Gladiators find their new man at home

Adam Candee

Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2004 | 9:54 a.m.

Banking on his disciplinary style and established rapport with the team, the Gladiators will look for change within the organization by hiring assistant Ron James as their new head coach.

General manager Dan Dolby confirmed Monday that the team will introduce James, Las Vegas' assistant head coach for three years under Frank Haege, as its head man this afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center. It will be the first head position for James in his 18-year coaching career.

James, 40, will receive a new two-year contract with an option for a third year. Terms were not released, but James said he will receive a raise and that his deal is heavy on performance incentives.

Dolby and owner Jim Ferraro professed a need for sweeping change and upgraded professionalism in the organization during the monthlong search for a coach to replace Haege, who was fired July 28 after three seasons. Ferraro said he was fed up with the team's "sloppy" play under Haege, especially after opening his checkbook to upgrade the roster before the 2004 season.

Dolby feels confident that James, with his military coaching background and respect from current Gladiators players, can present a much different look than Haege.

"I think Ron is very different from our previous head coach," Dolby said. "There is a little different mindset when it comes to structure and discipline. Ron coached at Army for a few years and I think that really helped his career."

Many Gladiators called Dolby to lobby for James, who served as interim head coach for one game last season when Haege was suspended for a headset-tossing tirade that ultimately contributed to his firing. James made changes large and small, from shifting clock control strategy down to allowing music on a stereo during practice.

The Gladiators lost that game at Arizona, 80-63, but James laid the foundation that impressed management.

"That whole week, I took that as if it was my job," James said. "You also take it as an audition."

Still, when the Gladiators fired Haege after a second consecutive 8-8 season, Dolby and Ferraro did not immediately install his right-hand man as the new coach. Dolby said Monday that they did not have the same appreciation for James' abilities until stacking him up against other coaches.

"We needed to validate the best coach available to us," Dolby said. "If I thought (James) was the right guy from the beginning, we wouldn't have gone through this process."

James ultimately beat out Indiana interim head coach Mike Wilpolt and New Orleans defensive coordinator Kevin Porter for the job. Dolby called both on Monday to inform them of the team's decision to go with James and the news did not surprise Wilpolt.

"I had heard that that's who they were leaning toward," Wilpolt said. "And that's who their players are comfortable with."

Dolby denied that the choice of James was financially influenced, but also declined to say if James' assistant coaching position would be replaced. The team will announce some coaching staff changes within a couple of weeks, Dolby said, but Stan Davis will remain as defensive coordinator.

James came to the Gladiators from the Houston ThunderBears, for whom he served as line coach and director of player personnel from 1999-2001. He worked with Gladiators quarterback Clint Dolezel in Houston in 1999.

James spent the first 11 years of his coaching career in the college ranks, the last two at Army. That experience had a strong influence on his style.

"We're going to employ more discipline; obviously, that's a big issue," James said, adding that the Gladiators must cut down on penalties. "We're going to instill a championship work ethic and we're going to be more physical."

James began his coaching career as a linebacker coach at Siena College, where he was a four-year starter at offensive tackle, in 1986. A native of Albany, N.Y., he and his wife, Lynn, and son, Brady, live in Henderson.