Hohensee at the helm as Soul revival begins

Right after they decided to create indoor football a quarter of a century ago, they created Mike Hohensee.

That's an exaggeration, of course, but Hohensee is the only person who has been around as a player or a coach for the entire existence of this goofy experiment known as the Arena Football League.

He was there in 1987 when the league that began with a drawing on a beverage napkin took flight in four cities (Chicago, Denver, Pittsburgh and Washington). Hohensee was no superstar, but he did throw the first touchdown pass in AFL history.

Shortly after, he jumped into coaching and has been there ever since. He finally won his title in 2006 with Chicago and tomorrow will lead the Soul as it resumes play after a 2-year hiatus brought on by financial catastrophe.

"I played in the very first ArenaBowl, and every year after that, after training camp, I thought we were going to win it," Hohensee said. "But I didn't [think it would take] 20 years. When you have that many letdowns over a 24-year period, I think there has to be some kind of passion within you and that you think you always have a chance if you have the same approach every year."

What Hohensee faces with the Soul is unprecedented. He is trying to build a team from scratch that, according to those in the front office (i.e., his bosses), is the defending champion. The Soul, under then-coach Bret Munsey, won the title in 2008 just before the league shut down operations for a year. The Philadelphia franchise sat out in 2010, and now it is Hohensee's charge to rebuild the roster for 2011. Tomorrow's opener is in Pittsburgh at the House that Sidney Crosby is still building.

"The biggest concern is the newness," said Hohensee, who coached in Chicago from 2001-10 and built the Rush into an annual contender. "It's going to be loud in Pittsburgh, probably going to be a sellout. It's the first time the lights are on for some of these guys. The nets and hard walls . . . There's going to be an adjustment."

Every coach has loyal players, and, for Hohensee, that guy is star wide receiver Donovan Morgan. Morgan came to Hohensee as a brash, even difficult rookie in Chicago in 2008. By the time the year was over, his maturity had done a 180 and he was the AFL Rookie of the Year.