“We were going in the right direction and I was optimistic going into the season, then the pandemic hit,” Nottingham Caesars Head Coach, Vanden Warner looking back on a year without American Football.

As club loyalties go, that in which Nottingham’s Vanden Warner has shown, and continues to, with the Nottingham Caesars, is quite exemplary.

A career which spans that of player, offensive coordinator, and, since 2018, head coach, means that Warner, and his trusted backroom staff, are well placed to talk about American Football.

Success however is something which ‘The Big C,’ as they are affectionately known, have been starved off, especially with no appearance in the Britbowl for near two decades now.

One thing Warner has found though is that, when changing from OC, a position he held for near five years, to HC, one he took on in 2018, is that it’s made things, over time, a little easier for him.

“I was the OC with the Caesars for what, four, maybe five years, and initially, yes, I found it quite hard,” admits Coach Warner.

“That was made even more so when taking on the entire offensive line, having to change from what I was playing myself, to much more; it was traditional, but not predictable, and I found myself juggling many different hats.

“However, I was fortunate that I knew a few guys who knew that role more than I and, when the Head Coach position came along, I was more than happy to step aside, take on that position, and left them to handle the offense.”

Even since taking on the role of HC with ‘The Big C’ it’s been far from a bed of roses for Coach Warner, including the complete wipe-out of last season due to the ongoing, global health crisis.

There was early signs of a bright future forming over their Bilborough home, just prior to everything going crazy, a brightness which was exciting their Coach and his backroom staff.

“We struggled initially and that first season, it was a long, tough one,” admits the former OC.

“We really wanted that season to be over and to hit the rest button, start again, bringing in new personnel which we did reasonably well with, and quite quickly having put the feelers out and ensured that Grant Lawless came here.

“That gave us a better feeling going into what would have been last season and it freed myself to continue doing other things.

“In fact, we were really confident, and knew we could be competitive with that new personnel we’d brought in, coaching, and playing-wise.”

And then came the global health crisis, pretty much wiping out everything over the past twelve months or so.

Like the majority of ‘non-elite’ sports across the UK, that of the British American Football scene was also affected, seeing no action for some time now, whilst Stateside, they’ve recently completed their season with a somewhat emphatic Super Bowl victory for Tom Brady’s ‘Tompa’ Bay Buccaneers, 31-9, over Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs.

“When the pandemic begun it was a case of what to do, are just going to wait it out, but it wasn’t to be,” explained Warner.

“We only really expected it lasting a few months and now, a year later, we found ourselves having to do something (they’ve not even been able to train) so we’ve spent the past couple of months going through the playbook, ready for when we do start back again (they’ve been running virtual classes at least once a week).”

For now though, it is a waiting game, for many people, and in many walks of life. Some have meandered on over the past year, others have come to a near standstill, and with BAFA, and a season which usually runs from April to around August/September, it’s currently looking like, maybe, a summer re-start – who knows, then maybe they can get some game-time back, and renew some of those old rivalries.

“We’ve found ourselves travelling as far north as Glasgow and East Kilbride, and to South Wales the other way,” concludes Warner.

“But as far as rivalries go, it has be the Leicester Falcons; it used to be the Birmingham Bulls and the Leicester Panthers in the days of the Hoods though and we’ve had some intense rivalries with them down the years.”

Those rivalries will return, Coach Warner and his Nottingham Caesars will return, hopefully soon, and the world as a whole will look to return to some kind of normality – it’s just a matter of time, and patience.

And with more than 25 years in the sport himself, Warner has plenty of that under his belt.

*Article provided by Peter Mann (Senior Correspondent).

*Main image @CaesarsFootball Coach Vanden Warner is hoping to get back in action soon.