Considering where we came from, Barrett and Shivers did wonders with the Riders. Best playoff run in decades and really only a couple of plays away from being in the Grey Cup a couple of times.
Yes, loyalty and some other issues seemed to cloud their views in the past couple of years, but they brought the organization to the verge of Grey Cup success.
The move to bring in Austin was, in hindsight, very astute on Tillman's part. However, it is impossible to say that we would be in 3rd place again.
very true. A strong focus on the run would have significantly slowed the maturity process of Fantuz. Austin definitely has us more primed to succeed due to being able to both pass and run with equal effectiveness.
Danny and Roy did a terrific job with the Riders.
Some of the criticisms being placed upon them are simply bogus.
If ET does half as good a job of bringing in talent as Roy did, we will be in good shape.
And if Kent does as good a job as DB did, we will win some championships.
Period!
It was indeed time to shake things up by replacing DB. And if Roy wasn't willing to do that, then he had to go as well.
But it wasn't because they weren't good football people.
Or that ET and Kent are better.
In fact if you look at the talent Roy has brought into the league in the last 25-30 years and compare that to what ET has done over pretty much the same stretch, Roy wins in a stroll.
But sometimes complacency sets in--not among the coaches, but the players.
Sometimes coaches run up against the wall. Not because they suddenly can't coach, but because it just sometimes takes a fresh approach.
And that is where DB and Roy were at.
The core of this team this year is still the team Roy and DB built.
I would argue that we may not be as good talent wise as we were last year, but are younger and hungrier.
I expected this team to be where we are, or even better, so Kent gets plenty of props for achieving what was expected from him.
But personally, I question the football acumen of people who feel the need to bash the previous regime to bolster the current one.
Give ET and Kent all the props you want to.
But Roy and DB deserve their props as well.
wow...some people are just never happy. RS and DB brought this team up to a respectable level. Richie Hall cost us the chance to go to the grey cup when he was unable to stop the Lions on the last drive. But to put blame on DB and RS alone is just pure garbage and this should not even be a topic to be honest. Why don't you try being happy where we are instead of bringing up the past...honestly.
There is good and bad with everyone. Shivers had an incredible eye for American talent but didn't care about Canadian talent. At this point in time, anyone willing to be honest would have to say Shivers was one of the best American talent evaluators in CFL history. Tillman has not proven over time that he has that ability. Lets hope he does.
point - Shivers
Shivers made it clear that the color of a person's skin mattered to him when he made decisions. Like it or not, that is a fact. No such racism has been noticed in Tillman.
Point - Tillman
Tillman connects far better with the community and the media that Shivers EVER did. Period.
Point - Tillman
Shivers inherited a crappy team and organization and turned it into a solid product. Tillman inherited a solid team and added the key pieces to bump it up a notch.
Point - even.
Both guys hired coaches that they knew personally.
Point - even.
Give it some time and things may change, but at this time, both men bring positives to the table and both men have shortcomings. It is safe to say, though, that Tillman is the right man for the job at this time and has done a great job. And if Shivers had left prior to last year, fans would have been saying he was one of the best GM's we had ever seen in Regina.
See, now you are just full of crap.
You can’t justify earlier comments about the on field product so you turn to slander and inuendo.
I know people who work for the Riders as well, some of them women, and they like and respect Roy.
Not that us claiming we know this person, or that person on an internet forum means squat
Calling Roy a racist is just stupid.
If you don’t like Roy because of his outspoken nature, that is one thing.
But the rest of what you are saying is nonsense.
Yeh, well, I guess ET’s biggest mistake was not getting Bauman then.
Again.
You don’t know of what you speak.
ET had two chances to draft Clermont when he was in Ottawa and passed on him twice.
Roy had 0 chances to draft Clermont bevcause BC picked before Sask. in the draft.
Fact is, Roy did try to make a deal to move up in the draft, but there were no takers.
One of the great lies that seem to live on about Roy.
I also disagree that Roy “isolated” anybody from anything.
True many fans did not like having a black GM and coach, but that is Roy’s fault?
Attendance went from 19000 a game in 1999 to over 24000 a game with Roy at the helm.
The team went from near bankruptcy and millions in debt, to turning a profit each year and in the black–pardon the pun–under Roy.
It truly astounds me why some people are so hostile to Roy.
There is no logical reason for it…?
Shivers made it clear that the color of a person's skin mattered to him when he made decisions. Like it or not, that is a fact. No such racism has been noticed in Tillman.
as I said to the other guy, calling Roy a racist is stupid.
Is ET a racist for hiring a white head coach?
Then why is Roy a racist for hiring a black head coach?
I’ll debate this further if you guys want to, but honestly, you have little (nothing?) to support your claims.
Exactly. cflisthebest you shouldnt have called this thread “Austin brought something that Barrett lacked”, simply because it is only half of the story and to be honest your obvious dislike of the Shivers/Barrett regime is getting annoying… Quit with the threads. With out them, who knows where our team would be.
Im not sure it can be looked at as rascism because of the small number of black head coaches.
Eric Tillman is not a racist, but (unless I am mistaked at which point I will retract my statement) you have to wonder why he didnt really seem to give Richie Hall a chance at the job… He is going to be head coach very soon in this league.
Exactly, jman.
I don’t think ET is a racist. He might be, but I have no reason to think he is.
But what we do know is, football is an old boys club.
GMs hire people they know, not necessarily the people that might be best for the job.
That we can call chronyism. And certainly ET is the king of that. just look at the players he brought into camp. The vast majority of them had previous ties to ET.
As for Roy, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Roy hiring DB, or in the rationale he gave in doing so.
The fact is, hiring a black coach was a topic the media was interested in, and Roy was not shy in talking to them about it.
Coaches are a dime a dozen.
White GMs hire white coaches.
Almost exclusively.
Roy stated that if he knew a black coach who could do the job, he would do so.
And he will discuss at length with anyone who asks about the reasons for this.
But at the end of the day, it is because giving a young black coach the opportunity to coach at the highest level was the right thing for Roy to do.
If he didn’t do it, who was? ET?
Racism was a factor in Roy hiring DB.
But it wasn’t Roy that was racist…