Gladiators coach likes what he sees at preseason minicamp

Friday, Jan. 19, 2007 | 6:58 a.m.

In less than seven weeks, the Gladiators will begin their fifth season in Las Vegas, and new head coach Danton Barto is approaching the March 4 opener with a mixture of eagerness and dread.

Barto was hired to revive a stagnant organization that has failed to make the playoffs each of the past three seasons and was 5-11 in 2006. He said he realizes he has his work cut out for him.

Although the Gladiators signed a pair of high-profile former NFL players in quarterback Shaun King and wide receiver Peter Warrick, neither has Arena Football League experience.

That doesn't seem to bother Barto.

"I really don't worry about that," Barto said about his quarterback's lack of AFL experience. "Shaun King should have a quicker learning curve than most guys because of the games he started in the NFL - and the fact that he's been a successful guy in the NFL.

"Talent is talent. Yes, the game is different and I'm not dumb enough to say it's not, but my job and our coaches' job is to get these guys acclimated to the speed of the game."

Barto also seems unfazed by the fact that the Gladiators are resembling an expansion team, of sorts, with a new coach, a new general manager in Sam Jankovich and a roster full of new players.

"Yeah, it's almost like (an expansion team)," he said. "We've wiped away everything that's happened in the past - that's the way we're looking at it. As an organization, whatever happened bad was in the past; this is a new regime in every sense.

"Our owner has shown a commitment that he wants to win by going out and letting us sign the type of players that we wanted to sign. The new GM is out drumming up business for us and has a passion to be the best. If I didn't think that I had that opportunity and also Sam didn't think we had that opportunity, neither one of us would be here."

The dread Barto may be feeling as he eyes the season opener stems from the AFL schedule makers, who have the Gladiators opening on the road March 4 in Austin, Texas, and then playing four days later - again on the road - in Grand Rapids, Mich.

"It's definitely going to be a test for us and a battle for us," he said of the season's first week. "One thing that I definitely want people to understand, that although we might not come out smoking out of the gates and be 4-0, this team will get better as the year goes on. That's been the thing I've always done as a coach - as the season progresses, we get better and better and, to me, that's what you want to do."

Barto comes to the Gladiators after spending the past five seasons as head coach of the Memphis Xplorers in af2, the Arena Football League's minor league. Barto posted a 45-35 regular-season record and led the Xplorers to the 2005 af2 championship.

After presiding over the Gladiators' minicamp earlier this month, Barto said he expects to establish a winner in Las Vegas beginning this season.

"What I looked for during our minicamp was, No. 1, do we have talent?" he said. "You can have the greatest attitude in the world but if you don't have talent, it's tough to win. Are we athletically talented? Do we have enough talent here to be successful? Do we have guys that are just as happy seeing another guy succeed if that's going to help us win during the game and not be selfish? And are they willing to work and learn?

"We had a very good minicamp and all of those things were evident during minicamp."