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closePat O'Hara has been given the daunting task of turning the Tri-Cities Fever around. And he has just 11 games to do it.
The former Arena Football League star was named the Fever's new coach Monday, two days after Richard Davis was fired.
A press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. today at Toyota Center to make the formal announcement.
O'Hara takes over a team in disarray. The Fever is coming off a 69-33 loss to Manchester on Friday and has less than five days before it plays host to Central Valley on Saturday night.
The Fever is off to its worst start in franchise history at 0-5 and has lost 12 straight games overall. In its last 25 games, the Fever is just 4-21.
Tri-Cities has lost its last four games by an average of 37 points. It is averaging a league-worst 30.2 points per game and allowing 62 points per game, which ranks 23rd in the af2.
"He knows what he's up against," said Fever general manager Randy Schillinger.
O'Hara, who played at USC, was hired as the Los Angeles Avengers coach of the Arena Football League in July, but the AFL canceled its season five months later. The Avengers franchise has since folded.
O'Hara played quarterback for 11 seasons in the AFL and played in five ArenaBowls, winning three championships.
He was considered one of the top offensive coordinators in the AFL, spending three seasons with the Tampa Bay Storm before taking the head coaching job in Los Angeles.
"He was hired by the Avengers, so he can't be that bad," Schillinger joked.
Fever owner Doug MacGregor added, "we got to get this ship on the right course as quickly as possible."
But turning the Fever around is more than wins and losses. The team has seen a huge dip in ticket sales over the past two seasons, as fans have become increasingly frustrated with the product on the field.
In 2007, the Fever's average attendance was more than 4,600 in its eight home dates. Last season, it dropped to just over 4,100.
This season it's at an all-time low. The Fever drew just 3,608 for its home opener -- the lowest number in franchise history. Through two home games this season, Tri-Cities is averaging just over 3,400 fans.
MacGregor said earlier this week that he is not surprised by the declining numbers because he called the team "unwatchable" at times.
He said his is not expecting O'Hara to go out and win the final 11 games of the season; he just wants the Fever to be competitive again.
"If you're competitive on the field, you will win some games," MacGregor said.
Despite the current state of the team, MacGregor said there was quite a bit of interest in the coaching vacancy.
Former Boise Burn coach Lee Leslie also was a strong candidate to replace Davis but has family commitments he needs to consider.
"I could not give a quick answer," said Leslie, who was a consultant with the Fever in 2005 during its championship run in the National Indoor Football League.
Schillinger said it is O'Hara's call as to if he wants to keep the current Fever assistant coaches.
The Fever, which made the jump from the NIFL to the af2 in 2007, has had its share of coaching problems in recent years.
Tony Wells, who guided the Fever to the playoffs in 2007, was fired less than a week after the season. He was then rehired, before being fired again after he was arrested as a fugitive from justice and placed in Benton County jail for outstanding warrants.
Cedric Walker came in last season and led the Fever to a
4-12 mark. The Fever started the season 0-4 and finished with seven straight losses. He was fired less than a month after the season ended.
Davis was then brought in last August to re-brand the Fever. It was his job to clean up the Fever's image in the community, and bring some respectability back to the organization.
His only fault was he didn't win enough games.
Davis said this was probably his last stop in his af2 coaching career. If so, he walks away with a 46-39 career-record. The 46 wins tie him for 10th all-time in the af2.
"The fans deserve better than what they are getting," Schillinger said.
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