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SALT LAKE CITY - Utah Blaze head coach Ron James announced Monday afternoon the hiring of Tony Kimbrough as the team's new offensive coordinator. "We are excited to bring an offensive mind like Tony Kimbrough into our organization," James said. "We're looking forward to producing at the same level that our offense has been for the last few years, and having Tony in the offense will only add fuel to our fire." Most recently, Kimbrough was the offensive coordinator for the New York Dragons for three seasons (2005-07). "I'm very excited for the opportunity to lead the offensive side of the ball," said Kimbrough, who was a quarterback in the Arena Football League and Canadian Football League. "We have one of the league's best quarterbacks in Joe Germaine and exceptional receivers from last year. The Blaze are known for their explosive offense and I look forward to building upon it and making sure we continue to be one of the best offenses in the league." As the offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Destroyers in 2001, his offense ranked third in the league in passing and sixth in total offense. While he was the quarterbacks coach at San Jose in 1997, the SaberCats ranked fifth in the league in passing. Kimbrough, a Detroit native, played quarterback at Western Michigan University where he was the Mid-American Conference Most Valuable Player in 1988. He was later introduced into the WMU Hall of Fame in 2001. He also coached there in 2003 and 2004. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Sociology from WMU in 1998. Kimbrough, 44, has three sons - Kyler, Tony Jr., and Noah.
ABOUT THE UTAH BLAZE
The Utah Blaze were recipients of the Best Support Staff Award for the 2006 and 2007 seasons as recognized by the Arena Football League. Tickets are available by logging onto www.utahblaze.com or by calling (801) 257-3111. The Blaze are owned and operated by the Ken Garff Automotive Group - www.kengarff.com.
