Rather than panic, Plank confidently handed the reins of the offense over to his backup quarterback—a fiery competitor by the name of Matt Nagy—and the new Bears head coach responded by leading the Force to an 11-5 record, two playoff victories and an appearance in Arena Bowl XIX.
"Matt was outstanding," Plank said. "He was the next-man-up and he came in and just killed it. He was a great teammate. He was one of those guys that everybody depended on and did a great job."
Nagy was selected second-team All-AFL in 2005 after completing 68.8 percent of his passes for 3,003 yards with 66 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.