Las Vegas – Doug Plank can speak from experience on being associated with a uniform number.
Quarterback John Elway is known fondly as No. 7 to avid Broncos fans.
Plank wore No. 46 while playing linebacker for the Chicago Bears in the early 1980s. His play led Bears defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan to etch Plank into football lore by calling the team’s aggressive defensive scheme the “46 defense.” Variations of that defensive spread are still used today.
“It’s overwhelming to know that something sustained itself beyond the playing career,” Plank said. “You always want to look back on your career in the NFL as a time when you played as hard as you could, and I did that. I guess I’m the answer to a trivia question.”
Plank missed playing on the Bears’ Super Bowl championship team during the 1985 season by a couple of years, but Sunday he’ll be involved in the Arena- Bowl as the coach of the Georgia Force. The Force reached the Arena Football League’s title game, and Plank was named the AFL’s coach of the year in his rookie season. His team won the National Conference title and will face the Colorado Crush, co-owned by Elway, for the AFL title Sunday.
“Things in life are all a matter of timing,” Plank said. “It was the right time for me to be here.”
While several people with NFL connections have struggled in the arena league – including the Crush’s first coach Bob Beers and former Broncos quarterback Steve DeBerg – Plank put in time in the right places to help his transition.
He was an assistant coach for the Arizona Rattlers for three years before taking over in Georgia and worked with successful Rattlers coach Danny White. After a year away from the league, White will be the coach of the AFL expansion team in Salt Lake City next season.
“The Rattlers were in the ArenaBowl the last three years,” Plank said. “I’ve probably been to more playoff games as a coach than most coaches in the league. Danny White gave me the opportunity to become a coach, and I learned a great deal from him.
“I’d like to say I’m a genius and did this myself, but I copied from and learned from the coaches I have been associated with.”
Plank played for Woody Hayes at Ohio State and for Ryan and coach Mike Ditka with the Bears.
Before joining the Rattlers’ coaching staff, Plank was a radio analyst and a player scout for the team for seven years.
“I knew the players in the league and all the strategy and tactics,” Plank said. “Without some experience in the league, it would be difficult to come strictly from the NFL to the arena league. The arena game is simpler because of the restrictions in stunting and rushing the quarterback. You need bigger and stronger defensive backs.”
Plank and Crush coach Mike Dailey have met a few times on opposite benches.
“He has done a heck of a job at Georgia,” Dailey said. “He’s a class person on and off the field.”
Plank, 52, gauges his success by how hard he has pursued his goals.
“I’m overwhelmed by some things,” Plank said. “Some people might even be surprised. But I have worked hard to develop the skills I’ve needed, and I have been totally focused on accomplishing things I’ve wanted to do.”
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
