The Dawn of a New Era

A new king has been crowned. The long and exhaustive (and drama-filled) search for a head coach is finally complete as the Roughriders introduced Corey Chamblin as head coach.

I'll admit it. Chamblin wasn't really on my list of contenders. Not sure why.

Okay. I know why. It's just... he's a defensive coordinator. And there is a prevailing theory in CFL circles that defensive-minded coaches don't fair as well. (The notable exceptions are Don Matthews and Wally Buono.)

That doesn't mean Chamblin (pronounced CHAYM-blin, thank you Jamie Nye!) can't be successful. It just means there are a lot of winning coaches out there who come from a background of offensive coordination.

Okay. So I said it. I got out that beef right out there in the open.

BUT... after reading his bio and listening to the press conference I am a little more enthused. 

Several things impressed me from the presser... First, he talked to Darian beforehand to make sure they could work together. Like wow. I don't think Marshall talked to the players for several months after being hired - til they showed up at training camp. If then.

Chamblin added he was excited to come to Saskatchewan to work with Darian because he's an elite QB. Good, good. Nice to see a coach paying his respects. You can't get respect if you don't first give it.

The second thing that got me excited was the power that has been given to him to hire his own personnel. Yippee! I was totally doing the Snoopy happy dance over that one!

Give GM Brendan Taman a gold star! There is no way on earth any head coach should be forced to choose someone already in a position just because "That's the way it's always been... blah blah blah." If the new coach wants to keep a guy around and they are effective at what they're doing, then by all means... But let him have a clean slate and start assembling the pieces to create a winning team on the sidelines.

(If nothing else, the new coach can never use the excuse they had less than a fair shot. Right, Marshall?)

I can hardly wait to see who he unveils as his staff. He wouldn't tip his hand even a little as to which shoulders he'll be tapping in the football world, but he definitely mentioned hiring an offensive coordinator and a QB coach. Right on! Have I not been saying this is what Darian needs and was sorely missing last year?! Please make it so, Number One!

As well, he will NOT be filling the role of defensive coordinator. Whew! That was something I was worried about right off the top. I hate it when coaches try to do too many things. So kudos for Chamblin for knowing enough to give the reins to someone else. Let's just pray he finds the right someone else. 

And last but not least, there was more enthusiasm in the press conference to announce the new head coach than I've seen at a Rider presser in a long, long time. You could feel it. Excitement crackled in the room. The passion and energy from Coach Chamblin was contagious and it rippled through the organization. He genuinely wants to be here in Saskatchewan.

He compared Saskatchewan to his home state of Alabama. And in the middle of December he wasn't being ironic either! He said it felt like "home".

Isn't that sweet?

So the whole business about coming from the defensive side of the ball, may not be such a detriment when there so many positives.

I've always said nothing is impossible. Impossible just means it's never been done before. Just because something has never been done before, doesn't mean it can't be done. And clearly it can as we have two stellar examples of championship teams being coached by former defensive coordinators turned head coaches.

Judging from Chamblin's resume, the glowing endorsements (from Mike Tomlin no less, holy crap!), and his charismatic presence I believe if any defensive coordinator can make the leap from defense to head coach successfully it's Chamblin.


Heck, after watching the press conference, I was ready to jump on the field and make stuff happen for this guy!

There will be the inevitable comparisons to Marshall, of course, but I think judging from the press conference and the few quotes I've caught from Chamblin's radio interview, I think he blew Marshall out of the water. I think Marshall was still standing on shore with his rubber dingy whining about the water being too cold. In that way, Chamblin might be at a distinct advantage. After all Marshall didn't exactly set the bar very high.

Yeah, it's on folks. Countdown to training camp starts now.

Cheer long. Cheer loud! Go GREEN!

Ka-boom!

There goes another bombshell in the off-season! Something no one could have predicted even 24 hours before it happened.

In today's CFL As-the-spiral-turns Ricky Ray was dealt to Argos today in a blockbuster trade. Twitter exploded, along with a few heads.

I'm certain I'm not the only one who wondered what in the world got into Eric Tillman's head to trade away their franchise quarterback for QB Steven Jyles, a kicker and first round draft pick. Like whuzzah? Steven Jyles (no disrespect) is no Ricky Ray.

But then again, he did trade away Grey Cup MVP Kerry Joseph in '07 to... oddly enough... Toronto as well.

We all questioned his intelligence then. Or at the very least sniffed the coffee he was drinking. I'm still not sure the value of trading away our all-star QB leaving us with two untested back ups (Darian Durant and Steven Jyles, FYI) at the same time as he was preaching "Dynasty!" in Regina.

And I'm still not convinced of the value of this trade for Edmonton.

Now you may be wondering why this matters at all to a blogger who remains a steadfast Roughrider fan. Why should I care about a trade involving two teams I hate?

(Although to be honest "hate" may be a strong term, because really I can barely summon up enough energy to mildly dislike TO most days... they just don't matter much at all.)

There's a very good reason to care about the Evil Empire, though. Eric Tillman is a very wily general manager. If he's making salary cap room (Ricky Ray's salary is rumored to be between $300,000-$400,000) you gotta wonder what else he's got cooking.

Especially given the rumor (and it's just a rumor) that ET was planning on taking a run at one of Saskatchewan's most prized receivers - a rumor he hotly denied just last week. Still it does make a person wonder whether there's another piece of footwear ready to fall somewhere in the league.

The good part of this news... the Schmoes just got a lot easier to beat in 2012. At least for the moment.

In other CFL news... the B.C. Lions will announce Mike Benevides as head coach tomorrow and the Stumps have some sort of player announcement planned for tomorrow as well. What it is is anybody's guess!

This off-season continues to surprise and confound. And meanwhile the search for head coach for the Green and White continues. I hope there is at least some news on this front by week's end.

Grab, your popcorn folks, this ride ain't over yet! Another six and a half months to go til training camp.

Cheer long. Cheer loud! Go GREEN!

Restarting in the off-season

I’ve been waiting to re-start posting on this blog until the Riders announced their new head coach. I figured the dawn of a new era on the sidelines would be a great opportunity to re-boot the Sask Riders Chick Blog and apologize for being so incredibly absent from the blog world.

I waited and I waited. And I figure we’re nine days past Grey Cup… good enough!

So I apologize. Let’s talk football! There’s been so much happening in the CFL off-season in the last 10 days.

We’ve had Toronto hire Scott Milanovich, Chris Jones (paying a $5000 fine in the process), and that other guy.

We’ve had Marcel Bellefeuille fired from the Ti-Cats, Kent Austin interviewing for his job and Mr. Wally retiring from coaching.

Is your head spinning? Every day it’s a new story. It’s like a soap opera.

So about Kent Austin interviewing with the Tiggers… meh. It was bound to happen. Kent likes to bounce around a lot and I didn’t ever think he would return here to Saskatchewan. I mean the man has achieved god-like status here, what more has he got to prove?

He’s responsible for two out of our three franchise Grey Cups. If he did return, mayor Fiacco would probably give him the key to the city, name a street after him and throw a parade. And then what?

Exactly.

He’s got to find a way to win and anything less than Grey Cup glory would be a major bitter pill for Rider fans. He’d be vilified no matter what he did or accomplished and he’d live in a fishbowl with the most rabid fans in the world watching and dissecting his every move.

Don’t get me wrong… I’ve love for him to plant his butt back in Regina. I just don’t think it will happen and if you look at it from his perspective, you can see why Hamilton is such a big juicy prospect.

Let’s see… choose a team bitter with three years of frustrated championship hopes, coming off the worst year in franchise history and the firing of a coach just a few months into a three year contract, where anything less than absolute perfection is unacceptable.

Or… sign on with a team who’s fans are hungry for victory, coming off a good (albeit not great) season where they knocked off the incumbent champs and had a serious shot at the Big Dance for the first time in several years – a team that is thisstinkingclose to being a serious threat in the league – where a homeplayoff game would see grateful fans swooning and a Grey Cup parade nothing short of miraculous.

Which would you choose?

Trust me. If Kent does return to the CFL he won’t be wearing green. (Sorry. I speak the truth!)

And about Mr. Wally. Classy guy. Great coach. Sooo glad he’s gone. Though I must admit the chanting and heckling when he visits Mosaic will be missed.

However, he’s faced with the toughest job around – just ask Ken Miller. He has to hire his replacement. And work with his replacement. Hmm… a much beloved coach sitting in the office upstairs while his players get used to a new guy. Seems fraught with pitfalls, doesn’t it? I do not envy him the task. As Rider fans can attest, it’s not as easy as one would think. And to them I say good-stinkin’-luck.

And as far is our head coach search. I’m not a Taman-hater. I don’t think we’ve seen what he can do yet. I think, in a way, his hands have been tied for the last few years and I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Seriously, how badly could he screw things up?

We start the season 0-7? Been there.

We fire our head coach mid-season? Done that.

We finish the season with our worst record in history? Been there. Done that. Survived.

I think most Rider fans are pragmatic enough to understand that a Grey Cup appearance next season (while nice) isn’t likely. We’ve got some rebuilding to do and if it takes a couple of seasons, so be it. So I’m willing to cut Taman a bit of slack. As much as I am anxious for announcement of a new head coach, I’d rather he took his time and found the right guy. Rather than an emotionally-stunted, immature, ego-maniac with the eloquence of a wet newspaper. Not that I'm referring to anyone specific.

That said. I have no idea who the new head coach will be. I know who it won’t be… Milanovich, Benevides (the heir-apparent in B.C.) and Kent Grey Cup Austin.

That leaves Corey Chamblin (Hamilton), Dave Dickenson (Calgary), Craig Dickenson (Saskatchewan) and Marcel Bellefeuille (free agent). And probably a few others that no one would recognize the name of anyway.

My personal favourite would be Craig Dickenson. He’s young. He’s fresh. He’s creative. Super nice guy and so humble too. Plus, how he turned around our special teams last year… I mean let’s face it, special teams was the ONLY exciting thing to watch when the Riders were playing last season! It was darn near miraculous considering how laughably ‘special’ they were in 2010. I would love to see what he could do given then reins of the whole team.

BUT… I’d like to see him choose his coordinators (gasp!). Which could mean a few stalwarts of the Green and White might just find themselves on the unemployment line. (But is that so terrible really?)

Ultimatley, I’d to see whoever is named head coach get a few years to grow into the job and grow a winning team here in Saskatchewan. Which means we as fans will have to lay off!

We’ll have to promise to put our butts in the seats, buy tickets and merchandise and watch a few stinker home games and a few more stinker away games. It means we have to prove we still deserve the title of the best sports fans around even if the winning ways are little tardy in coming our way again. They will come though. Trust me. They will.

Cheer long. Cheer loud. Go GREEN!

UPDATE: Ok, so it was brought to my attention by a sharp-eyed reader that this last season wasn't the worst in history. I mean to Google it before I posted and ran out of time. My apologies. Good to know 5-13 isn't the worst we ever did... I think.