Remember when Rider fans?

Milanovich brought some order to the Cats, even worked well with the Cats third string QB, and after Hamilton crashed and burned against Montreal, he is a free agent unless Hamilton makes him an offer he can’t refuse. One thing that may work against him is Milanovich has some firm ideas about what kind of players he wants, while Jeremy O’Day, gifted a three-year extension as Rider GM with an amazing no players making the CFL all star team, has definitely mixed reviews in bringing in players.

Milanovich has worked with Trevor Harris and could be good with the Riders stable of Shetland ponies at QB, but will O’Day feel too threatened by someone who knows how to coach? Milanovich can bring in competent assistants and will be tasked, if he gets the job, of resetting the team culture, although some would say Milanovich is just a recycled coach with no new tricks. Corey Mace – the defensive coordinator of the defending Grey Cup (or maybe two-time Grey Cup champion) Toronto Argonauts, Mace, who came to Toronto with Ryan Dinwiddie from Calgary, has built a truly impressive defense and with players who want to play for him. In an ideal world, O’Day would have been gone and the Riders could have paired Mace with one of Toronto’s talented GMs or assistant GM and the Riders could have tried to build a team like the Argos.

The interesting thing about Mace, and all potential coaching hires, is finding out who they would bring in as assistants. Mace would presumably handle the defense, with Jason Shivers probably heading back to Edmonton to lick his wounds with his former boss Chris Jones. On the offensive side, Mace might bring along Pete Constanza, passing game coordinator in Toronto. Another interesting name would be June Jones, who is formerly of the XFL Seattle Dragons or whatever they are called, who used to be head coach in Hamilton, then offensive coordinator, and who brought the run and shoot offense to the CFL back in the 1980s.

Jones is 70, so I don’t think he is a viable head coaching candidate, but in terms of mentoring young quarterbacks or designing an offense that compensates for a lack of blocking, he might be not bad as a mentor. Another potential assistant coach hire might be Marc Mueller who was not interested in the offensive coordinator job with the Riders last year, preferring to be the QB coach in Calgary. While that was a wise decision, Calgary’s 6-12 record and Jake Maier’s complete underwhelming performance might make this a bit of a reach.

While Mace represents a fresh start and someone who as a former player can related to the guys and knows when they are dogging it or not, there is the spectre of Devone Claybrooks, the former Calgary defensive coordinator who went to BC as head coach and pretty much hastened the end of Michael Reilly’s career at quarterback.

Mace might like the facilities in Riderville, but he might be asking himself does he really want his future in the hands of a GM coming off twin 6-12 seasons punctuated by seven game losing streaks to end the season? Henry Burris – No one will doubt Henry is a great salesman, especially of Henry, but for a guy who walked away from a great job on the TSN panel and giving the weather for an Ottawa TV station, who has gone from team to team in the NFL looking for an assistant coaching job, is he the guy for the job for the Riders?

This all started as a result of media speculation and while people say he is a hall of fame QB whose last game was a gusty win in the Grey Cup, all I need to know is Henry in the 2013 Grey Cup watching the ball snapped behind him, then glaring at his center as the Riders recovered the botched snap and then whining to Kent Austin on the sidelines about not being able to hear.

If the Riders go for Burris, then I will enjoy Mosaic Stadium chanting Henry! Henry! As the Riders stumble out of the gate. If Henry has some interesting assistant choices in mind, this might be worth investigating, but I suspect this is nothing but clickbait from some media personality anxious to prove he still has his ear to the ground for the CFL. Kent Austin – the former one and done Rider head coach, his job in 2007 was masterful, especially in handling Andy Fantuz who was dropping balls until Austin sat him for a game, and Fantuz got the message that if he wanted to play, he needed to catch the ball. That kind of approach would be a major shock to the deluded Riders who got trounced in the Labor Day rematch and never recovered.

Austin would bring in capable assistants, but he would probably burn out his players with his yelling. Austin would not be a long-term solution, and I don’t think he would want one considering he is making good NCAA money, but he would mark a culture change for the Riders. Kerry Joseph – the quarterback who won the 2007 Grey Cup is currently in Seattle working miracles with Geno Smith at QB.

Joseph has played on defense, played quarterback and when you look at how he has done with Smith, a QB most thought was washed up, he does have the intangible of getting QBs to buy into what he is teaching them. While working under Pete Carroll, Joseph saw firsthand how a quality organization is built and run and he would likely bring in some excellent teachers like himself to work the defense and offensive line. Is he ready for a head coaching try?

That would be an interesting interview to sit in on. So, the interviews with Mace will likely have to wait until after Grey Cup week since there are no allowances for trying to poach important assistant coaches who are preparing for the big game.

There are likely others on the list, but I suspect O’Day will talk with a number of people, not so much to figure out if they want to coach the Riders, but to get ideas from them on how to improve. So the eastern final has Montreal going to Toronto to try to pull off a Rider 1989 style upset of the 16-2 Argonauts.

I can not forget going with Bomber fan James Kennedy into the Rider store in the preseason and suddenly telling them the one thing that would drive people crazy is if Cody Fajardo got Montreal into the Grey Cup. Now we are a game away from determining if I am the new Nostrodamus even though Montreal’s success has been more due to a great defense with the additions of Shawn Lemon and Darnel Sankey than the play of Fajardo. Fajardo has used his legs better and he has the benefit of an offensive line that can block guys and runners who can run.

He does have the tendency to push the borders of the envelope and make passes that perhaps on second thought should not be thrown.

Toronto’s defense has impressed me with its speed and tackling. Toronto coasted in the last third of the season, but used the opportunity to get back ups into the game so if there are injuries, at least the players coming in have game experience this season. Toronto’s offense under Chad Kelly was probably the big question mark heading into the season, but the guy, unlikely Jake Dolegala, can run and throw and can rally his team. Montreal’s defense can make it close, but again, I have my doubts Montreal’s offense can do enough to win by keeping the ball away from Toronto’s offense.

Just remember that Montreal has not beaten a team with a winning record this season and this game will see the biggest crowd in Toronto since Pot stores became legal. Toronto punches its ticket to the Grey Cup with a 27-23 win. Meanwhile in Winnipeg, the city that time and God forgot, the fat and sassy Bombers are hosting the BC Lions yet again in the western final.

The clock is ticking on the Bombers, but it’s a good question whether BC, who had a great first half against Calgary in winning 41-30, can do better than they did last year with Nathan Rourke as their QB. Winnipeg will be missing a few offensive pieces of the puzzle, but when you look at the Lions, I don’t think Winnipeg really Danke Schoen and Nic Demski all that much. BC unleashed a great defensive rush against Winnipeg in their first game but laid an egg in the second and just used poor judgment in the final game, otherwise we would be seeing this game in BC.

The Bombers will run against the Lions, who can be run against and run against quite nicely. The weather will be decent for the game, between -1 to -8 Celsius, which is not bad.

If you are looking for history as any kind of guide, it is easy to say BC will fold in the cold, but I remember the 2013 western final when BC came to Saskatchewan in a bitterly cold game and would have almost won that game if it wasn’t for Darian Durant.

Winnipeg will run and BC will try to use Vernon Adams Jr. at quarterback to run to open spaces and then hit receivers if possible.

The thing to keep in mind is when Adams is good, he is very good, but Adams, somewhat like Fajardo, tends to push the envelope with his passes and that results in turnovers.

Winnipeg has the offense they need to win this game, even with two receivers out. BC has not shown they can stop the run or run the ball and if they can’t run the ball, then Winnipeg’s job on defense becomes much easier. BC could well surprise, and I hope they do because my cat Cuddlebug needs to see a positive feline role model, but I think Winnipeg will win this one 29-25.

by Greg Urbanoski

Remember when Rider fans?

What's Trending