[MIJB#19]

Merchantmen replace Offensive Coordinator
Reuben Bidwell's stint as the Maassluis Merchantmen offensive coordinator last just one season. Today the Maassluis Merchantmen announced the replacement of Bidwell with 17 years younger Willie Behrendt. Bidwell stepped in during the 2089 off-season to replace recently retired Neal Murack after 18 seasons of service. It marks the fourth time the Merchantmen replace their offensive coordinator after just one season.

Bidwell came in with in a new philosophy, desiring to unravel his take on a spread offense. Instead, the team asked him to build on the balanced approach that Murack had established, but improving on the passing game in the process. A mission somewhat accomplished as the Merchantmen improved from 31st in passing yards to 19th, while going from 9th to 10th in rushing yards with miniscule improvement in production in rushing yards per game and carry.

Not so much apparently. The Merchantmen decided that, despite Bidwell's highly praised playcalling skills, they needed a coordinator better capable of evaluating the players on roster.

In comes Willie Behrendt, at 42 years old still young for a coordinator. He left the Chesapeake Chitterlings after just one season there as their assistant coach, in a season where the Chitterlings went above their expectations and reached (and lost) in IHOF Bowl LXXXVI. Behrendt has previously been the offensive coordinator for the Frederick Red Menace (2086-'87) and Chicago Norsemen (2088). In Frederick, Behrendt was kind of a mismatch as he's a fan of a smashmouth approach to the game of football, while the Red Menace have recently established themselves as a pass first, run rarely team. He was supposed to be a better fit with the running style of the Norsemen, but in his tenure their running game went from 2nd to 24th in rushing yards, although improving the yards per attempt figure. A change of management then and yet again during the 2089 off-season already ended his stint in Chicago.

Merchantmen management looks forward to Behrendt's cooperation with head coach Kyle Elliott, who received a contract extension through the 2093 season. If he sticks around that long, he'll tie the franchise's longest head coaching tenure of Ellis Cassidy (2054-'69), the Merchantmen's only IHOF Bowl winning head coach. For now, Elliott is entering his 13th season with the Merchantmen, making him the third longest, sitting also behind Leroy Van Der Woude's 14-season tenure (2005-'18).

It means the Merchantmen staff has changed in at least one role for the sixth season in a row, something that happened only once before during the 2066-'71 period, shortly after the team's only IHOF Bowl victory and ending it with the unique situation of having three former players of the team on the coaching staff (former safety as the head coach Kelvin Shepherd, former center Neal Murack as the offensive coordinator and former wide receiver Dwayne Kemp as the assistant coach).

Bidwell has been contracted by the Atlanta Vipers as their new offensive coordinator, as the Vipers had a vacancy following the retirement of Dominic Ehret, a two-time IHOF Bowl winners as the offensive cooridnator of the Tucker Tigers.