It took an extra day, but the Florida Firecats finally settled on their 22-man roster to begin the arenafootball2 season. Firecats coach Kevin Bouis said he needed the extra day because there was a record 35 players in training camp.

Now that the roster is set, Bouis likes what he sees.

“It was a solid camp,” he said. “It was long, but both the offensive and defensive units are coming together. I am pretty happy across the board with the team I have assembled.”

Despite the loses of several key players from last year’s squad to retirement and moves up to the AFL, Bouis is high on several new additions to this year’s team.

“One of the young guys to keep an eye on is rookie wide receiver Bruce Gordon, and our international player James Panui, another wide out, had an excellent camp with us,” Bouis said. “In our secondary we added veteran Carlos Campbell, who had a big training camp for us.”

Gordon is a native of Naples and is just happy to be a Firecat.

“I’m just glad to be a part of this team,” said Gordon, who won a state title at Naples High in 2001. “The whole team just opened up to me and took me under their wing to teach me the indoor game, which is a lot different from what I’m used to.”

In all, nearly two-thirds of the roster has changed from last year’s team.

One of the few returning veterans, wide out Brent Burnside, said, “The team looks young. There are a lot of guys with limited experience.”

Burnside said that won’t take away from how good the team should be.

“With youth comes a lot of vigor and talent,” he said. “This is probably one of the most talented teams I’ve ever been around.”

Along with all of the new talent, the Firecats added a new linebacker/line coach. Dominic Bramante comes with plenty of experience. He was last with the Tennessee Valley Vipers as their defensive coordinator and spent years coaching at the Division I collegiate level for several small schools on the East Coast.

Bramante comes with the pedigree and skills to improve a unit that was the team’s downfall at times last season. Bramante is very impressed with his new home.

“This organization is phenomenal,” said the Oklahoma native. “The organization that ownership has established here is just first class. Coach Bouis is as professional as they come. It’s obvious, now that I’m a part of this organization, why they win.”

The Firecats expect to win — a lot.

In fact, despite the addition of many rookies and their new line coach, the expectations for the season remain as high as they possibly can be.

To a man, when asked, all said nothing less than winning the championship would be a letdown.

“Every year, our first and only goal is to win the championship,” said Burnside. “We’ve done everything else as far as winning the conference and the division. Now, our only goal is to win a championship and this team is definitely capable of playing with any team in this league.”

Burnside added it’s the unique combination of youth and experience of this squad that gives everyone such high hopes. Of the 22 men to make the team five are rookies, but the majority of the others have at least two years of experience in the league.

That’s a good thing, if the Firecats hope to live up to their own lofty expectations.

The Firecats season begins on the road Sunday at Texas with their first home game slated for April 12 against Bramante’s former Tennessee Valley Vipers team.