From Arash Madani on twitter....DL coach Mike Walker and LB coach Alex Smith won't be back, however the announcement will come after the Grey Cup. I wonder if Richie Hall could be next?
Let's hope Ritchie's the next one to go. Way too many 2nd and long's hurt this team this year and it showed in their last game.
I really hope that Alex Smith is just a rumor.
You do realize, I trust, that Saskatchewan had the second ranked defence in the league. . .
Maybe he wants to retire?
From what I heard, Alex Smith does quite a bit of scouting for this team as well. Maybe he will take a GM spot somewhere (Edmonton)?
Once again, Stats don’t win games.
Once again, Stats don’t win games or Championships. I’ve brought this up before, now just talk to BC or Al’s for confirmation.
[url=http://www.leaderpost.com/sports/football/roughriders-football/Riders+making+changes+coaching+staff/7568629/story.html]http://www.leaderpost.com/sports/footba ... story.html[/url]
Link above by Rob Vanstone…
Alex Smith, I assume, is a retirement. I wish him the best in retirement, coaching elsewhere, or whatever it is he does. He has been a rock and the best defensive coach for the Riders for years. Look at the LB core...it has been a rotating dore, and always solid at the same time. I have often felt he is the most overlooked coach for a promotion in the CFL.
Walker...well...I don't know if he was a weak coach or had weak players. He seems like an okay coach, but I believe they can upgrade.
I still want to see Tucker replaced...he might not be the problem with the drops, but he is clearly not the solution. I would love to see Jason Clermont there.
I expect that the rumours are true about Smith and Walker. As for the rest of them I doubt there will be much changes. I think Hall will still be here, and that most if not all of the offence will stay the same. We'll see I guess. Rod Pedersen had the possibility listed that the Alex Smith thing is a "mutual" retirement type thing. At 69, and 35+ years of coaching I don't blame him.
I hope Chamblin replaces them very soon, and gets a head start on what to do for next year. Needs to build on a fairly solid rookie year.
I think a lot has to do that Chamblain wants to bring in some of his own people to fill those spots. They were the second ranked defense but Cahmblain is not satifsfied with second best
I would think that Chamblain making Smith his assistant HC speaks mountains about what he thinks of him.
cflsteve is bang on.
The coaches adopted by Chamblin were Richie, Smith, Walker, Dickenson.
I agree. Smith was hopefully a mutual agreement. But I am sure coach has his eye on the replacement. I hold out hope that maybe they can hire Smith on contract basis to keep scouting on Cdn talent. He was invaluable on this stuff. Craig Smith, Taman and Jeremy need to lead this search but maybe they’ll use Alex Smith as an extra set of eyes. The club can afford it and we’ve drafted well the last 4-6 years.
Walker…not sure. But yes I think coach has someone else in mind and that is why this happened. Get it over with quick and get the new person hired. Onward and upward.
I think that is all we’ll see. If they were letting two guys go…I think any other changes would be identified by now and leaked as well.
Dickenson ST’s were okay. Coverage was very good. But 3rd down gambles against us, botched short kickoffs, etc. etc were the missing link. These are big momentum plays. Not suggesting Craig is going to be toast. just suggesting this will be on the radar to fix, maybe with different players.
I’ll look forward to who the new guys are?
Just as Toronto was built to make the Grey cup this season. Saskatchewan had more of a tow year plan i which to make a run at the Grey cup next season. Not saying that they did not build and try to speed up the process to make the Grey cup this year but falling just short probably was not such a shock and Chamblain kept coaches he inherited to see who he liked to stay around either in the same job are be moved to a different job for next year. He has felt that out and he will continue to hire, fire, and shuffle around accordingly. The last 6 games of the season they got caught on a losing streek although they were playing well. Remember 2 of their loses down the stretch were to Toronto and Ricky Ray as they were clicky and the other to Calivillo and the ALs who also were hott down the stretch going into the playoffs and the last game was a built in bye week by the Riders and those are Chamblains words. He said without a bye and no movement to be had with their playoff positioning thy built a bye week in and near pulled off a win that win against a good stamps team who seem to be able to do nothing wrong down the stretch and into the playoffs. Team of Destiny as Huf has deemed them.
Who does Chamblin replace Ritchie with ?
:twisted: protect your QB at all costs and put the fear of God in theirs :twisted:It was no secret that many did not agree with the way the offense was run especially at the beginning where not all of Durant's skills were put to use.
Will say it again, what's smaller than a hummingbird, Dyce's playbook, we need a new OC. And Richie Hall can follow him right out the door!
I wonder if Lapo would consider coming back to the Riders.
While I agree with this for the most part, Dyce did call a few really impressive games, including the final game of the season. My concern is he tends to go ultra vanilla for a large stretch, then will call a really good game. He needs to consistently call those games and I think he would be a good OC.