NFL coach in Tirol

Raiders captain raves: “Learning new things every day!”

After a botched pre-season without making the playoffs, the Raiders footballers want to hit the ground running this year in the European League with Super Bowl winner Jim Herrmann. Before the start of the season on Saturday, Raiders captain Adrian Platzgummer expressed his enthusiasm about working with the NFL coach. 

New players, new coaches, new trainers - Raiders veteran Adrian Platzgummer believes he has seen it all in his 13 seasons with the Tyrolean football team.

However, the preparation for the European League (ELF) under Superbowl winner Jim Herrmann, which begins on Saturday with an away game against Milan Seamann, left the Innsbruck native in awe: "We learned something new every day."

"A whole new quality"
With his NFL-experienced coaching staff, the 63-year-old American brought a whole new quality to the Tyroleans' daily work. "The training was recorded with three or four cameras, so the coaches analyzed every move in detail," said Platzgummer.

We came together very quickly. If you didn't know it, you'd think we'd been playing together for years.

Raiders-Kapitän Adrian Platzgummer

That was probably necessary. In the 46-strong ELF squad, 21 new players had to be integrated during the almost five-week preparation period. "We came together very quickly. If you didn't know it, you'd think we'd been playing together for years. The team chemistry is extremely good," explained the Raiders captain.

New quarterback
The all-important timing with the new quarterback is also working well. In the offense, every ball goes through the hands of US boy D'Angelo Fulford. "Our advantage is that we have very experienced wide receivers in the team. It was relatively easy for us to adapt to D'Angelo. But he is also a complete professional, he can adapt quickly to new people," said Platzgummer.

Raiders as UFO
In the past ELF seasons, the Tyroleans had to get to know new opponents, this year the Raiders are practically traveling as a UFO in the European League. "Not only do we have a lot of new players, we also have new coaches in offense and defense. There will be surprises," grinned Platzgummer.