Gladiators’ candidates list down to three

Adam Candee

Friday, Aug. 13, 2004 | 9:48 a.m.

The list of potential Las Vegas Gladiators head coaches keeps taking all the hard work away from general manager Dan Dolby by paring itself.

Talks with expected front-runner Danny White -- the former Arizona head coach now widely rumored to take over a new expansion franchise in Utah -- broke down and now the top choice of Gladiators quarterback Clint Dolezel appears ready to accept the top job in Grand Rapids.

Sparky McEwen, Dolezel's former offensive coordinator with the Rampage, called himself "the No. 1 candidate" for the head job in Thursday's Grand Rapids Press. McEwen, who is currently the offensive coordinator for Oklahoma City of af2, could be announced as the new Rampage coach as soon as today.

That would leave the Las Vegas list at three: Gladiators assistant head coach Ron James; Indiana interim head coach Mike Wilpolt; and New Orleans defensive coordinator Kevin Porter. Whoever remains in the running will interview with Dolby and Gladiators owner Jim Ferraro on Tuesday in Las Vegas, where the league's board of directors meeting will be going on at the same time. The team wants to have a new coach in place within a couple of days after the interviews.

Las Vegas fired Frank Haege on July 28 after three seasons at the helm, including a mediocre 8-8 campaign in 2004 marked by disappointing last-second losses to Colorado and Chicago. The Gladiators did beat Porter's VooDoo and Wilpolt's Firebirds, however, leaving both coaches with a solid impression of the talent in Las Vegas.

"The biggest thing they need is consistency," Porter said Thursday.

Before leading the New Orleans defense last season, Porter spent three seasons as head coach of Macon in af2. Porter is confident he can provide the improved structure that Dolby and Ferraro want for the Gladiators.

"They're just looking to increase the professionalism of the whole organization," Porter said.

Wilpolt took over for Steve DeBerg last season in Indiana after the Firebirds opened 0-5. He scaled back the playbook and gained the confidence of young star quarterback Adrian McPherson and the rest of the team, leading Indiana to eight wins in its final 11 games.

Porter and Wilpolt are both under consideration for other jobs -- Porter for the presumably filled Grand Rapids job and Wilpolt for the New York job. Wilpolt interviewed Wednesday in New York, but with history and family in Las Vegas, he might prefer to come west. Wilpolt played for the Las Vegas Sting -- the city's failed incarnation of arena football -- in 1994 and 1995.