Tigers History 2005 – 2009

Denmark

By Brian Woodward, Kelvin Varst, Bo Thygesen, edited by Peter Friis and Mikkel Winther.

2005

The season started with the news from Aarhus municipality that the Tigers would be given full access to the clubhouse facilities at Åhavevej going forward and that the local soccer club, IF Posten, which shared the fields at Åhavevej for several years, would also have to share the large meeting room, kitchen and pregame facilities in the clubhouse.

This new arrangement was a small, but significant, improvement towards creating more social activity and club cohesiveness, and, not least, a better sports environment for junior players and their parents interested in starting in American Football. In the five years that would follow, even bigger steps would be taken to grow the club culture in similar ways.

On the field, the senior season started with a coaching change when Palle Schriver, took the helm for a Tigers troop that once again hoped for a return to the NL.

The team’s prospects were promising. In addition to the solid core of returning defensive players from 2004, the offense was once again led by the young QB Niels Munk Pedersen that had returned from his College adventure in US and a big, aggressive OL group that could be measured among the best in Denmark and included Ulrik “Farmer” Fristed, Troels “Chewie” Rytter, Claus Olesen, Jesper Jonassen, Bjørn Dahl, Thomas Bager og Jørn Roger Bach.

Despite a solid and experienced roster, the 2005 season never really reached high gear. With Vejle now in the NL, the big new local rival became the Horsens Stallions. The season quickly became a race between the two teams to see who would qualify to play in the NL qualification game.  Aarhus won that race, and home field advantage, when it met the Aalborg 89’ers in the 2005 qualification game. The Tigers were big favorites, but the game ended in a surprising loss and a disappointing end to the 2005 season.

During the season, a few new players including Thorbjørn Nielsen, Anders Arnfast, Jesper Christensen and American Brian Woodward (United States Coast Guard Academy), would join the roster and make their mark on the Tigers for many of the following seasons.

In the junior divisions, U19 played in the 11-man NL and U16 in the 9-man tournament, but both team’s season were marked by turbulence. Former NL head coach John Lawson started the season as junior head coach with Kristian ”Hightower” Glintborg and Dan Nielsen as assistants.

Early in the season, however, Lawson returned to the United States. Long-time Tiger Thomas Hytting took over as HC with help from Ulrik ”Farmer” Fristed, Brian Woodward, Bjørn Dahl and Niels Munk. In May, however, the U16 team had to pull out of the league due to lack of players and U19 had difficulty through the season fielding a team due to a dwindling group of players.

2005
Århus vs. Odense Kamera2 185

2006

In general, the years 2004 – 2007 were some of the hardest in Tiger history. The club’s successes of the late 1990s came with an economical price that the club had not been able to get rid of, that meant almost a total collapse in 2006. Membership and rosters were down, the facilities at Åhavevej were ramshackle and the club was even placed under the administrative and financial oversight of Denmark’s Athletic Union to prevent a complete bankruptcy. Despite that the 2006 season would prove to a bright spot in many respects.

For the senior team, Palle Schriver was back as Head Coach with Thor Mikkelsen as Defensive Coordinator. The core of both the offense and defense was back. The offensive line had several years of experience playing together, previous Tiger youth players like Rune Holmaa returned to add to an already tough defense. The return of WR Anders Andersen from the Braunschweig Lions in Germany added to a receiver corps that included a young Niklas Klixbull and experienced Brian Woodward, giving Niels Munk Pedersen three reliable, solid targets and a backfield anchored by Thorbjørn Nielsen.

The team breezed through most of the season’s games, and although it did not go undefeated, had little trouble with most first division opponents – especially when the full team attended games.  The season ended with a final qualification game against Horsens, which the Tigers won handily, enabling them to look forward to a return to the NL after three years of attempts.

During the season, a second senior team was established with the help of coaches René Sørensen and Ole Jørgensen. The second team, which competed in the lowest Danish division, helped new players get some practical game experience and would help ensure a pipeline of new players for the future.

The U19 team, led by HC Brian Simonsen and assistants Morten Sehested, René Sørensen, Farmer and Woodward played 9-man football in 2006.

2006 was also the season that longtime Tiger flag foreman Peter Friis took over chairman duties for the club’s Board. Peter would go on to implement several administrative and football related changes that would help the club get back on track as one of the strongest and most stable Danish clubs.

2007

By the winter of 2006, the Board had begun to get the club’s finances back on track, and the senior team had qualified for NL play and was growing. An ambitious plan was set in motion for the junior teams moving forward. These were among the reasons the club decided to go on the hunt for a coach from the US.

After discussions with several candidates, the choice fell on Edwin “Obi” Hopper. Coach Obi, by then officially retired, was looking for a final football challenge and seemed enthusiastic to take on a European club coaching spot. Obi presented a robust playbook and vision for the club and a CV with several high school and college head and assistant jobs, including a short stint with the San Francisco 49ers and even letters of recommendation from top NFL coaches.

The goal for the season was a 5-5 record and expectations were high for the new season and new coach.

In the few months up to the start of the season, those hopes started to unravel. Fourteen of the 22 starters left the team before the start of the season for reasons ranging from new jobs to injuries to “retirement”. Coach Obi inherited a decimated team, many of whom had less than one year of playing experience. At the same time, Coach Obi’s coaching and leadership fell far short of expectations almost from the beginning.

Once the season started, this combination lead to a complete fiasco and one of the worst seasons in Tiger history. Coach Obi was fired after just a few games just before the summer break, and OC Palle Schriver agreed to see the team through the remainder of the season, which ended with a 0-10 record and a demotion to the first division.

In contrast to the NL team the U19 season was almost a total success. Lead by the QB Mathias Lilhauge the team beat it opponents through out the season and finally qualified to the Junior Bowl XVI played at Farum Park. Unfortunately, the players together with HC Brian Simonsen and assisting coaches Tommy Kjærsgaard, Kristian Hightower and Morten Sehested was not able to bring the trophy to Aarhus, despite a hard-fought game against the favorites Herlev Rebels.

6/23/07 15:46

2008

The season was all about rebuilding and turnaround, and expectations for the senior team were low. Acting HC Palle Schriver chose not to continue, and, following a disastrous 2007, the focus was simply on trying to build up some skill and experience for the many new players on the squad.

Before the start of the 2008 season, financial problems reoccurred for the tackle and flag teams, but Tiger cheerleading contributed significantly to bringing the total club budget in balance.

Just before the 2008 season, the club was also informed by Aarhus Municipality that the field and clubhouse at Åhavevej were to be reclaimed and destroyed in order to make way for a new motorway exchange as part of the Marselis tunnel project. A future Tiger home was uncertain, but initial thoughts from the municipality were to offer space beginning in the 2010 season on fields in Lystrup – a plan that would have made holding the membership in around the city center and Viby almost impossible.

Still, a few strokes of luck also came up the start of the season. National Team coach and DAFF Athletic Director Lars Carlsen chose to move his family from Copenhagen to Aarhus and committed to helping the Tigers find a new coaching staff and assist in the rebuilding process. A number of previous Tiger players like Dennis Molgaard Jensen and Anders Christesen also joined the coaching staff and newcomer Kelvin Varst also committed to be a full-time member of the coaching staff. Brian Woodward was asked to take the head coaching job and agreed to hang up his cleats to focus on that task.

With the help of Lars Carlsen, the coaching staff was able to make a thorough season plan and put together a new playbook, and the season got off to an exciting start and the club’s first win in a year-and-a-half at home over Esbjerg (21-20). Two away games followed, both ending in close losses at Herning (12-16) and Horsens (25-19). The Tigers won a revenge match against Horsens, though, at home two weeks later (28-21). The final two games before the summer saw a big fall off in the roster with many players dropping off because of final exams and vacations. Despite the drop in numbers Tigers won both games, first Esbjerg was defeated and finally Skive Gators with a low 3 – 0 in overtime.

After the summer break, things got back on track and Aarhus won three of the final four with relative ease behind an offensive line that began to gel and with solid play by running backs Mads Glahn and Thorbjørn Nielsen. 2008 was also the first full senior season for quarterback Mathias Lillehauge, a product of the Tigers youth program and member of the Danish national team.

The Tiger defense, anchored by LB Stefan Bundsgaard Meyer and Ronnie “Race” Andersen allowed just 26 points in 3 games in the wins over Kolding, Skive and Herning. The regular season ended in a close loss at Aalborg 89ers. Tigers ended hereby with the record 8 – 2 and was qualified to play against Slagelse Wolfpack from the 1. Division East for the advancement to the NL playoff game. It became thought the end station for the Tigers team with a 48 – 0 loss and another year in 1. Division.

Tigers U16 team had also a good season and ended up with a 7 – 3 record. U19 though had a difficult season, maybe a reason to that was because all opponents were located on Sjælland and required a lot of travel hours to each away game.

2009

Following the 2008 season, Brian Woodward stopped as head coach. In his place, head coaching duties were split in 2009 between Kelvin Varst and Dennis Mølgaard Jensen, with Kelvin taking much of the administrative and planning work along with the offensive duties and Dennis taking much of the on-field coaching. D-backs coach Anders Bysted Christesen also returned in 2009 and took on a more prominent role on the coaching staff.

The season started with three away games, the first at Frederikssund.  Expectations were high for the opener at Frederikssund, but the Tiger offense didn’t live up to them. Despite a respectable defensive effort, the game ended in a disappointing 17-6 loss. The following week the training staff got to work and just eight days later things were already beginning to click as the team pulled out a 13-12 win in Herning.  A week after that in the third straight away game, the Tigers trounced Kolding 35-0.

In the season’s home opener, which would be the final season at Åhavevej, Coaches Dennis Mølgaard and Anders Bysted met their former club Horsens Stallions and there was a spirited amount of trash talking throughout the game. In the three weeks since the previous game, the Tigers offense continued to work on the 3-step, quick passing game with help from guest coach Brian Simonsen. The coaching staff also started working more strategically with video, and 2009 is the first season with an extensive video archive. The extra time and effort paid off, as Aarhus recorded its second big shutout in a row with a 42-0 win on May 31st.

With both the offense and defense now rolling, the Tigers dominated throughout the month of June.  On the 6th, the Tigers beat Amager Demons at home (35-14) in a game characterized by a bruising running attack led by Anders Høgh and a well-oiled passing game orchestrated by Lilhauge. On the 14th, the team met the Odense Swans in an away game that was never close. Throughout the game the offensive play calling consisted almost exclusively of simple zone and counter runs but might be best remembered for Lillehauge’s infamous endzone “flip” TD to bring the game to its final score of 30-0. The following weekend, in the final game before the summer break, the Tigers easily disposed of the Copenhagen Tomahawks 38-6 at Åhavevej.

Following the summer break, the season continued with one win and a close 6 – 0 loss to 89ers. This ended the regular season with an 7 – 2 record and the advancement to the NL qualification playoff game against Amager Demons. Amager won that game with the narrow result of 17 – 14 and Tigers had yet again to compete in the 1. Division.

U16 had as last year a good season and ended up with 5 wins and 3 loses. U19 had a bit more difficult season and only won 3 and lost 6 games.

2009a
2009
Stefan Meyer 2009