Gary Orr passes during a practice for the Chattanooga Generals at Camp Jordan Park in East Ridge. The Generals are a new arena football team preparing for their first game on Saturday.The Chattanooga Generals are five and a half days away from their first game, facing the Chattahoochee Valley Vipers at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Camp Jordan Arena.
The Vipers are an outdoor team playing a handful of indoor road games this spring. After visiting the Generals, who are affiliate members of American Indoor Football, the Vipers will play three United Indoor Football League teams.
After the Generals’ practice outdoors Saturday at Camp Jordan Park, coach Rick Butler said he was happy with his team’s talent level. But it’s been a quick construction project for him and fellow assistant general manager and co-personnel director Clint Spencer, who’s an assistant coach.
“Clint and I and the owner [Andre White of Atlanta] have put together in three weeks a team we believe can be competitive athleticially,” Butler said. “We’re going to hit people; we’re going to run people down and make plays. But we’re three weeks to a month behind everybody [in the AIF], so the execution offensively is going to be an issue — everything from formations to snap count.”
“We’ve had 10 practices. It’s going to take time for us to mesh and mold,” Butler added. “At all levels of football it would take time for a brand new group to mesh their execution, and we’ve got some first-time arena players.”