A little coup for the Stuttgart Surge! With Benji Barnes, one of the routinier-defenders of the Frankfurt Galaxy joins the Stuttgart Surge in the upcoming season. At 29-years of age, Barnes is one of the most-experienced players in the league and definitely a cornerstone to build your defense around. After giving Defensive Coordinator Andy Meyer a new contract for 2022, the Surge are trying to get better in every part of the game, including the secondary. The allrounder had 35 tackles, three tackles for loss, one and a half sacks and one interceptions while playing all games of the regular season and post season, leading the Galaxy to the Championship game win against the Hamburg Sea Devils.

"Stuttgart fits perfectly into my life situation at the moment, as I still have a part-time job in Frankfurt and therefore always have to commute. Stuttgart was the perfect match. Of course, Martin and I have known each other for a long time. In fact, Martin played football with my father at the Knights back in the day. We were born in the same city and despite all these connections in our past, interestingly enough, our paths never crossed in football. So it feels like a destiny that I finish my career with Martin as my coach," Barnes explains in the press release of the Surge.

"He has always been able to contribute to championship teams. Especially in our defense backfield, he is certainly in very good hands and has the chance to further develop with his experience. We are looking forward to that," Hanselmann explained the commitment.

He has his sights set on doing just that: "I've not only come to Stuttgart to form a very good team in the long term and to be successful, but I'm also here to prove that you don't always have to join superteams to be successful. Good players can get the maximum potential out of any team and that's my goal. There are so many diamonds in the rough here that can shine with a little fine-tuning this year," Barnes explained, adding, "What we create here in Stuttgart will soon be the talk of the town. For me, this is not just about the playing side of things, but also about the whole franchise. We will create tradition and establish ourselves more and more. The surge is on a rise."

‍

‍

‍

‍