AVENGERS UPDATE: HODGKISS NEW AVENGERS COACH OWNER `DEMANDS A WINNER'.

Byline: Rich Hammond Staff Writer

Avengers owner Casey Wasserman introduced his team's new head coach Friday by saying, ``I demand a winner and L.A. demands a winner.''

Good luck, Ed Hodgkiss.

Hodgkiss, the 30-year-old former offensive coordinator of the arena league's Indiana Firebirds, became the Avengers' third coach in three years when he accepted a three-year contract.

He takes over a franchise with an 8-20 overall record and is being counted on to improve a moribund Avengers offense that averaged 40.3 points per game last season, second-worst in the 19-team arena league.

It's a team, however, that Wasserman said ``is on par, talent-wise, with any team in the Arena Football League,'' a team the owner expects to contend for a championship soon.

``It's not only a challenge, it's one of the reasons I was excited about taking this job,'' Hodgkiss said. ``A lot of times when you start out as a head coach, you have to build from the ground up. I think there's a base here that I can build on and get this turned around.''

Last season, Hodgkiss' offense finished third in the league in scoring (58.1 points per game) and total yards (301.6 per game). He spent five years with the Firebirds, including the last three as offensive coordinator, and won an Arena Bowl title in 1999, when the team was in Albany.

Hodgkiss will be the team's offensive coordinator and also have the final say in personnel matters. His first priority is to hire a coaching staff and prepare for the free-agent signing date, which has not yet been announced by the league.

``Let's be honest, arena football is all about offense, and to say the least, our offense hasn't been great over the past two years,'' Wasserman said. ``I demand a winner and L.A. demands a winner, and in hiring Ed Hodgkiss as our coach, we're going to give the fans a winner.''

Hodgkiss was the team's second choice. Pat Sperduto, former head coach of the Nashville Kats, chose to remain in the city and take over an expansion team. Hodgkiss won out over three other candidates, including Avengers interim coach Robert Lyles, who went 5-6 last year.

``When we met with Ed, we took him to dinner down the street,'' team president Todd Merkow said, referring to himself, Wasserman and business executive Kevin Demoff. ``Once we started to talk to Ed about the offense, it became clear that all three of us could go out on Santa Monica Boulevard and run the offense.

``What happened was all the salt and pepper shakers and the sugar holders all became part of formations. The waitress came over to ask if we were ready to order and she said, `Clearly you're not, you're running offenses on the table.' ''