Utah Blaze lean on James

Despite a 13-21 overall record as a head coach in the AFL, the Blaze management thinks James is ready to succeed this time around.

"The head coaching position with the Utah Blaze is considered a gem amongst the Arena Football League," said Jones. "There are a lot of things that we are recognized for as a franchise. It is a highly coveted position. ... We did our due diligence. We were very thorough (in interviewing candidates), but at the same time we've known all along that we had a hidden gem in our back pocket in Ron James."

Several current Blaze players attended Wednesday's news conference. And they seemed pleased with the promotion of James.

"I'm excited about it,"' said ex-Ute and current Blaze linebacker Corey Dodds. "He brings a lot of fire and intensity and that fits in really well with me and my personality. I can't speak for everybody on the team, but I think the players will be happy with him being our new head coach."

White held the dual titles of head coach and general manager of the Blaze, but James will not have the title of general manager. He will, however, share in some of those duties, primarily with Jones.

"We will work in partnership in taking on the general manager responsibilities,' said Jones. "There are certain strengths that Ron has with relationships, particularly with players and agents with his contacts. And there are some strengths in business administration that I have. We'll continue to work in conjunction."

James said one of his first priorities will be to sign some of the team's own free agents, which includes the record-setting receiving trio of Huey Whittaker, Aaron Boone and J.J. McKelvey.

"We'll be starting to contact those players immediately,' said James. "We wanted to wait until the head coach was named to do that, but as soon as I leave here I've got a few players on speed dial and I'll start calling right away."

One of the team owners also took a few moments to thank White for his three years of service to the upstart franchise.

"I want to express my deep appreciation to Danny (White)," said John Garff. "He is a class individual. We wanted someone who could help build our franchise from the ground up, someone who would bring luster to our company as well as to our brand with the Blaze, and Danny clearly did those things for us."

But now it's the new guy's turn and expectations are high.

"We look forward to bringing a championship here," said John Garff, while turning to James and saying, "No pressure."

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E-mail: lojo@desnews.com