Gotta be Barker. He took a team that was horrible and put them in the East Final. the other two coaches were working with well estabilished teams. Also, Miller's 10-8 record isn't anything amazing especially since they didn't win the Grey Cup.
Barker.I've said it before and i'll say it again, no Barker = 1-17 2010 campaign.
i am surprised Miller is in there…and I am a Rider fan.
No kidding. There were a number of questionable "occurrences" with him this year. On a side note, why are there 3 finalists for this award, and only 2 for any of the player awards? And if playoffs really can't have a bearing on the voting, why is this not given out with the awards at grey cup week?
...tough for me to understand if Barker doesn't get the nod...just my $0.02...
I'm behind Barker, as well. :thup:
I guess I can understand Miller's nod...who else was there? Hall was fired, BC only played good late, Hamilton choked hard in the playoffs, Bombers finished last, Calgary choked in a home playoff game...I guess that does make sense for the 3 finalists.
I think the award should be presented far sooner than now. The season has been over for 2 months now.
Having said that, Jim Barker gets my vote.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a Jim Barker fan, always have been.
Not to rain on the parade here, but factor this in:
He stuck all year with a QB who clearly wasn’t getting the job done, looked like he wasn’t ready for prime time, and looked like he might never be, given his age.
Was that good coaching to stick with the guy and not give your #2 a legitimate shot?
Barker all the way, that team wasn't supposed to win more than 3 games last year.
And after that 9-9 season and a defensive win against Hamilton, the Argos still got blown out in the East final -- outcoached, thoroughly, among other things.
I'm not saying Barker wouldn't be a good candidate for the award. I respect what Jim has achieved in Toronto in a very short span of time. But he made mistakes this year. Hiring an unready Elizondo to be his OC, purging the team of CFL-ready quarterbacks, and sticking with an injured Lemon for far too long were all gaffes.
Now, Miller and Trestman both made mistakes too. Nobody is perfect. In the end, I'd be perfectly okay with Barker getting the award.
I give him credit for sticking with his guy and not panicking. I mean, who did Toronto have before? Was Kerry Joseph and Dalton Bell or something? Toronto had crap at that position. And we all saw what happened with Pierce, so he was right not to sign him. I like that he brought in new blood and tried to develop him. Better than recycling the same tired players (Bishop).
Have to agree Chief.
They still have crap at the position. That's the problem. I don't mind going with someone other than Joseph, whose time as a starter was clearly done. I do mind him not having Joseph or another CFL-ready vet to back up Lemon and Bell.
And as I said, I also mind him bringing in Elizondo to be OC when Elizondo wasn't ready. His credentials in the CFL were one year as receivers coach under Marc Trestman in 2008. Frankly, Toronto's offense was embarrassing in 2010, and were it not for unexpected gems -- Cory Boyd and being able to get a disgruntled Chad Owens in a trade with the Alouettes -- where would Toronto be?
I give Barker a lot of credit for turning the team around, but some of his moves on offense left me shaking my head.
Miller has zero shot at it.
Trestman's team did repeat, something extremely rare but
Barker on top of coaching was also defacto GM and Player personnel guy for most of the year. His team was +10 points over the previous season.
IMO,they should send the cheque and the trophy straight to his house...
Who should he have hired as OC? He himself wasn't hired until February 9. By then every proven assistant coach in Canadian football was already under contract to a CFL team. He had no choice but to take a flyer on some unproven guys.
Hmm, I think you're right. I didn't realize he was hired that late. For some reason, I thought he had brought Elizondo into the organization earlier without canvassing for more qualified candidates. My bad. I still don't think it was a good move to jettison every CFL-ready QB they had. I'm curious to see what Barker does this offseason to bolster the QB position.
In the abstract perhaps. It's certainly a gamble to go with a stable of QBs of whom none have any CFL experience. But, just becasue it was a gamble doesn't necessarily mean it was a bad move (and let's face it, Barker's always been known as a gambler).
Which "CFL-ready" QB should he have kept?
Kerry Joseph? I think we all agree he was past his 'best-before' date. Heck I seem to recall d&P that you yourself posted a while back that you agreed that Barker had to cut Joseph loose.
Cody Pickett? Nah; may as well go with new blood rather than bring back that mediocre QB. Can't see him as having done any better than Lemon. Never was impressed with the guy at all. And I appear to be in pretty good company there, as both Trestman and Hufnagel, who have probably forgotten more about football than I'll ever know, dumped the guy pretty quickly after acquiring him.
Stephen Reaves? Nah; calling him "CFL-ready" is a bit of a stretch. And, once he was released, not one CFL team even bothered to bring him in for a look-see.
So there. . . this post is proof positive that I do not agree with d&p ALL of the time !!! 
Now that I do agree with. I as well am curious to see what Barker will do. He sure stood by his man Lemon during the season, but it seems to me he was backtracking just a tad at seasons' end. No question they need an upgrade at that position. Lemon didn't impress, it didn't seem like he was 'developing' to me over the course of the season, if anything he was regressing (was it due to his non-disclosed injury?). If they don't think Bell is the guy to step up, they'll have to bring in someone new.
Personally, I'll predict that Barker brings in one or two more QBs to camp, and both of them will be guys with little or no CFL experience. He's been pretty adamant about wanting to develop his own QB and not pick up someone else's via trade or F/A, so I think he'll stick to those guns one more season. So I think in 2011 it'll be Lemon, Bell, or some new guy as the starter(s).
if, however, the QB situation isn't any better in 2011 than it was in 2010, then he may have to change his approach and look at making a trade to get a qualified CFL QB. But I don't think he's going to do that now.
Just a guess. . .
I think Trestman's in a tough spot because his performance as coach is expected of him now. Remember when Popp was coaching, AC was getting killed and was going to retire. Trestman turned all that around and is IMHO as good a coach as we've seen. Because Barker made an awful team better he will likely win the award (if he hasn't already, when does the thing get announced?) not that he doesn't deserve it.