Steve Cash - Headcoach - short interview

We bring you the first of many interviews with new Prague Panthers head coach Steve Cash. Just shortly about what brings him to Prague, what are his ambitions with the team, where and how he started with football…

How did you get to know about Prague Panthers and how did you get to Prague?
Last year I spent as a head coach and offensive coordinator in St. Poelten. I came to Prague to scout Panthers and I liked what I saw. Not only the team, also a beautiful city. I decided not to return to St. Poelten so I contacted Panthers management and I’m here now…

What do you think is the strongest point of Panthers?
One of the biggest things I saw and see is that Panthers are more like a family. People, who are together, have known and supported each other and their families. That’s what has helped Panthers to win so many championship games. And this is the biggest and strongest thing for me.

What’s the goal for this season?
We are going to play 3 competitions this year and I’m an optimist. I guess, that we should win Czech league. I also believe we’ll be doing well in EFL and if we’ll play smart and good we can win. Of course the biggest challenge is to succeed in AFL. This is our mission and point for whole team. It also means a lot of work.

Last year, essentially the same team, same players played all of the 3 competitions. Can we expect some news in this way this season?
My point is to use our backups for Czech league. In my point of view all players must be ready to play in AFL/EFL. And for backups it is most important to spend as much time as possible on the field and carry their responsibility in Czech league, even more they won’t be playing so much in AFL/EFL. Even though there will be some players from AFL/EFL in the Czech league, our backups will be the skeleton.

Finally, where did your football career start and what position did you play?
I started playing football when I was 9 in south Florida, Miami area. I played safety first, but on high school I played both sides of the ball – safety and receiver. And at college I played only receiver. This was in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. Then I returned to Florida as a coach.