Troy Williams #11 of the Memphis Showboats runs with the ball against the Michigan Panthers during the fourth quarter in the game at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium on April 28, 2024 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Joe Murphy/UFL/Getty Images)
“Obviously, it’s a big game for us,” Memphis head coach John DeFilippo confirmed. “They all are at this point.”
Coach DeFilippo is referring to the fact that his squad has a 1-4 record in a UFL season that is half over. He knows his team has to win some games if they want to secure a playoff spot.
“We need to play better as a team,” DeFilippo said. “I thought offensively last week, we had some explosive plays, which was good to see, but too many mistakes and too many turnovers.”
When it came to his squad, DeFilippo reported that they were hungry for a win and staying ready.
“Steady, but we’re all a little frustrated, and that’s natural,” DeFilippo described the mood in the Showboats locker room. “We all want to do better, and we all want to do this. The thing you have to do is just be a mentally strong son of a gun and stay the course.”
As for the Birmingham Stallions, their opponent in this weekend’s game, as an unbeaten team they present a formidable opponent for the Showboats in this week’s game. In addition, at this point, it is unclear whether Birmingham will start Adrian Martinez or Case Cookus at quarterback. However, DeFilippo is not too concerned.
“They’re both really good players,” DeFilippo said. “But the benefit of it is that they are equal skill set guys; they are very similar players. They’re both very good throwers and elite runners, and they can beat you either way.”
DeFilippo insists that his squad just has to stay disciplined, and that would be the key to their success against the Stallions quarterbacks.
As for the Showboats starting quarterback, it was not clear if they would start Troy Williams, as in their previous game, or bring back Case Cookus, who was shaken up two weeks prior.
“We’re continuing to evaluate Case,” DeFilippo said. “He’s feeling a lot better, but we’re going to continue to evaluate him and make sure he’s 100 percent.”
DeFilippo, who was concerned about Cookus’ health when he pulled him from a game two weeks ago, doesn’t want to throw Cookus to the lions if he is not ready to accept such on-field challenges.
“You never want to throw a guy out there who can’t defend himself,” DeFilippo explained. “In professional football, that’s the number one thing. Making sure that any player can go out there and defend himself and make plays.”
As for the UFL and its officiating, we’ve often seen coach DeFilippo during game moments where he seemed frustrated by officiating. Being the midpoint of the season, DeFilippo was asked to comment on the state of officiating in the league, and he was quick to heap praise upon Mike Pereira and Dean Blandino, who served as the heads of officiating in the USFL and XFL, respectively, and now do the same for the UFL.
“Our officiating department is led by two all stars,” DeFilippo said. “I know that those guys are busting their butts, to get it as good as it can be. They do a great job of answering our questions each week. They do coaches videos each week.”
DeFilippo admitted that officiating mistakes may have been made, but that is all part of an acceptable process.
“We’re human, we’re gonna make mistakes. I’ve made plenty of them, and we’re all striving to get better,” DeFilippo said.
Head coach John DeFilippo and his Memphis Showboats host the 5-0 Birmingham Stallions at Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at 11:00AM Central (12:00PM Eastern). The game will be broadcast on ABC (Streaming) and good tickets are available via Ticketmaster and Stubhub.
