fatah was named coach of the year in the German Football League in 2009 and coach of the year in the Austrian Football League in 2017 and 2019. He has been coach of the Austrian national team since 2017.
Rowland has been working with Fatah for many years and with his college and NFL Europe background is considered an offensive specialist and coached many of Europe’s top players. The pair have known each other from their time together in NFL Europe and have been coaching together ever since.