Congrats to Winnipeg and other Grey Cup Thoughts

The defensive line turned it up a notch against Hamilton and quarterback Dane Evans, making him look like a first year starter and in the process playing their best game when it was needed the most.

Heading into the Grey Cup, one of the questions that was floating out there was where the Winnipeg pass rush went. Against the Riders, Willie Jefferson’s name was conspicuous by his absence, but he made up for it with a vengeance against Hamilton, with three sacks.

So how did Hamilton, a favorite before the game, get so thoroughly thumped?

One factor might be the strength of schedule.

Hamilton had 10 games played against teams with winning records including playoffs and finished with a 6-4 record. Winnipeg played 13 games against teams with a winning record including playoffs and ended up with a 7-6 record. So it could be argued that the harder path Winnipeg had to travel, including going on the road for three straight playoff games, made it better prepared to handle the Grey Cup than Hamilton.

Winnipeg also benefitted from a late season trade that brought in quarterback Zach Collaros. Collaros had started in Saskatchewan as quarterback but on the third play of the season opener against Hamilton, he was hit by linebacker Simoni Lawrence and went on the injury list until he was traded to Toronto and then sat on the injured list until he was traded to Winnipeg.

Winnipeg had lost Matt Nichols to injury and was relying on Chris Streveler who had emerged as a one-trick pony who could run convincingly and pass, well, not so well. I had thought Winnipeg had brought in Collaros as a way of preparing for Saskatchewan by probing his mind for tricks to anticipating the Rider offense.

What happened was Collaros was more than just a beautiful mind, he also had recovered enough to be able to provide the Bombers with more than just a one-dimensional running game. Collaros combined that with a chip on his shoulder for being traded, but Collaros for whatever reason didn’t seem comfortable in Saskatchewan and his replacement by Cody Fajardo proved to be the shot in the arm everyone needed.

About a month ago, it was said that Mike O’Shea may move from Winnipeg to take over the head coaching job in Toronto after Michael Clemons took over the GM duties. Both of them were teammates in Toronto, and O’Shea was struggling to keep his team afloat heading into a season series with Calgary that they split but more importantly, showed they can beat Calgary.

Whether O’ Shea continues on his way to Toronto for 2020 remains unknown. One would think winning a Grey Cup in the final year of one’s contract would be enough to bring a contract offer. A month ago it might have been tough to determine whether the Bombers would bring O’Shea back since the Bombers seemed to be stumbling into the playoffs by seemingly to emphasize just a running game and no prospect of passing the ball effectively.

There is still the chance O’Shea could be going to the Argos, but maybe not this year. O’Shea would probably be more inclined to go if he was also the GM, which might make sense if Clemons decides he needs to be more of a marketing guy and O’Shea has better football smarts in bringing in players.

O’Shea may not be the only one to be tempted by other teams. Offensive coordinator Paul LaPolice might be interviewed by teams looking for a head coach or even an offensive coordinator. One of those teams might be Ottawa, who parted ways with Rick Campbell after the regular season was over.

Ottawa let their offensive coordinator escape before the start of the regular season after refusing him permission to interview with other teams. Marcel Desjardins needs to be convincing in his rebuilding of Ottawa or else he will be leaving the team next year.

Montreal has locked up Khari Jones as their coach for the next three years and now is in the process of looking for a GM. Up for consideration, at least in this early stage, are names like Eric Tillman, Brendan Taman and Danny Machocia.

Toronto may also be looking for a head coach, although it is entirely possible that due to the football administration spending cap, the Argos may be forced to retain Cory Chamblin for another year. Chamblin finished 4-14 with three of those wins coming against Ottawa. Toronto was hooped because they had no consistent quarterbacking and I suspect James Franklin, formerly the back-up to Mike Reilly in Edmonton and traded to Toronto, will be cut loose since he seems to not be able to consistently lead a football team, including reading defenses.

Then there are the Edmonton Eskimos who tied a can to Jason Maas and sent him down the road on Wednesday. The Eskimo fans seem to feel TSN had it in for the former Eskimo quarterback who became known far and wide for his antics on the sideline. No one is against passion in a coach, but Maas set an example for his team that backfired on him with the Eskimos leading the league in penalties.

Then again, the Riders were second. But the Riders finished first with a 13-5 record so maybe the Eskimos lack of cohesion in their defensive secondary combined with a penchant for untimely penalties played more of a role than what Eskimo fans would like to discuss.

The timing was interesting because last week the BC Lions, who fired DeVone Claybrooks who proved himself totally overmatched, asked Ottawa for permission to interview Rick Campbell. Eskimo fans are known for their devotion to former players who…Once an Eskimo, Always an Eskimo…and who know…The Eskimo Way.

While Maas is an easy target for shots because of his antics, evaluating his reign in Edmonton and future is interesting because Maas did have to deal with an injury list the length of Algeria. Maas did bring back Ted Lolley to run the defense, and he did a good job with a great defensive line, but was hampered by the lack of talent on the back end.

On offense Maas had Trevor Harris who is a great rhythm passer but if you can get him off his rhythm, the Eskimos really had no running game that could step up and help. Maas also had a penchant for making some puzzling game calls, but Edmonton was probably sweating the optics of seeing Campbell, son of Eskimo coaching legend Hugh Campbell, go to BC and former Eskimo GM Hervey.

Well, consider the spectacle of Campbell taking over BC and hiring Maas as his offensive coordinator. BC then becomes very interesting to watch because Mike Reilly likes Maas and Campbell should not be letting his players get away with loafing on the sideline.

Of course who will take over in Edmonton? Old-time Eskimo fans will hold out for Campbell, but while former Eskimo players will enjoy blind adulation, Campbell may decide the prospects are better in BC. If that is the case, then Paul LaPolice will probably be the front-runner for head coach in Edmonton.

So has started interviewing Calgary quarterback coach Ryan Dinwiddie and special team’s coordinator Mark Kilam as head coaching candidates. Dinwiddie is an interesting choice, seeing how he worked with Bo Levi Mitchell and probably more importantly, Nick Arbuckle who filled in for Mitchell this year.

Dinwiddie also did time as the quarterback coach and offensive coordinator at Montreal before coming to Calgary, and while he might lack some offensive coordinator experience, I suspect with this background, he knows better than Claybrooks and will bring in experienced people to run the offense, defense and special teams.

Kilam may be a good choice. O’Shea was a special teams coach and Craig Dickenson did not bad this year. Ottawa has to think outside of the box, but the biggest problem would be trying to get a quarterback in. Arbuckle is a free agent and probably would be the most logical starting point, so if Ottawa signs Dinwiddie and brings in Arbuckle, then there would be a bit of continuity and Ottawa might do better than 3-15.

In Hamilton the way the team floundered against Winnipeg in the Grey Cup cast a shadow over the team’s all time franchise best regular season record of 15-3. Dane Evans did a great job in taking over from Masoli, but the impotence of the Hamilton offense raises questions about whether Hamilton lets Masoli go in free agency and keep Evans, or bring Masoli back.

Winnipeg will have to decide whether they will hang onto Collaros or let him walk in free agency for Nichols. If Winnipeg loses some coaches, those will also have to be changed but for now, Winnipeg can enjoy the sweet afterglow of a Grey Cup win.

In Saskatchewan the Riders are looking at free agency and trying to determine how to reconstitute their club. Free agency got off and running with Loucheiz Purifoy signing a two year extension, likely getting cash up front as the Riders looked to burn off salary cap space, likely produced by the trading of Zach Collaros, for which the Riders will get a fourth round pick since most of the big draft positions were lost when Collaros got traded from Toronto to Winnipeg.

Another major signing should be Charleston Hughes, who mentioned he would be back at training camp. The Riders may make a move for Stefan Charles, former University of Regina Ram player who went to the NFL after he got drafted by Edmonton. Charles bounced around the NFL before returning to Edmonton, but with Edmonton’s stocking up of the defensive line, Charles may be let go and the Riders may have options in case they don’t want to renew the Micah Johnson experiment.

What makes this interesting is with Christian Dabire, the Canadian draft pick last year who actually did pretty well in the middle, if the Riders add Charles, does this mean the clock is ticking on Zach Evans? Evans kind of fell off the map last year, probably due to injury, and the question should be if Evans can rebound to make a contribution or if the Riders sign Charles if he comes available, do the Riders then have an out for solving their Canadian content on the defensive line?

Well, it is the start of the off-season.

For the CFL, it is time to reassess, mostly their idea of dropping the third quarterback on the roster, and also looking at improving their marketing to people less than 40 years old and new Canadians. One of the things I observed in Calgary was the average age at the Grey Cup was 40 and over and there was not much diversity when it came to people taking part in the festivities.

Some CFL teams like Edmonton, BC and Winnipeg have recognized this and opened seats targeted to young people and families. In addition, the cost of concessions at games is an issue because when you can pick up a pizza and a six pack and go home and have a better time watching the game in a climate controlled setting, it is much more preferable than blowing a lot of money with very little return.

The communal experience of game day can’t be duplicated at home easily, but if people can’t afford to get into the stadium, then what does it matter? When marketing to new Canadians, this means reaching out to them in their own languages, providing telecasts in their languages explaining the game and doing outreach with players and coaches.

The CFL will have to take a five to 10 year approach to balancing the demographic gap that currently exists in the stands. Even in Saskatchewan, the football capital of Canada, attendance has slipped because wages and opportunities have not kept pace with the price increases fans pay to enjoy a day at the park.

The game day experience at Mosaic Stadium is still among the best in Canada. However, the Riders should be aware their biggest enemy is not Calgary or Winnipeg, but complacency on and off the field. It would be nice to turn the corner on this foe and concentrate on growing, not just maintaining the presence of the CFL.

by Greg Urbanoski

Congrats to Winnipeg and other Grey Cup Thoughts

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