Since losing the 2007 finals in heartbreaking fashion – the Wolves had a 13 point lead over the Vukovi with 1:30 left – the club has been fighting its own demons in the League in some sense. They lost in the semi-finals twice, once to the Vukovi and the Silverhawks each, and completely missed out on the playoffs in 2009. While the organization is still dedicated to the no-imports policy – the Wolves believe in developing in-house talent and attracting quality players from the region – some important changes have been made. The team added Anthony G. Salati, a former college and professional defensive lineman as motivational and line coach. Also, the club has realized that the Vukovi and the Silverhawks had an edge last year in terms of gym workouts, overall strength and stamina, hence the team has introduced a new off-season training program.

Although some of the veteran players have since retired, mostly players on the defensive line and in the secondary, the rest of the squad showed great dedication in off-season training and the intense preseason workouts. A number of the retired veterans stayed with the team though and are helping the organization in other important functions as board members, as trainers in the youth program or organizing games for example. The Wolves wouldn’t be who they are without their head coach Lee J. Hlavka who has returned for a seventh season and who will hopefully have some more tricks up his sleeve this year. Those who pay close attention to defensive work probably realize that during its tenure in the League the team changed defensive fronts and coverages in its base defense, while having some special package introduced each and every year. Coach Hlavka’s long time assistant, William Goldenberg freed from line coaching duties is also returning as offensive coordinator for the season.

The core group of players has also returned, Csaba Péter is still the captain and heart of the defense on the field, pairing up with Eric Peterson (SMU) at MLB, with 2010 Hungarian League MVP Balázs Ágota (OLB) and the super talented 21-year-old Dániel Stadler (DE) wreaking havoc on the outside. On the offense the only major change is that last year’s starting QB in the CEFL, Attila Lendvai is studying in the States. He is scheduled to return in May. His replacement, Dávid Récsey showed great game management skills in the fall in national competition and István Kovács, who is the head coach at the second team, has also proven himself a viable option. The successful FB-TB tandem of Péter Cseperkáló and László Csizmazia will share some carries with probably the most versatile player on the squad Gergely Horváth, who has returned after a season with the Fehérvár Enthroners and is able to line up on a number of positions on both the offensive and defensive side.

The Wolves have played two preseason games so far, stomping the Budapest Cowboys 54:14 in their season opener and emerging as 28:7 winners against the Bratislava Monarchs in a tough physical battle on the first weekend of April. In a lot of ways the team showed early season form in both games but the coaching staff has two more weeks of practice to prepare the squad for their CEFL opener on 16th April against the Istanbul Cavaliers.