Charlie Taafe

Is it just me or is Charlie and boys so far over their heads we will end up just like we have over the last 3 years?

I hate to make a comment like this, however there is absolutley nothing to make me think otherwise. Just another " fumblerooskie " LIke a previous post stated,re-arrange the deck chairs on the Titanic!!!!

I agree, Charlie Taafe has to shoulder a lot of the blame for the sorry state of the team.

Why did he he persistently give away yards by choosing to return a kick-off instead of taking the ball at the 35 after field goals? - He gave up over 65 yards total in the game by doing that.

Why did we only run the ball 7 times when we have such a strong running game?

Why did he leave Maas in the game until there was no chance of winning?

Why is Setta still kicking the ball on such a high trajectory, NFL style? We are halfway through the season, he should have learned how to kick in the CFL by now. Setta is a very strong kicker and he is bottom of the standings for punters because he kicks too high. (guess who is top, Jamie Boreham)

Why the pointless personnel changes? We swap one player for another who is not any better, and they have to start all over again learning the systems

Why, after a two week lay-off does the team come to the game with nothing new in the way of offense, and perform as though they haven't practiced?

All these are coaching problems

In defence of Taafe, there is a lot of blame to be placed on the so-called professional football players on this team.

Having coached high-school football and played university football, I can say quite confidently that there is a lot of blame to be placed on the players. I once had a coach tell me: “Making physical mistakes happens - you had to be at the right place, at the right time to make a physical mistake (sloppy tackle, etc.) However, mental mistakes are unforgiveable. They are the only ones that are completely controlled by the player, and are irrelevant of all other factors in a game.”

There are a lot of players in our secondary, O-Line and receiving corps that need to have a deep look inside to see if they really are giving their 100%. Maas, Taafe and others are only partially to blame. Hamilton fans need their scape-goat and unfortunately due to position these two are them. But they are only partially responsible…

3 people in a row spelling his name wrong.. is it contagious or something? :slight_smile:

Its Taaffe.

Taaffe has looked confused from day one. Some coaches take good teams and make them great but give the same coach a team to rebuild and they can't do it. Taafe makes to many changes looking for a quick fix and it seems every week we have a bunch of new guys making the same mistakes. The one position that has killed us is QB and it's the only position he has refused to change. I would have loved to seen a way to get both Jason and Chang involved from the beginning. Jason could have used a break and Chang needed to play. The same could be said for Holmes.

Taaffe lost this team many games ago. This group will not play for him as a team.

Who was constantly belittled on this site.

It is hard to understand where the problems lie with this years edition of the Tigercats. Much blame is placed upon the GM, the Head Coach, the QB, the Offensive Line, and the Receivers. Maybe next year the fruits of starting so many young players this year will show some success.

I really like Charlie and am looking forward to how he and management build and coach this team for the next few years.
Mark my words, the Cats will be a force to be reckoned with as Charlie and Co. develop a winning combination. No pessimism on this guy's part even though in Charlie's first year at the helm, we aren't going to make the playoffs.

Agree with steve and Earl's assessment.

Taaffe has too good a record and too much at stake to assume that he's on the wrong track.

Yes, this year has been, and probably will continue to be, a disaster. I look for this year's youngsters to start melding into a team, which takes time and patience.

I fervently hope that with Chang starting, the team can start to get some rhythm, some coherent offensive style, some real team effort and pride.

IMO, it’s just you.

I didn’t expect this team to be Grey Cup champions out of the gate. I didn’t expect them to be 1-7 either. I will pass judgement on the Cats organization at the end of the year - not during, too many things can happen to panic and freak out just yet.

I agree with Earl. I think we'll get better and better as the years go by.

I can see a bright future ahead of us with some great young Canadian players, and with Timmy Chang and (I hope) Kevin Eakin at quarterback. If Jesse Lumsden stays here, we could be a force to reckon with in a year or two.

I'm looking forward to that very much and will enjoy the experience along the way.

Taafe Has to be held accountable for the teams record ,and seemingly its full speed ahead with no rudder, IE QB,- Based on the way Coach Marshall was extricated, 0&4 and there s the door :lol: - if any lesson can be derived its that if your rebuilding , let the H.C finish the job, -ie Borham- so Lets give Charlie some time and put HIS team together, ANY more changes would just make the rebuild take longer, peace

Yes those kickoffs after the field goals left me scratching my head. I thought the CFL changed the rule and you had to receive a kickoff if the field goal was good!

In order to make such an assinine statement, you are obliged to provide a link!!

Link Please!!

Tim Kenney:

I appreciate your remarks about mental errors. But in the case of this team, when you have a QB who has not been able to get the job done for a season and a half, is inconsistent in his passing and has little ability to make plays happen...that can grind down the receiving corps and the rest of the team on both sides of the ball. When the QB situation is allowed to continue for so long, that affects the motivation of the rest of the players.
I don't want to blame the decision to keep Maas in for all of this teams problems but I suspect it does affect the performance of other players.
For that we have to blame the coach.

I honestly don’t find a problem with Nick Setta’s high kicks at all. I would rather have a low punting average and a high net average than have a player like Bashir Levingston get up to speed before encountering any would be tacklers.

If you are going to point a finger at the coach feel free to do so (which I don’t agree with) but I wouldn’t nitpick about a punter kicking it too high. How many teams have had a significant punt return against the Ticats this year? The answer is zero.

  • paul

Here is an opinion from SOMEONE…
WHO IS INSIDE THE LOCKER ROOM.

Ken Peters The Hamilton Spectator (Aug 29, 2007)

The Burlington native [Matt Robichaud] said the only saving grace is that

the Cats aren’t pointing fingers in the locker room. Not yet, anyway.

"We haven’t lost the (locker) room.

We lose the room, it’s done.

We lose that, it’s over."

click here

See message below

I’m not really a football coach … but I do coach young kids a lot and I think I can answer a few of these questions you ask.

  1. The 65 yards given up - pales in comparison to the chance at breaking a big run … Taaffe has explained that they’re working on the kicking game in practice … how do you transfer that to “game action” by taking the ball at the 35 yard line - no progress is made.

  2. Maybe you noticed Jesse wincing in pain and sucking it up just to be in the game … he know’s he’s developed into the offense focal point and wanted to be in the game not to lets all of us critical fans down … but its the coaches job to shoulder the blame for the RB’s poor performance, but limiting his carries if he doesn’t want out of the game … this avoids further injury and costing a bunch more time off (that being said - they should have given Davis a try - be ready Anthony!)

3)Jason said it himself in the paper - if he holds onto the ball and makes that touchdown plung … that’s a 14 point swing (as the Als scored on their next drive) and the Cats are back in it … Jason has be designated to be the starter - and looking at Chang - he’s so rushed to make a big play pass when he’s out there - I’m anticipating a growing process of dumb interceptions until he gets experience … so do you want to get into all that right now … where yes, the ONLY position that has been stable is the QB … that is an internal decision to make, and I’ll respect the coaches decision for when that time comes. I’d say the end of the year is a good time to evaluate that, or maybe with 4 or 5 games left and we’re out of it. I think giving up Troy Davis and Comisky to Edmonton to win them a Grey Cup is worth a full, healthy season of finding out if Jason Maas can be a starter in this league.

  1. The down field coverage has been the one bright spot for the Cats BECAUSE of the high punts … have the cats allowed a runback for a TD this season … NO … plus the new wrinkle that REALLY screwed up the 2nd best returner in the league in Montreal was when Setta decided to punt one deep over his head for a 63 yarder … this strategy cause not one, but TWO turnovers in favour of the Cats … and Jamie Boreham was not as accurate or consistent on either punts, but especially field goals last year

  2. Pointless personel changes? I can’t say that … I’ve already posted how Desjardins brought in like 25+ new players at the beginning of the season including - Setta, Gagne-Marceaux, Dyakowski, Curry, Moreno, Chang, Mackay - who are all excellent players and with that may new faces - some wont’ work out, but at least there is a willingness to change, unlike pre Bob Young, where we were stuck with no cash flow and the inability to parachute in players mid season …

The thing I noticed the most when we play other teams is that more than every other Ticat is a first year player - no experience - Other teams - 4 year, 6 year, 8 year veterans fill the line up of Sask. BC, Winnipeg and Montreal. Talent is there on the Ticats - and though we’ve been in “rebuild mode” for the last 6 years … remember we started from scratch and blew up the team again this year …

We need to give these guys this season AND next before we can become a “respectable team” … and so at least next year there are 20 + guys here that can say they they are 2 year veterans of the CFL

I would argue that TIME is the problem … we’re not giving the COACHES enough TIME to develop a winning culture.