Andy Hamilton

ahamilton@dmreg.com

Darius Reynolds teed up a football Tuesday morning at one goal line and sent a majestic kick sailing 60 yards across Wells Fargo Arena and through the nine-foot gap between the uprights.

Just to prove his first attempt was no fluke, the Iowa Barnstormers receiver lined up a few minutes later and did it again.

"I've actually never even hit the net in here," the former Iowa State standout admitted. "I talk all the time about trying me here or trying me there. They know I'm joking, but (coach Mike Hohensee) put me on the spot, so I had to show you something."

The Barnstormers have learned this much while living out of their suitcases during the first month of the Arena Football League season: They like being around each other this year, they appreciate any practice time they can get on a regulation field and they know where to turn in a pinch if they ever need a spare kicker.

"That's our punt, pass and kick guy right there," Hohensee said Tuesday as he looked toward Reynolds, a former junior college quarterback who led the Cyclones in receiving as a senior in 2011.

"He can probably out-throw all of our quarterbacks, to tell you the truth. He's got a tremendous arm, he can kick, he's just a tremendous athlete, and when he's on he's a tough receiver to cover."

After three straight road trips to open the season, the Barnstormers (1-2) finally stepped into their home arena for the first time Tuesday. They're so new to their surroundings that quarterback Carson Coffman had to ask for directions to the team's locker room.

What's more, Tuesday also marked the team's first practice this season on a regulation field. The Barnstormers ran drills last week outside at Williams Stadium, but most of their prep work has been done on a partial field inside Hy-Vee Hall with no nets and a low ceiling. As a result, they've been brushing up their kicking game during in-game situations.

"(Practice conditions) may be worse other places," said Hohensee, whose team opens its home schedule Saturday night against San Antonio. "I'm not complaining about it, I'm just letting you know the facts of what's going on and how happy we are to be in here."

After dropping eight of their last 10 games to finish 6-12 last season, the Barnstormers turned over nearly half of their roster.

Reynolds said they reshaped their locker room, too.

"Regardless of what the score is, we're never going to turn on each other," he said. "That's a big difference between this team this year and last year. Certain people wanted to point fingers last year and that's never a good thing. It starts arguments, you start losing trust in people and people don't want to play for other people. … This year there's much more of a family feel."

The Barnstormers brought back leading receiver Marco Thomas and brought in Coffman — a two-year starter at Kansas State — to get him the football. Thomas leads the league with 29 receptions while Coffman is third in passing yards with 804.

Coffman finished eighth in the league last year in passing and pass efficiency with the now-defunct Chicago Rush.

"He's very bright, a cerebral kid and he's got good ideas," Hohensee said. "He's not afraid to come talk to me about different things that are involved with the offense. He's able to make all of the arena throws that you've got to be able to make, and he's done that."

Though Hohensee said he'd like to see more consistency from his quarterback, the third-year coach said he's seeing weekly progress from Coffman. The same could probably be said for his team.

Hohensee said the defense has demonstrated glimpses of brilliance but hasn't yet been tested by a string of top quarterbacks and the offense is still going through the pains of a new quarterback adjusting to a new system with new receivers.

"We can't make rookie mistakes with our veterans and the first three games we made a few of those — and they would be the first ones to admit that, though," Hohensee said. "That's what I like about these guys — they're standup guys. They're working to get better and with all the new guys interacting I think everyone's been trying to figure out where they fit. I think that's probably been one of our problems. We even have two new coaches to a four-man staff. It's a work in progress, but I think we have the talent to win."