Jankovich resigns Gladiators post

As volatile as the Gladiators’ head coaching post has been, the team’s general manager position has been just as tumultuous.

Another shake-up is under way with Sam Jankovich leaving. Team owner Jim Ferraro termed it “a mutual decision.”

Ferraro said Wednesday a final agreement has not been reached with Jankovich but that he expects to have a new general manager hired by late October.

The Arena Football League’s free-agency period begins soon, and the Gladiators own the rights to the first pick of the dispersal draft after the Austin Wranglers folded. But Ferraro said his new coaching staff, led by Mike Wilpolt, can handle those decisions.

The 73-year-old Jankovich said he approached Ferraro about stepping down. Jankovich was hired in August 2006.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a long time, and this decision is what I’d like to do,” Jankovich said. “I wish the Gladiators nothing but the best. I enjoyed Las Vegas.”

Jankovich might have wanted to leave, but Ferraro was not pleased with two of the GM’s significant decisions. Jankovich was behind moving from the Thomas & Mack Center to the Orleans Arena as well as playing home games on Sunday afternoons, which drew sparse crowds during the 2-14 season.

“That was presented to me as an essential move,” Ferraro said of going to the Orleans Arena. “I did it because (Jankovich) was so adamant about it.”

Despite his misgivings about leaving the Thomas & Mack, Ferraro said his priority is to stay at the Orleans next season. He wants to play on more popular Friday and Saturday nights and would like to meet with Orleans Arena management.

Orleans Arena general manager Steve Stallworth said the Gladiators contacted him every year about possibly moving to his venue, and he said each time only Sundays were available. The two-year contract the club signed in February, Stallworth said, called for Sundays only.

Even so, he said the arena would consider some Fridays and Saturdays but that the Wranglers, who have an 11-year contract, take priority.

“They’re committed to what happens on the ice, they’re committed to the front office, they’re committed to the community, and they signed a long-term agreement,” Stallworth said. “All the things the football team is not known for.”

Stallworth also said Orleans Arena management was concerned because Ferraro owes $56,000 to the Thomas & Mack. Ferraro has said he will address the matter, but Stallworth said clearing up any outstanding debt with the previous tenant was part of the Orleans Arena deal.

“Boyd Gaming would never ever have entered into any relationship with him if we had known he hadn’t paid that,” Stallworth said.