Choosing a CFL head coach

CFL Talk
1

With all the coaching changes going on this year, I've been giving a lot of thought on how a team chooses a new Head Coach.
What makes one candidate jump out of the crowd after an interview?
How big a gamble is it choosing someone who hasn't been a head coach?

Wally Bouno and Don Matthews were seemingly obscure assistant coaches when given their first HC jobs.
The same with Bob O'Billovich. But for everyone of these types there seems to be ten who don't pan out for what ever reason. There is always the excuses of why most coaches don't win consistantly (injuries, bad QB, bad ownership etc.) But the Wally Bouno's and Don Matthews's of the football world win consistantly where ever they go.

How do you find these guys out of the crowd, because you don't know for sure what they bring to the table until they are in charge.

2

I don't know how they do it in other cities but if you are a Hamilton fan- it's easy! You just claim that you were one of the one's who saw "it was coming" (whatever 'it' is).

3

First you hire a GM who knows the business of football. He can then go out and find you HC who can take you to the next level. He will have to have a plan, assistants he can bring with him, and convince you that he knows how to build a winner.

4

I can’t argue with that, rpaege,
that is why we hired Obie

and that’s what Obie heard from Charlie
to convince Obie to retain him as H.C.

See the Ticats TV video of Obie’s Dec. 13th press conference

‘Ticats in the Business of Winning’ on the homepage
on the retaining of Charlie Taaffe as Head Coach.

Hopefully, together they can land the right
Offensive and Defensive Co-ordinators

and keep 2 or 3 of last year’s coaches
with the approval of the O.C. and D.C.,

and this franchise will take a U-turn.

5

Hey if they can get to 9-9 they'll be a huge success! Give them a couple of years to get there though. They just need to show improvement in the coming season.

6

I think you’re probably right rpaege…but then the next question comes to mind how do you find “that right guy” to be the GM.
Vancouver has Wally as GM and Coach, no problem there.

But others trying that like Danny boy in Edmonton and Jimmy Popp in Montreal hasn’t worked out too well.
The same in Hamilton, with inexperienced GM’s making what turned out to be bad choices. That should change with Obie in charge.

Two other places it is working well is Winnipeg with Lyle Bauer and Regina with Eric Tillman.
There doesn’t seem to be any doubt of who’s in charge which appears to filter down to the team in a good way.

Toronto and Calgary will have to prove they picked the right coaches with their performance this coming year.

So I think raege has the correct answer. You have to have that “guy” (GM or President)in charge who knows what he’s doing and is a good judge of character to pick the right head coach.
But if you look around the league, those guys (GM’s) seemed to be still hard to find.

7

The Montreal Gazette is reporting tonight that Trestman will be the Als' head coach, and that Marcel B guy (can't remember how to spell his last name) may be coming to Hamilton as OC. Charlie's talked to him already according to the article.
Here's the link: www.canada.com/montrealgazette/ There's a link on the opening page to the story which was just posted a few minutes ago.

8

The good ones are EXTREMELY hard to find. That’s why you tend to keep the guy around if you find one that can hire staff (head coach, director of player personnel, scouts, players) who can steadily improve the team and eventually win the Big One, and who can also put butts in the seats through community outreach and marketing.

I’m not sure Alvin is one of the top guys, though he’s still young and is learning so he may be one day. Bob Ackles is la crème de la crème of Presidents/General Managers, but he’s been around forever and has a huge advantage over many others because of his experience.