Joining the coaching staff is Samuel Gutekunst who comes to the team with a wealth of experience both with the NFL and the NFL Europa.  Joining the offensive team is Running Back Waldimar Weizel, who comes to the team with play time experience in the German National League; to include being a former member of the GFL Division I, Hamburg Blue Devils.  Supporting these two key additions is a stable foundation of dedicated players to include a coaching staff with a new philosophy for 2009, ‘playing solid, fundamental football’.

Stable, strong and solid football is the core strengths that make Samuel Guntekunst such a talented player and a terrific coach.  Despite his actually joining the coaching staff in 2009, Samuel in not new to the Pikes.  For the past two years, he has been an integral member of the organization; however, his love of the game has seen him on the road for the past fours.  Samuel started his career as an offensive line coach with the Heiligenstein Crusaders as well as a player for the Saarland Hurricanes.  In 2005 he attended a minicamp in Tampa Bay, Fla.  At the conclusion of the camp he was assigned to the now defunct NFL Europa where he played one year with the Berlin Thunder and two years with the Frankfurt Galaxy.  From 2006-2008, he was fortunate to become apart of the NFL’s International Practice Squad Program; 2008 Seattle Seahawks, 2007 Jacksonville Jaguars and in 2006 the Baltimore Ravens.
Unfortunately due to an injury, Mr. Guntekunst has returned to Germany for an undisclosed period of time.  In a recent interview, he was asked why he is not playing for the Pikes, his response; “I am here to heal and to share what I have learned in the NFL, before I return to the states.  I am also fortunate to have a good friend like Coach Sven Gloss who will allow me to give these young men a little taste of what the NFL has to offer in the way of training and field strategy.”  When asked his overall assessment of the 2009 Pikes team, he stated that, “the team is a group of highly charged individuals, yet they are artfully disciplined as a unit.”  Coach Guntekunst is looking forward to working with the teams two strong RB’s; Ernesto Ramos who is a returning player with 20 Touchdowns under his belt, and Waldimar Weizel the newbie who comes to the team with national experience and press that names him as one of the best RB’s in Germany.  Guntekunst concluded his interview by making the following statement, “It has been a pleasure working with Ramos and Weizel, both are strong, fast and disciplined athletes, who will rise to the occasion and meet the goals set for them this season.”

Waldimar Weizel comes to the Pikes with a long football history.  He started his football career with a Jr. Team in Saarbrucken, quickly advancing to the Sr. team where National Scouts saw his potential and offered him a spot with the GFL Division I, Hamburg Blue Devils.  His time with the Blue Devils was truly noteworthy, however when comparing the GFL to the NFL, the monetary compensations fall drastically short of the mark.  Unlike the NFL majority of the GFL players also maintain fulltime careers off the field.  For Weizel the choice between his career, financial stability, personal obligations and football resulted in a move from Hamburg to Saarbrucken Germany.  When deciding wich team to play for, Weizel was quickly recruited by his longtime friend and Pikes QB Dennis Rohleder.  Weizel stated in an interview that, “I have been buds with Dennis for a longtime and many years ago I promised him that I would come play for Kaiserslautern if he was successful in moving the team into the GFL Division II.  He did and here I am.”  Weizel went on to say that, “the Pikes are a very dedicated, focused and powerful team.”  Weizel is elated to have made the move and as with every season he sets goals for himself; for 2009 he wants be a team leader along with the QB and to give this season his all.
From the players to the coaches the goals are different in application, yet parallel in theory.  Coach Gloss’s main goal for 2009 is to maintain team membership within the GFL II.   Gloss predicts that this season will be a tough battle for the Sr. Pikes as they will be playing against teams like Wiesbaden, Darmstadt and Franken who all have GFL level experience and power on their side.  Additionally, Gloss wants to tap deeply into the knowledge and skill of his coaching squad, with the hopes of injecting their combined training and experience into the players and the team as a whole.  The strategy for 2009, Gloss states, “ despite the game plan of many teams in the GFL II, the Pikes will not focus on one or two key players, the focus will be on the whole team concept, beginning with his talented and gifted QB, moving on to incorporating the strength and versatility of this two RB’s and so forth.  When looking at the team defense, Coach Gloss wants to use 2009 as a year of rebuilding as the line lost a vital player when Michael Germann left the team at the end of last season as result of career progression which moved him from the area.

2008-2009 has seen the Pikes Hail and Farewell some outstanding athletes, and for Coach Gloss it is hard to predict where the team stands both mentally and physically as a result of the changes.  The gauge of their readiness will come on 18 Apr, when the Pikes play the Weinhiem Longhorns, a GFL I ranked team.  To support the teams’ foundation and maintenance as members of the GFL II, the Sr. Pikes will promote fifteen players from the junior to the senior team.  Amongst the fifteen are three players to watch for, AJ Koenen, Andrea Grimes and Nico Lester, all three have recently completed try-outs for the German National Jr. Team.    New players, new strategy, new contenders supported by an experienced team equals another year of hard hitting playing action on the field as well as high energy fan participation off the field.