Stuttgart Surge: Declaration of war after the bitter end of the season

The next day, their heads were clear again. Despite all the disappointment over the 23:29 defeat after extra time, Suni Musa and his head coach were looking ahead. “Being eliminated like this hurts a lot, and it will hurt for a long time,” explained Jordan Neuman, “but at the same time, we showed that we have the mindset to win the title.” There is no other goal for us next season – that is 100 percent certain.”

Stuttgart Surge makes too many big mistakes

Stuttgart Surge came close this year. In the main round, they suffered only one defeat, and in the semifinals, with the score at 23:13 four minutes before the end, the team looked like the sure winners. Until the player who had led the team outstandingly for two years became the unlucky one. Two passes from quarterback Reilly Hennessey were intercepted: one shortly before the end by Omari Williams, one in overtime by Till Janssen, who was named the most important player of the game. The guests used the first loss of the ball to equalize at 23:23 seconds before the clock ran out, and the second for the final touchdown. When asked what his team was missing, Neuman replied: “We made too many mistakes, and it wasn’t just about small things.”

However, nobody blamed Reilly Hennessey. The coach said that the two scenes were “completely untypical” for the quarterback. These are supported by the statistics: In the regular season, Reilly Hennessey only made five interceptions in twelve games. This is also why Suni Musa emphasized how “highly professional, ultra clever and decisive” the American had played for two years: “Ultimately, he lost the momentum. I feel so sorry for him when he finished.”

Reilly Hennessey’s last game

Reilly Hennessey (28), who actually wanted to end his career a year ago but then returned to Stuttgart, wore the Surge jersey for the last time on Sunday – which made the end all the more bitter for him personally. Especially since the offense had not managed to take advantage of the many opportunities that the self-sacrificing defense had given them in the entire second half – among other things, the Stuttgart defense recorded two quarterback sacks and a further seven tackles with a loss of space for Rhein Fire. But the Surge attack only managed three points in the third and fourth quarters, and the touchdown that would have decided the game just didn’t work out. “We now have to analyze what we were missing – it certainly wasn’t quality,” said Suni Musa, “ultimately it was about nuances, maybe a little more cunning and one or two psychological aspects.”

Jordan Neuman sees it very similarly, and yet the most important position must be filled first: the Surge coach could imagine one or two quarterbacks who play in the ELF as the leader of his team. What if that doesn’t work out? “Then there are enough candidates in the USA,” said Neuman, “the difficulty will be to find someone who has a similarly high level of quality to Reilly Hennessey and also fits in with our character.”

Make the squad a little stronger

Talks with the current team will continue this week, and managing director Musa has clearly defined the goal: “We have a lot of young players, most of them come from the region.” We are focusing on continuity. I assume that we will see at least 80 percent of them again in Stuttgart.” Head coach Neuman would also be happy with that. “These guys have worked incredibly hard, always believed in themselves and shown that they are capable of winning the championship – we just missed the chance to bring home the victory against Rhein Fire,” he said, “now it’s about making the squad a little stronger in one place or another.”

So that Suni Musa doesn’t have to sit alone in a bar again at the end of the next season. Instead, he can have a big party with the team.