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Re: Official 2012 CFL Thread

OMG, Toronto won something! hehe...

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Interesting article written by Doug Brown today. His claim is that the Stamps were outcoached by the Argos. He basis for this assertion is that Chris Jones said during the postgame interview that the Argos had found some sort of tendency that often meant that the Stamps would run the ball. Jones did not say what it was though. Brown's reasoning is that the Argos had previously limited Cornish in both games this year. Plus, Brown said that the Stamps had the best offensive line this year, while the Argo's defense against the run was nothing special. Hence, the Stamps should have tried to figure out and/or make a change so the running plays would not be so obvious to the Argos.

Looks like Reinebold.was released as the Defensive Coordinator for the Als. If you think about it, it is amazing that he would be the 1st DC fired. Reason is that the Ti-Cats under Casey Creehan this year had one of the worst defenses in the history of the CFL. The Offensive Player of the Week almost always came from the team the Ti-Cats were playing against. It was not like they had stiffs playing for them either. Funny thing is that even though everybody expects Creehan to be fired, they expect him to land with the Bombers as their new DC.

Als hire Noel Thorpe. Bombers hire Creehan.

Another year. Another defensive coordinator for the Als. With this position constantly changing, you begin to wonder if maybe it is not a coaching issue. Maybe, you just don't have enough good players on that side of the ball.

So, the team with the 2nd worst defense tries to improve by hiring a coordinator whose defense was worse than their own. Creehan was still under contract with the Ti-Cats, yet they made no effort to keep him even though this is a parallel move. Usually, teams do not allow parallel moves. Perhaps, the Ti-Cats were just happy to get rid of Creehan without having to pay him the final year of his contract. One could say that the Ti-Cat defense had more problems than just the coach. That could very well be a true statement. However, the defense did not respond to him at all. For the final Ti-Cats game this year, the defense need to step up if they want to go to the playoffs. Instead, the Ti-Cats gave up over 300 passing yards to Argos who consisted of 3 backup quarterbacks and Chad Owens.

Marcus Brady is the new Offensive Coordinator for the Argos. Als had him signed only to a one year contract. Pretty sure Trestman called the plays for Montreal. Milanovich did the same with Toronto and will continue until he is confident enough to turn things over to Brady. So even though Brady has been and was named the new OC, nobody can say definitely whether he is a good OC or not. Wonder who the Als will now hire to hold the clipboard (I mean become their new OC).

Wow. New Eskimo GM (who was formerly their head scout) Ed Hervey buried former GM Eric Tillman.

Hervey says he had hated working there and had no relationship with Tillman. He further stated that the EE would no longer mean Ego Empire meaning that Tillman considered himself the expert and was making sure everybody knew that. Hervey also states that under Tillman, Kavis Reed was doing things that the GM should be doing instead. He also mentioned that unlike Tillman, he would not be in the media so often or doing radio shows. Instead, Hervey said that his only job is to build the football team.

Although I cannot say one way or the other whether Hervey will do a good job with the Eskimos, I would not be surprised though if he was the one leading the coup to oust the previous regime.

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Big news for the second day in a row. Ti-Cats ousts both O'Billovich & Cortez. What is surprising is that the Ti-Cats last year made it seemed that there master plan all along was to get Cortez. Now just after 1 year, the guy is already gone. It seems to me that the Ti-Cats will go after bigger-names rather giving an opportunity to a youngster. That would mean people such as Austin, LaPolice, Marshall, and perhaps even Tillman.

Guess we now know why both O'Billovich & Cortez were removed at the same time. Ti-Cats had promised that position to Austin. Although I suppose Austin is the guy that everybody with an opening wanted, you wonder if he can live up to expectations in Hamilton. Maybe. Maybe not.

Thanks for the updates, nice to see what's going on in the off season in a single thread.

Hopefully the Eskies can get things together under Hervey.

I'm just glad there is interest in the league. Strange that Hervey is making Shaw the highest paid kicker in the CFL. Guess Shaw was the most important part of the Ricky Ray trade. Nah; can't be. Eskimos will have to decide whether 2013 is for Nichols or bring in somebody like Mike Riley.

The other big topics of discussion recently is:

(1) speculation that Tillman may somehow end up in Hamilton with Austin. Austin can't do everything himself, so why not hire somebody he trusts.

(2) Tim Tebow might having trouble finding NFL employment next year as a quarterback. The Als have his rights so people are debating whether Tebow is a good fit or not in this league. Trestman likes him, so I am sure if given the opportunity, he would welcome Tebow. Perhaps he could be a change-of-pace quarterback with Calvillo. Either that or a short yardage guy. Could he be a starter with the Als? Probably not anytime in the near future.

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Today's tidbit concerning the CFL is that Rogers Centre might have grass installed. Great news right? Well, maybe not for the Argos. Seems that the Blue Jays would not want the field damaged because of football. So word has it that the Argos were given notice to start looking for a new home should Rogers put in grass. Luckily for the Argos, this would be at least 2 years from now which hopefully is enough time to find another home should it be needed.

Good. The Rogers Centre is oversized for them anyways.

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Lions sign Lulay to extension

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Re: Official 2012 CFL Thread

And all the naysayers said that Jeff Reinebold was no benefit. Trestman obviously picked up some job interviewing skills from dealing with Reinebold.

Anyway, some people are now suggesting that Trestman might hire Scott Milanovich has QB coach. That would be crazy. If that were to happen, I would think that Chris Jones might be a head coach with either the Argos or Als. That might also pave the way for Kent Austin to lead the Ti-Cats to the Grey Cup in Saskatchewan.

One word of advice to Trestman: You will be under the microscope enough already as you are coming from a league that is not well-respected. You do not need to bring with you someone who was in charge of the worst part of the Als (special teams).

Jim Popp has already received permission to interview Chris Jones for the head coach job in Montreal.

Maybe he'll be able to fix the one thing Trestman wasn't able to shape up, the defense (especially in the back field). It's been getting worse and worse every year since Jones left the DC position in Montreal.

Jones would help any defense because the guy likes to go to as many cities as possible and hold free agent tryouts. That is why he also gets the title of Assistant General Manager. The guy literally goes all over to find players himself.

If Jones were to become the Als' head coach, he would need somebody to run the offense. Maybe George Cortez as the Eskimos seem interested in him for that position, so maybe there is a chance he will be coaching somewhere even though he is still getting paid by Hamilton.

Right now the person who holds the offensive coordinator title in Edmonton is Kavis Reed as Marcus Crandell was demoted to Quarterbacks Coach near the end of this past season. Reed obviously is not somebody who should be the OC of a CFL team. Not sure why the Eskimos have been taking so long naming an OC.

As far as the Als go, Popp is unpredictable enough that I would not be surprised if the head coaching job went to somebody you would not think of.

reply to shaner

Trestman to me looks like the head coach for a college Chess team. This guy is the coach of a football team, yet he looks like he has never been outdoors? No drill sergeant hair cut either. He looks like he is wearing a toupée because of his hair style.

Here is something you don't see often: a head coach saying that 2 of his assistants should be considered head coaching candidates for another team. Mike Benevides is promoting offensive coordinator Jacques Chapdelaine and defensive backs coach Mark Washington for the Als. Is Mike Benevides just a nice guy trying to help his staff move up, or is it something else? Seems like most people would not stand in the way of a promotion but not advertise them to others if they are of significant value.

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