by Fresh off the 28-23 loss to the Dallas Renegades that dropped the Columbus Aviators to 0-3, head coach Ted Ginn Jr was eager to address the teams start and also the accountability they will now hold as a unit. He didn’t shy away from his own legal issues over the weekend as well as the team looks to move past all of that and break though this week in their rematch, at home, with Dallas.
Ginn met with the media this week and wasted no time addressing what occurred over the weekend with his DUI in Dallas, “I want to thank my family and friends, our team, our league for all their support. I’m going to continue to take accountability for my actions going forward and be positive. I’m grateful to be back with my team and focus on Friday against Dallas.”
He addressed it later in the interview as well when he said, “in football, you always have some type of mistake and have to look at yourself in the face, hold accountability and get better. To see my guys respond, gives me a little bit more credit to what we will see on the football field. “
The team may be 0-3, but they have the rare advantage of playing Dallas twice in five days, which will keep everything fresh in their heads and perhaps a slight edge knowing what to expect from the 3-0 Renegades. Coach Ginn touched on that, “ it gives us a good advantage but we just need to go out and play sound football. We left a lot out there last week and I hope that we come out this week and pick up the momentum.”
I mentioned to Coach Ginn about how close they came to winning last week if it hadn’t been for a few turnovers and how impressed he was with his teams fight coming back and making it close late, after falling behind 28-10. Coach had this to say, “if you look at all our games in those second halves, we’ve been fighting our butts off. If we could just come out with that fight in the first, we can be in a better position all game long. My guys are fighting and that is what we need. We’ve been making adjustments at halftime and have a lot of guys who believe in the system. When we put it together all the way around, we’ll get even better.”
Ginn knows they are close to getting over the hump. Last week, they led 10-7 late into the second while driving for more before turnovers cost them big and before they knew, it was the middle of the third quarter and they were down 28-10. He addressed those mistakes and how eliminating them can lead to wins, “we’ve been in these games and it has been one or two turnovers that has been the deciding factor in all of our games. We need to get the communication and chemistry right. We just need to all get on the same page and deliver it. That is the biggest thing, keep building brotherhood.”
The Columbus Aviators will host the Dallas Renegades at 8pm this Friday night on FOX.
