Friday Round-Up: Coaching Carousel

Just a quick reminder before we get started, the Rider Prophet Awards will be handed out on Monday so you only have a few more hours to get your vote in for the Fan’s Choice Douche Bag of the Year.

After a week where everything not related to the Grey Cup was kept quiet, the news came flowing fast a furious this week. The bulk of the news centered around coaching and the Riders are at the centre of a lot of it. Here’s what we know:

By all accounts outside of WR Coach Jason Tucker and OL Coach Doug Malone, all other assistant coaches are not expected to return next year (though we are still awaiting official word from the Riders). That includes OC George Cortez (who has been confirmed now), DC Richie Hall and ST/C Bob Dyce. I’m surprised at this move to clean house, I’m under no illusion that our coaches were without issue but we just won a Grey Cup and were 9-2 before our franchise QB went down. Seems to me, more of our issues relate to scouting deficiencies at QB, WR and MLB (something that even Taman admitted to) but that is a topic for another day.

Obviously I’m choked about the Cortez move. Had anyone seen my face 2 years ago when I found out we landed him it would have rivaled that of a kid on Christmas morning. I had an overt man crush on him. Clearly he had a litany of issues this season but when you look at his track record it’s tough to let someone of that calibre go. I get the sense Cortez ain’t always the easiest guy to work with (find me an old man that is) but this definitely a loss for the team. I’m not confident we will be able to replace him with anyone close to his calibre. Remember that his predecessor was Bob freakin’ Dyce. The rumoured list of potential replacements includes Paul LaPolice (who I’m not confident we land), Jacques Chapdelaine (who I’m not confident we want) and Khari Jones (who would be great as a QB coach but did little to impress in his first year as OC in BC).

The Richie Hall move doesn’t surprise me overall. But the timing is puzzling. I expected Chamblin to axe Richie when he first took charge. They have very different defensive philosophies and I expected Chamblin to opt for a DC who was more in line with his world view. But they have now co-existed for 3 years and our defense over that span has been a real strong point for the team. Not sure why make the move now? The "we are looking to see if we can find someone better" approach we are taking is one of the oddest things I've ever seen. Apparently Devone Claybrooks is at the top of Chamblin’s wish list as a replacement.

The Bob Dyce move is the one I care least about. He was a sub-par receivers coach, a sub-par OC, looked good as ST/C last year but terrible this year (though to be fair the bulk of his Canadian starters on specials teams got hurt which had to be a factor). Word is Dyce is being considered for the Head Coach of the U of R Rams.

In other coaching news:

-          The candidate list for the vacant BC Head Coach position is said to include LaPolice, Charlie Taffe, Jeff Garcia and Orlando Steinhauer. Reports also suggests Buono’s preference would be for an offensive minded coach.  

-          Jason Maas has been named the OC of the RedBlacks 

-          John Hufnagel will remain HC for next season and Dave Dickenson will take over as HC in 2016. Also word is Marc Mueller while remain on the coaching staff but move to the offensive coaching side.

NFL Watch

Shawn Lemon – Has workouts scheduled with Seattle, Washington, Denver and at least 9 other teams.

Brett Jones – At least 9 teams have expressed interest in the League’s Top Lineman

Duron Carter – Has a workout with the Cleveland Browns and interest from a number of other teams. Simply put if your hall of fame dad can’t get you a shot down south after his performance up here, you should just give up on the NFL dream forever.

Delvin Breaux – Reportedly garnering a ton of NFL interest

CFL Ins and Outs

BC

Out: DB Dante Marsh, DL Khalif Mitchell, P Ricky Schmitt, LB Jamal Johnson (option year not exercised by team)

Also, Buono announced that they will not be making an offer to pending FA Kevin Glenn… which is a bold strategy given Lulay’s bum shoulder and the total lack of experience in Beck and Partridge. My only hope is that Glenn lands in either Edmonton or Montreal so the dream of him hitting for the CFL cycle stays alive.

Winnipeg

In: OL Pat Neufeld (contract extension)

If this is part of Winnipeg’s plan to fix the dreadful O-line then Drew Willy better start stocking up on pain killers now.

Toronto

In: DB Eric Black, OL Jas Dhillon (contract extension)

Montreal

In: LB Chip Cox (contract extension)

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Belated Grey Cup Edition

Sunday marked the end of the CFL as the Grey Cup was handed out... to the damn Stamps. I was just happy the game was exciting enough to hold my attention. Part way through the 1st half I was convinced that after the halftime show I would be switching to the NFL game but fortunately the Ti-Cats decided to mount a comeback and make it for an interesting second half and a dramatic finish. In no particualr order other than when the pop into my head, here are my thoughts on the game:

- Poor Hamilton fans. Embarrassed last year, heart broken this year. As someone whose sports team has inflicted a lot of pain on my heart over the years, I suggest numbing the pain with alcohol, a lot of it. I also suggest not driving or going to work while you take this prescription.

- Much like in '09, a last minute gaffe (which was defintely a penalty) will overshadow all the other ways that the rest of the team pissed that game away. Taylor Reed didn't let a FG kick get blocked. Reed wasn't responsible for a non-existant run game, Reed didn't fail to score from inside the 5 yard line, Reed didn't allow a sack on a 3 man rush with the game on the line. So yes he screwed up but the other 43 players are just a responsible for that loss.

- I get that after a massive return Brandon Banks likely needed to catch his breath. But with the championship on the line and under a minute left in the game how was he not out there? After one play off, Banks needs to suck it up princess and get on the field. To not have your most dangerous weapon on the field for the finals plays of the game is inexcusable.

- Bo Levi Mitchell is pretty freaking good! Scary to think that he's only 24 and in his first year as a starter.

- Dave Dickenson also deserves a ton of credit for a great game plan. Hamilton's big strength on D is their run D and Dickenson made it a non factor by attacking them through the air and using Cornish as a big decoy.

- The more I watch Brandon Stewart play, the more I think SJ Green was right about him.

- Stamps will have some decisions to make at receiver this offseason. They have McDaniel, Price, West, Fuller, Cunningham and now Rogers. Something as gotta give. A lot of speculation that the something will be Maurice Price. Makes sense as he would be the highest paid and has the durability of Buck Pierce.

- Bar none the highlight of the game was Hickman absolutely destroying Rob Maver and using Maver's battered corpse to knock out another Calgary cover guy. Holy crap!

- I wonder how much the League read the teams the riot act about not screwing up the individual player introductions? PS - Congrats to Rico Murray on not falling down this time.

- In Rider news, George Cortez in done as our OC and there are rumours that Richie Hall, Barron Miles and Bob Dyce may join him... I'll have more on that later in the week. Spoiler alert: I'm not as elated at the Cortez move as the rest of the world.

Thus ends another season of CFL action. Stick with me throughout the offseason as I will keep you up to date with all the goings on. For example, there are only 4 days left to vote for the Fans' Choice Douchebag of the Year. Chris Jones is in the lead but thanks to the strength of write-in votes, 2 time winner Jon Cornish is in contention for a 3-peat. Cast your vote today.

Friday Thoughts: Grey Cup 102

The holy grail of Canadian football will be handed out on Sunday... though given that they grey Cup is not a fictional item and has not had a hilarious Monty Python movie written about it, maybe holy grail isn't the best term. Anywho, Ticats play the Stamps on Sunday for the championship. I won't go into full detail on the game but given that I fancy myself a CFL blogger I suppose I should make some effort to comment on the biggest game of the year.

Predictably I am cheering for the Ticats. What can I say? I hate the Stamps. With Bo Levi Mitchell as their QB over Tate, they are slightly more likable but not enough to overcome the deeply engrained hatred. Plus as someone who cheers for a team that has put us fans through a lot of misery and hell, I feel compelled to root for the fan base that has paid more dues. Hamilton has gone 15 years since its last Grey Cup and its not like those years were roses and sunshine. They were god awful for a lot of those years. The endured 1 win seasons, the Jason Maas experiment, the Casey Printers experiment, the Burris experiment, one of the worst plans ever to build a new stadium. They've been through the ringer. By contrast, the Stamps last won the Cup in '08 and while their steady string of regular season dominance and post season futility since its not enough misery to earn the sympathy of this grizzled heart.

Now who I'm cheering for is a completely different matter than who expect to win. The Stamps are pretty good on both sides of the ball and have shown solid depth all year long. The TiCats are no slouches and bring a good D but I really don't think they have the offensive fire power that the Stamps have. Can't expect Brandon Banks to win the game for them two weeks in a row. The Ti-Cats have really good run D (best in the CFL) so I don't expect Cornish to run all over them as some do. But the Stamps have a lot of ways to beat you offensively. Collaros can certainly put up passing yards but their ground game is far from a sure thing and they have a lot of solid receivers but no real game breakers. Hamilton needs to keep it close to have any chance in this one.

I'm hoping for the Ticats but expecting the Stamps.

As you enjoy the game be sure to get your votes in for Fans' Choice Douchebag of the Year. We already have 4 write in votes for Jon Cornish so he is very much alive in the race to three-peat.

Monday Morning Sentimonies: Cast Your Vote

Well the match-up is set for the Grey Cup. The Ticats used a heavy dose of Brandon Banks to beat the Als. I have to admit, while I'm glad the Ticats won, I was really enjoying SJ Green backing up his trash talk with a monster performance. As for the West, the Esks learned that playing a crippled QB and an inability to score TDs will only prove successful if you face an offense as futile as the Riders. I was secretly hoping for an epic Stamps collapse but that just wasn't in the cards.

I'll have more Grey CUp thoughts later this week but for now we need to get to some important business.The 8th Annual Rider Prophet Awards will soon be handed out and as you can tell by the poll at the top of the page, its time for you the fans to cast your vote for the Fans' Choice Douchebag of the Year. This year's nominee's include a who's who of the douchiest of people in the CFL this season:

Kyries Hebert – Nominated for blatantly taking a headshot at 2 time reigning douchebag of the year Jon Cornish. Not only was it a nasty hit that has no place in this game (and was severely under-penalized) it also made me feel some degree of compassion for Cornish which is reason enough to put Hebert on the nomination block

Chris Jones – This one is kinda self explanatory as Jones is just an a-hole and that’s a well known fact. If you want specific reasons you should vote for him I could point to his refusal to shake hands after a game but the one that really irked me was when he refused to have his team on the field in time for the national anthem. 

Pat Watkins – Nominated for uttering a homophobic slur towards Bo Levi Mitchell that got caught on camera. I’m not so naïve as to think this is the first time Watkins has said such things towards an opponent, this is just the first time he got caught.

Maurice Price – Another guy who just generally gives off an a-hole vibe year in and year out. This year’s most notable occurrence was his anti Michael Sam tweet. To refresh your memory, after Michael Sam was drafted, Price tweeted “My faith won't let me accept what took place over the weekend. Sorry, not sorry! #AdamAndEve #NotAdamAndAdam” Maybe if he spent time with Sam he could learn how to actually hang onto a ball.

Other – If you feel someone else’s achievements in the field of douchebaggery warrant consideration for this highly prestigious award then leave a comment with their name and they will be considered.   

So there are your 2014 nominees, be sure to let your voice be heard and cast your vote.

Friday Random, Quasi-Coherent Thoughts

Those of you familiar with how the offseason works around here will not be surprised by the title of this post. For those of you that are new to this, basically unless there is some big Rider news or I come up with some filler posts (which rest assured will be coming), most blogging days you will have to settle for a series of random thoughts on current CFL events that as the title implies I can’t promise will be coherent (though if it was coherent thoughts you were after you would have given up on this site a long time ago).

Let’s get to it:

- With the Riders eliminated, I have been trying to decide who to pull for of the remaining teams. In the East I will go with Hamilton because it was the 90s the last time those fans got a championship (plus now that Burris isn’t their QB they are infinitely more likable… as well as likely to succeed). Bonus points for being the only fan base to care enough about the playoff game to sell it out.

- As for the West, since double default isn’t likely a viable option, I guess I will have to go with the Esks. Not that I particularly like them, I’m just a big fan of Calgary’s repeated playoff chokes.

­- BC started their offseason off with a bang by firing Head Coach Mike Benevides. The Lions regressed every year under his leadership and I was never sold on him being a great HC. Though to be fair the Harris injury and the QB situation were not really his fault. I’m surprised more criticism isn’t being directed at Buono. He was so convinced that Benevides was the right guy for the job that he gave him a 2 year extension in June. One has to question Buono’s judgment if 6 months later the determination is that Benevides needs to be fired. I honestly think it should be policy that if a GM wants to fire a coach who he hired or extended within the past 12 months he needs to also resign.

- One name to watch as BC sorts out their coaching situation for next year is Khari Jones. Given the uncertainty surrounding Cortez’s future and our likely desire for a QB coach, if he shakes loose I bet we will be giving him a call.

- The RedBlacks started the coach firing train when the let OC Mike Gibson go. Now I don’t think Gibson is anything special as an OC but can you really blame him for Ottawa’s offensive ineptness when he was given Henry Burris and a cast of 4^th string receivers to work with? You can’t make chicken soup out of chicken shit.

- The Riders have an extensive list of potential free agents. I won’t bother getting into the list now as it will likely change as some signings are announced. Plus I can’t waste all my potential material in one post… otherwise come January you may have to endure posts that are just me listing which of the cartoons Prophet Jr. watches that I hate and detailing the plot holes therein.

- Finally, its almost time for the Rider Prophet Awards and that means that starting Monday voting will open for the 8^th annual Fans’ Choice Douchebag of the Year Award. Jon Cornish is the 2 time defending champion but competition in the field of douchebaggery was stiff this year. Check back Monday for this year’s nominees and to cast your vote.