Gladiators new coach no stranger to improving teams

Mike Wilpolt stepped into a difficult situation in 2004 and nearly took the Indiana Firebirds to the Arena Football League playoffs.

Now he steps into another tough spot and will try to turn around a struggling Gladiators franchise that has not made the postseason since 2003, its first year in Las Vegas.

The defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Avengers the past three seasons, Wilpolt agreed to become the Gladiators coach, Las Vegas general manager Sam Jankovich said Wednesday.

"He's a very talented guy," Jankovich said. "He has great experience.

"He's going to be a very good coach."

Jankovich said Wilpolt, who is working at his offseason home in Carmel, Ind., has put together a staff but did not have the particulars.

Attempts to reach Wilpolt, whose outgoing phone message said he was with the Las Vegas Gladiators, were unsuccessful. So was an attempt to reach club owner Jim Ferraro.

Wilpolt, 39, is familiar with Las Vegas. He played with the Las Vegas Sting in 1994 and 1995, the first incarnation of the AFL here.

He was in his sixth season as an assistant with Indiana when the Firebirds fired coach Steve DeBerg following an 0-5 start in 2004. Wilpolt immediately turned them into contenders by winning the next six games.

They went 8-3 under Wil-polt's watch to finish 8-8 and just miss the postseason. He was a finalist for league Coach of the Year.

Indiana folded after that season, and Wilpolt went to Los Angeles.

He faces a tough task in the Gladiators, who went 2-14 last season in coach Danton Barto's only year. They are coming off back-to-back losing seasons and have not made the playoffs since going 8-8 in 2003.

The Gladiators' last winning season occurred in 2002 when they were based in New Jersey. They were 9-5.

Wilpolt will be the club's fourth coach in five years.