CHANGES BETTER BE MADE
-too many people to blame
-OBIE and scouting staff haven’t found defensive players that can stick with an organization and be productive or even make a minor accomplishment over time.
-we are settling on players that are not playmakers or among the best at their positions
-Scott Mitchell is just there to make sure the dollars come in but has no clue operation wise to pitch in on a football angle, and even when he does, he isn’t the ‘football man’ you want to listen to either
-coaching staff, picked by Cortez, lacks CFL coaching experience and are outclassed on a regular basis
-defensive coaching staff, defensive system, is an example of what a CFL team doesn’t want
-DC Creehan and his system is just like his father’s….blah, vanilla without sugar, and very high school like. With all due respect to him, I just wish he isn’t being held back because that would be a different story, but if he isn’t being held back, then he can yell as much as he wants in practice but his/this system doesn’t work, not even with 12 veterans.
-why make players not play to their potential (i.e. rarely blitzing linebackers or defensive backs)?
-why tell players this is what you do on each play when it isn’t going to make a difference other than have the touchdown scored against us in 5 minutes on a drive rather than 2?
-why play zone within your own 10 yard line?
-how can you expect to win with a secondary like Graham (instant turnstyle), Rwabukamba, Ray, Murillo (all first time starters), and Webb who makes one play out of 10 and then looks at the crowd as if he is the Lawrence Taylor of the CFL
-why do you think Jamaal Johnson and Rey Williams are outstanding players at their position? Johnson has lost his shine over the last year and a half and although he can hit you hard, he isn’t the player he used to be at that position. Williams is too small and manhandled by Offensive Linemen and today’s game proved that even more. They are playing as best they can but its not the best that you need. I am not a fan of a player being among the top tacklers in the league if tackles are made after a 10 yard gain.
-why do we think we even have one long term type of player on our defensive line? Do you really think any of our linemen are CFL mainstays on our team? On any other team in the CFL?
-Why do we have little intensity in our game? Why is their no rah-rah like the Rob Hitchcock days? Our players as a defensive or offensive unit have no swagger in their game. Even Winnipeg with their record have more life in their game.
-How much are the players restricted from our coaching staff?
-Why does Cortez come off like an arrogant person? What has he done as a Head Coach to even be allowed to act arrogant without looking like a fool?
-why doesn’t he relinquish his Offensive Co-ordinator duty and become a better Head Coach? Ironically though, i think he is a better OC than a Head Coach.
-I question any of our offensive coaching selections other than Line Coach Malone, and he wasn’t a Cortez selection as he was with us last year.
-on offence why cant we find ways to have Cobourne and Chevon Walker on game rosters together? Can you not even use Walker in the slot since he catches the ball really well?
-we deserved to lose against Saskatchewan both times. We deserved to lose against BC. We deserved to win against Montreal both times (not just the home game) but our Coach doesn’t know he has a flag in his pocket to use (regardless of coaches spotting in the booth or not….you throw the flag on that play in that game……..funny how fast he threw his flag in todays game). We should have won two against Toronto. We should have beaten Winnipeg, we deserved to lose against Calgary. So we should be 5-5 same as our .500 teams of recent years, yet we are worse. Remember being .500 is nothing to be elated about, so where is our improvement?
-If we look back, Bellefeuille coached better games over 4 quarters. Unlike Cortez, Marcel didn’t choose to play against the wind in quarters 2 and 4 in the Labour Day match or any game. He knew the importance of the coin toss if you won it. Marcel used time management as best as possible with less talent. I am not saying we should have kept Marcel. I am not saying Marcel is a better Coach in general, but he ‘coaches’ games better. For example in the Montreal game in Montreal, with 34 seconds to go in the first half and with Hamilton punting, why don’t we use up as much up to the 20 seconds that we have prior to punting so that Montreal has less time to play with. Now, Montreal didn’t have much of a return and decided to down the ball instead of try and at least get into field position. We are taught to just snap the ball on the whistle on all punts regardless of the scenario at hand. Now what if Montreal had returned the ball 20-30 yards and needed a bit more for a chance at a field goal? They would have had tons of time to do it. Yet rather than use up the 20 seconds we give them more time to do what the opposition wishes. Just another example of bonehead coaching.
-this week their better be major changes or the team will lose their fans, the interest in the team in general, and the ‘who cares’ attitude that is being displayed by the organization compared to other teams in this league will eventually bite them hard.
-even if we win three in a row, no one sitting in the stands would be confident that this coaching staff will take them anywhere short term or long term, yet Cortez has basically what is considered a ‘lifetime’ contract in the CFL so he wont go, but his demeanour and his coaching ways had better change fast or we are doomed for a while. Our assistant coaches wont take us far either. We are outmatched once again.
-next week we have the imposing, offensively gifted Edmonton Eskimos (ok that was a joke) coming to town, but unless changes are made, we will give up 30 points once again. This just cant happen on a regular basis. Depending on how things go with Edmonton, this is another of those 4 point games when it comes to the crossover. If Saskatchewan wins tomorrow and we lose again next week to Edmonton, then Saskatchewan will be two games up and Edmonton three games up on us for the crossover. We wont be able to overcome either without a win next week. Lot of ‘ifs’ but the reality is we need a winning streak, and it aint happening with what we have now, players, coaches, system, management.
-CHANGES BETTER BE MADE THIS WEEK……..and you may ask what changes?.......there are too many to make for me to give you the answers for all of them.