What does Tim drive?

Anyone who knows Storm coach Tim Marcum, knows he loves his 1957 Thunderbird. Now, you can get a look at it by clicking HERE. Pretty sharp, huh?

Storm’s O’Hara headed to L.A.

Pat O’Hara is going home.

On Friday, the Storm offensive coordinator was named head coach of the Los Angeles Avengers, the Arena Football League team located just a few miles from where he went to high school and not far from where he later played college football.

“I’m real excited,” O’Hara told the Times.

O’Hara will replace Ed Hodgkiss, who was fired after going 5-11 this season (the Avengers lost to the Storm in their season finale). Hodgkiss spent the past seven seasons with the Avengers and was 57-53 during the regular season.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for Pat,” said Storm coach/general manager Tim Marcum. “Pat is well-deserving of this opportunity and we are proud of him. He has been with us for some time and we will miss him.”

O’Hara, who turns 40 in September, spent six seasons with the Storm --three as quarterback (2003-04, 2006) and three as offensive coordinator (2005, 2007-08). The Storm ranked seventh in scoring in 2008, with 903 points in 16 games. Under O’Hara’s guidance, Tampa Bay quarterback Brett Dietz has become a star.

O’Hara is a 1986 graduate of California’s Santa Monica High School. He then was a quarterback for Southern California.

O’Hara played 16 seasons of professional football, 14 in the Arena Football League. In 2003, he filled in for an injured John Kaleo to help lead the Storm to a victory over Arizona in ArenaBowl XVII.

O’Hara is particularly close with Marcum, whom he considers a friend and mentor.

“He has been like a father,” O’Hara said. “He said he’s happy for me, and proud of me, but that he’s going to miss me. I’m going to miss him, too. We won a lot of games together.”

O’Hara interviewed for the Avengers position in person the week after the regular season ended. He then had a handful of phone conversations with the organization before finding out last week he was the man for the job.

O’Hara, who is married and has two boys, ages 8 and 6, still has family in the greater-Los Angeles area -- and plenty of friends.

“A lot of my groomsmen are there,” O’Hara said. “It’s going to be nice to have a support system. It’s not like having to go to some strange place.”

O'Hara interviews with Avengers

Storm offensive coordinator Pat O'Hara has interviewed for the vacant head coaching position with the Los Angeles Avengers, Tampa Bay media representative Jim Robinson confirmed Monday. O'Hara, 39, just completed his third season as offensive coordinator with the Storm.

In 2007, he interviewed for head coaching positions at Arizona and Grand Rapids.

The fact O'Hara has ties to Los Angeles might work in his favor. Before embarking on a lengthy playing career in the Arena Football League (with Orlando, Toronto and Tampa Bay), he was a quarterback at Southern California.

Robinson said O'Hara interviewed last week. Los Angeles, which closed its regular season two weeks ago with a 72-47 loss at Tampa Bay to finish 5-11, fired Ed Hodgkiss three days later.

O'Hara is considered one of the top young assistants in the league. Tampa Bay ranked seventh in scoring this season.

Storm assistants could be HC candidates

Teams typically lose players to free agency during the offseason, but Storm coach Tim Marcum might have to worry about losing his assistants, too. Marcum said this week that assistant head coach Dave Ewart and offensive coordinator Pat O'Hara would each be strong candidates to be head coaches in the league.

Ewart once was head coach of the AFL's Florida Bobcats; O'Hara is considered to be one of the league's top young assistants.

Of Ewart, Marcum said: "Dave has taken the bad situations (with past head coaching jobs) and turned out some good football teams. It's very possible Dave Ewart could be a head coach. And he's going to be a very doggone good one."

Already this week, two head coaching positions have opened up.

Help ... from an objective set of eyes

During the offseason, the Storm coaching staff will step back and re-evaluate the video from all 16 of the team's 2008 games. Then, the group will do something kind of neat; it will have coaches not on the staff do the same thing.

"Sometimes you're so close to it week in and week out that you make excuses for them," Marcum said. "What I like to do is, I like to have some of my buddies come in who don't know (much) about the players in terms of their personality or whatever and give an objective eye."

One of those "buddies" could potentially be Jim Bates, a longtime NFL assistant who worked with Marcum at the University of Florida and in the USFL.

What's next for the Storm coaching staff? Work, what else

The Storm's on-field season ended last Saturday. Its off-field work never really ends.

This week, there is much for coach Tim Marcum and his staff to do. Such as ...

-Conducting exit physicals Tuesday.

-Helping players with their living arrangements (almost all live in team housing during the season).

-Watching tape of other teams to evaluate players about to become free agents. The group started with Utah and will go through every team in the league one by one.

"We can't just deflate the balls, tie the shoes together and say, 'it's done,'" Marcum said.

AFL to Marcum: You were right

After the Storm's 56-55 loss at Georgia two weeks ago, Storm coach Tim Marcum was adamant that the officials missed a call that cost Tampa Bay the game. In the final minute, Tampa Bay quarterback Brett Dietz threw an interception that enabled the Force to mount a game-winning drive (it won by scoring on the final play). Marcum said the play shouldn't have counted because Georgia blitzed two linebackers on the play, when AFL rules specifically state only one is allowed to on a play.

"They brought a linebacker that is ineligible to rush the passer on our last play and forced Brett to throw an interception," Marcum said at the time. "It's bull----. That's what it is. When the umpire can't make that call, some changes have got to be made in this league. We lost the game because they allowed (Georgia) to fire the linebacker that caused the interception.."

In protest of the call, the team submitted a complaint to the league.

This week, Marcum heard back. And guess what ... he was right.

"I got an email back from the league saying there was a mistake and it had an effect on the play" Marcum said.

That was it.

"What else can they do?" Marcum said. "In my opinion, the guilty party, if he's going to miss something that simple, he should never officiate. All we ask for is accountability. From our players, coaches and league officials. If you're not getting the job done, get someone else in there."

Marcum, Gruden to mix it up ... on the air

Storm coach Tim Marcum and Orlando coach Jay Gruden, whose teams meet on the field Saturday in a crucial AFL game, will share the spotlight tonight on Marcum's weekly radio show, which airs from 7-8 on 620-AM. Gruden, the brother of Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden, led the Storm to four ArenaBowl titles in six seasons under three different head coaches.

One of them was Marcum.

Marcum: Officials "missed" crucial call

In the Storm's 56-55 loss at Georgia on Saturday, no play was more costly to Tampa Bay than quarterback Brett Dietz's interception in the final minute, which enabled the Force to mount a game-winning drive (it won by scoring on the final play). Storm coach Tim Marcum says the play shouldn't have counted -- and he's pretty hot about it.

"The officials missed it," Marcum said Tuesday.

What did they miss? According to Tampa Bay, Georgia blitzed two linebackers on the play, when AFL rules specifically state only one is allowed to on a play.

"They brought a linebacker that is ineligible to rush the passer on our last play and forced Brett to throw an interception," Marcum said. "It's bull----. That's what it is. When the umpire can't make that call, some changes have got to be made in this league. We lost the game because they allowed (Georgia) to fire the linebacker that caused the interception.."

In protest of the call, the team submitted a complaint to the league Monday.

"That's just a blatant mistake," Marcum said. "It's a mistake, a dumb mistake, and there is no excuse for it. It forced Brett to throw off balance and the throw was late."

Marcum doesn't expect a remedy, just a letter from the league saying he was right. What, then, can come of his complaint?

"Get them better," Marcum said. "I've got a team to coach and they've got a team to coach. When I've got a guy on my team that doesn't play well, I get rid of them and get someone else in there. Their team should be held to that same scrutiny."

--KEITH NIEBUHR