CFL Central Columns

The CFL HC and QB Carousel In Full Swing

December 12th, 2011

With the 2011 season barely in the books, the CFL offseason shell game for the head coaches and quarterbacks has begun… this year, with a bang.
It stands to reason that by the start of training camp next year – virtually every team will have been involved in one or both of the HC or QB adjustments.
Let’s start it off with the coaching list:
BC – Wally Buono steps down as coach, and remains as GM.
Expect Mike Benevides to be promoted from defensive coordinator to head coach before Christmas.
Edmonton – Kavis Reed appears to be exempt from this year’s edition of coaching musical chairs.
Calgary – No change yet, but no one has ruled out John Hufnagel exiting as coach to concentrate on the GM job.
Saskatchewan – the search continues for GM Brendan Taman, as he has apparently pared down his coaching prospects to a short list.

Winnipeg – Paul LaPolice is safe – but the major re-structuring will be who the new offensive coordinator is, and whether LaPolice will relinquish the play calling duties.
Hamilton – Marcel Bellefeuille was dismissed immediately after the TiCats season ended, and this is the one vacancy which is not receiving much media attention.
Toronto – Jim Barker steps down (or was pushed out) as coach, but retains the GM duties, as was predicted.
Former Montreal offensive coordinator Scott Milanovich was hired quickly as the new Argo head coach.
Montreal – Marc Trestman likely has his job with the Alouettes as long as he wants to keep it.
Trestman filled the OC spot with former QB Marcus Brady almost as fast as Milanovich jumped to Toronto.

And how is the quarterback shuffle going?
BC – unless something “too good to refuse” falls out of the sky, don’t expect Buono to tinker with his QB’s this year… and why would he?
Edmonton – GM Tillman has made the biggest move in a long time, trading franchise mainstay Ricky Ray to the Argos for… Steven Jyles?!
Unless ET has the next Doug Flutie squirreled away somewhere, don’t expect this to be the end of the QB dealing in Edmonton.
It is inconceivable the Eskimos will go into 2012 with over-the-hill Kerry Joseph and career-underachiever Steven Jyles as their QB duo.
Calgary – things will be interesting in the southern Alberta city now, as the Stamps figure out what to do with Henry Burris.
It is a foregone conclusion that Drew Tate is the next Calgary QB, and the only mystery is where will Burris land.
Would Calgary break with tradition and deal Burris to the hated Eskimos? Or is Burris headed to Hamilton or Winnipeg?
Saskatchewan – Darian Durant is still going to be the QB of the Riders.
Expect the new Roughrider coach to be an offensive mind who can get Durant back on track, and build the offence around his strengths.
Some speculate on Kent Austin… I highly doubt that. My money is on someone like former star QB Dave Dickenson.

Winnipeg – will Buck Pierce be back? Will both Brink and Elliott be back?
Pierce is looking for a substantial deal to stay with the Bombers, but don’t rule out a move to Edmonton or Hamilton either.
One would expect GM Mack to view Pierce as a priority, unless he considers Burris an upgrade.
Hamilton – Once the new coach is hired, one of his first decisions will be the mediocre QB personnel currently on the roster.
Kevin Glenn has made some reference to retirement, but do the Tiger Cats want him back anyway?
Is Porter good enough to be the starter? Most say no – but he is adequate as a backup… if you can convince him to be satisfied with that position.
Or is it time for Hamilton to blow things up and go after Pierce, Burris or even Adrian McPherson from Montreal?
Toronto – it didn’t take GM Barker long to see the plan he could never grasp as the head coach… Milanovich obviously brought the common sense to the conversation.
While Barker was content to have underwhelmers like Cleo Lemon, Dalton Bell and Steven Jyles grounding the ship… Milanovich was not going to have any part of it from day one.
And that new philosophy might be as important for the longterm success of Toronto as obtaining Ricky Ray.
Montreal – Calvillo is coming back for at least one more, but Adrian McPherson isn’t content to sit as number two anymore.
One thing is for sure, the Alouettes are going to need another QB maybe sooner than later… and possibly during the season if Calvillo falters.
If McPherson gets out of Montreal, the Als may be in the hunt for another prospect.

There are two persistent rumours which involve coaches and quarterbacks.
The first is Kent Austin returning to the CFL… which I can’t see – especially back to Saskatchewan.
My opinion is Austin has a plan for his football coaching career, and the CFL was a first step… followed by NCAA assistant, NCAA head coach – then eventually, a shot at the NFL.
The second has Casey Printers resurfacing for a final attempt to revive his once-promising CFL career.
The only plausible fit for Printers until today was Toronto… that has to be off the table, unless Milanovich is interested in Printers as a backup.
No way is Printers going back to Hamilton, and it doesn’t make sense for either Edmonton or Winnipeg to have waited for a full year if either Tillman or Mack wanted Printers in the organization.
The only outside possibility is Joe Popp in Montreal, seeing enough upside in Printers to try and recreate another Anthony Calvillo.
Remember, when Popp salvaged Calvillo from the scrap heap in Hamilton – everyone was convinced his QB career was over as well.

This column and these stories will be updated as necessary when the questions turn into answers.
One thing is for certain, this won’t be a boring offseason!

dave@cflcentral.net

Entry Filed under: CFL Football