As you hear from Head Coach Bellefeuille and other Ti-Cat people this season's results should be viewed as great given that last year the team was 3 - 15. This is simply a load of dung. The 2009 Ti-Cats had the component pieces to be a much better team than it showed. It doesn't matter when the team puts together those component pieces. If they happen to put them together after a 3 - 15 season that doesn't mean a .500 record and a lost first round play-off game should be seen as a successful season.
Bellefeuile made idiotic decision after idiotic decision all season long. The biggest of course was putting the success or failure of the team in Porter's inept hands for much of the season. When everyone could see he simply wasn't the guy Porter would be trotted out again next game. Only when the entire season looked like it was destined to go down the sewer was the starting QB job finally given to Glenn. When the Ti-Cats were fighting for their play-off lives at the end of the season everyone from football experts to my 11 year-old were saying the Ti-Cats wouldn't even be in that position if the grand Porter experiment had been ended mercifully earlier - and let's call it what it was, namely "an experiment" as there was nothing that Porter had done to show he could read a defence, throw quickly or protect the ball.
In the play-off game Bellefeuille made decisions that put the team in peril even before the game began. Against a BC team with at least 2 great returners he decided to install for the first time new returners who just happened to be named Slow and Immobile. This logic ensured we lost the field position battle terribly.
The Ti-Cats had stumbled out of the gate all season so how do they start their first drive? By throwing short on first down for six and then running on second and four. The fresh BC defence of course stopped the run early in the game and BC got the ball and the immediete momentum. The BC defensive coordinator must have been licking his lips. Want to run do it on first down. The Ti-Cats remained in an offensive funk far too long - sure there was some dropped balls but the play selection was just terrible. If BC was making a point of not allowing the run surely that opens up the screen pass and quick hitters in the flats. It took the Ti-Cats far to long to figure things out.
Somehow the game gets to Overtime. BC surprises the Ti-Cats with a successful run on first down. They eventually score a TD. So what do the Ti-Cats do on first down? Run!!! - however, there no longer is any element of surprise as BC just did it and were now prepared for it in the unlikley event the Ti-Cats tried a run too. I was pulling my hair out. The Ti-Cats never recovered as BC, of course, brought a ton of pressure on second and long as they should have. An unsuccessful third and long and it was over.
Now to the Coach of the Defense Marshall. Printers hadn't been reborn. He was the same inept choker he was in Hamilton. Apply smart pressure and he'd collapse from brain farts just like he did time after time in Hamilton. However, let any QB simply stand back with no pressure or easily slide outside as there is no contain and and any QB will have success and Printers did. However, Printers didn't have success because he was great, Printers had success because Marshall's approach was ridiculous. In any game there are certain key plays that are enormous. The Ti-Cats had BC pinned deep in its end a number of times where Printers had to operate from his end zone. There were key plays that screamed for the bringing of pressure and Marshall didn't. For example Printers wasn't great when he completed the very long pass on I believe 2nd and 15 from his end zone. That type of slow developing play should never have even been possible. It was only possible because Marshall played a defence that allowed Printers to sit back in the pocket forever as his receiver ran far down field. The proof was in the pudding against Montreal who made Printers look exactly like the inept choker he was in Hamilton.
Here is what should have happened this year and would have happened this year if different coaches were in place. Glenn should have been the starter out of training camp - as an aside he would have thrown for 5,000+ yards and been the Eastern Nominee for MOP. The Ti-Cats should have had a play-off position locked up with many games left in the season especially with Toronto imploding and Winnipeg struggling due in large part to larger than life cartoon coaches. I refuse to celebrate a .500 season and an immediete exit from the play-offs when so much more was possible. KLZCat
Fact of the matter is, we had a 10-8 squad put together, everybody including Obie quoted that at the begining of the year.Now that we have that solid core together with the rookies which will be much better then year one and the veterans who are finally used to this team and gameplan and winning in general, we can get rid of the weaker pieces in the current puzzle (Gordon, L.Reid, James, Gagne-Marcoux, B.Smith, Tisdale, and improve the secondary in general and the KR game) and get better players then the ones we'd be tossing.This off-season we'll be upgrading at nearly every position, especially the secondary and return and a little bit of the receiving core to boost us to a 12+ winning team.Let me ask you a question.If the highest expectation was 10-8 why are you mad about 9-9? Just wondering.This team will be beast in 2010.
Repeat after me: "3-15 last season. 9-9 this season.... [b]plus [/b]a playoff berth."
This all came after we played seasoned teams like Montreal ( almost beat 'em), Saskatchewan (beat 'em), Calgary(beat 'em), BC (beat 'em) and Edmonton (beat them too) while we were in a re-building mode with new coaches and a ton of new players.
I'd say the big picture indicates that we had a pretty good season, all things considered. <!-- s:thup: -->:thup:<!-- s:thup: -->
Why look at things in such a negative way? Nit picking and second guessing when we have made a huge turaround seems like a waste of energy to me.
We need to see that amount of improvement again next season. Obie will make sure things do not stand still so I look forward to more wins next year. <!-- s:cowboy: -->:cowboy:<!-- s:cowboy: -->
Everyone is right, 9-9 is better than 3-15, however if the team did a lot of the things KLZ suggested we would have already been 12-6 this yr. and probably could have given Montreal a better game than BC did.
Lets just hope the Porter experiment is over.
It would appear I am not the only one who was 8) disappointed in his efforts this yr.
Doc
Porter had a great game against Montreal in 2008. This season, he didn't have any great games. In terms of "developing" him, I didn't see any improvement in his game over the course of the season. . . he seemed to me to regress instead. At this point I wouldn't necessarily give up on him, but he'd really have to show me something in TC next season. . . I'm starting to think that maybe Tafralis has more upside. . . time shall tell.
I see a glass half full. And I also feel that the time given Porter in those early games should prove beneficial in his development next season. I'm not ready to write him off like some of the posters on this forum are.
Time to move on, To me the glass is half empty when it comes to Porter. Tafralis should be given the # 2 spot if Porter continues to stumble next yr.
Doc 8)
Au contraire,gentlemen. I have to agree with the man.
However, it is not my intent to embark upon assasination en masse. What we had basically,team-wise and staff -wise ,was a FIRST-YEAR team. This season was really about (regretably) the LEARNING CURVE.
Early in the season (post game 5?) I wrote that our biggest problem seemed to be BRAIN CRAMPS...most notably from our Brain Trust. In that epistle I stated again( as I had at his hiring) that MARCEL was NOT a great choice for Head Coach. Ill state again my reasoning...I dont like appointing head coaches who have NO previous Head Coaching experience. Spend time in the minors,the colleges ,wherever...but pay your dues and learn your trade somewhere else.
It would be unfair to judge MB on his 1/2 yr. tenure as Charlie Taafes replacement, but I think my position is born out by the problems of THIS season. Too many were avoidable... confusion,sometimes panic, often downright fundamental errors...most the product of INEXPERIENCE. As Head Coach,MB has to take responsibility for our shortcomings. But lets give credit where credit is due. What was our Offensive Co-ordinators beverage of choice most games ? And just what was our Special Teams coach teaching ? Yes, many times I disputed our Defensive Co-ordinators (lack of pressure ) play calling, but in his case, all sins are forgiven because he may have been somewhat restricted by a lack of first-rate ( see: D-Line injuries, new faces in secondary) talent. At any rate ,without Marshall, we would have been NOWHERE this year.
In MBs case, the LOAD was frequently too much. Thats where experience would have saved him. Think of the real good coaches...how many times do they make CRITICAL errors ? Thats not to say MB isnt going to be a good one. I ,for one, critical as I was of him, have to tip my hat to him for his overall performance this year. Yes, the QP "experiment" was a failure...but I think MB learned from this and built up his "Experience" foundation. Remember "the Learning Curve".
The season is over,and in spite of shooting ourselves repeatedly in the foot, we were 9-9...with a little luck,13-5.
Regardless, it was FUN again !!!
The team including the coaching is still a work in progress. Could MB have been better. Of course. But did he contribute to the team's improved season. No doubt, he did. He's still a relatively young HC who will get better. I've seen enough to be hopeful. For example, he eventually yanked Porter and installed KG for the playoff run. Should QP have been annointed #1 i training camp? Nope but at least he made the switch to KG before it was too late. His game plan to not use Cobb more, control the ball and keep it out Printer's hands in the BC game was a puzzle. But like I said, he's part of the solution, not the problem.
This post makes no sense to me. We improved by 6 wins.
How many Quaterbacks have we chased out of town because they couldn't do the job only to have them come back to haunt us? Do you really want to give up on Porter? This guy still has not started a full season. Marcel was trying to progress him. How many years was Darian Durant considered not good enough to be a starter? Sure we probably could have had more wins with Glenn but Marcel put Porter in to a starting position on a team that was/is rebuilding. We go .500 and we are still looking for people to blame, it amazes me.
Marshall did an excellent job against Printers. Even Montreal players were concerned about him prior to the game because they said he was elusive and should have been sacked 5 or 6 times but got away. Short of going out there and tackling Printers himself, I think Marshall brought the best pressure he could.
Lets all think about the positives from this season. I would not be surprised if Marcel is given consideration for Coach of the year. He carries himself with great professionalism, and is another piece to this rebuilding team.
:thup: Some people really see different things and View issues in many many way's
But Ron your Bang on …Maybe KLZcats only gets on the net once every 3 months …
"Just so happens that this website is one of his visits "
KLZcats Take a Deep Deep Breath and then exhale and realize that Success is not always measured in wins and losses but what as a TEAM you can accomplish in a short period of time …Championship TEAMS take years of good development and tons of off and on the field accomplishments, as well as coaching decisions and choices … This was a Good year for Tigercat’s football and ALL the STAFF did a Good job at accomplishing Tasks set out to accomplish this season . I agreed with some points you made about coaching choices and other facts but as a Hole they deserve a huge pat on the back for bringing this Team back from the underground parking and back to the lobby to start next year as a Team that is right at the elevator doors waiting to take a ride to the TOP…Stop picking threw the Negatives and take the positives and hope with some little off season work that OBIE will do a Great job at keeping us at the elevator door’s…
Ps if i had to guess KLZcats is some sort of reporter …
I was with you until you started to unload on Marshall.
The Cats were second in the league for least points allowed behind only Montreal. It also helps Montreal that their offense is so good their defense is always fresh.
Greg was the single best change that this team made this past year.
For you to think that you had a better defensive game-plan than the best defensive mind in the CFL is laughable!
I was frustrated with the amount of BC receivers that found wide open holes in our zone defence, that was a bit frustrating to watch…overall I agree with your above statement though for sure.
It's real easy to second guess the decisions made by coaches, and I don't totally disagree with your assessment, but I'm not that dissappointed with the coaching this year. Based on overall results, the special teams coach is the only one I have a considerable issue with.
As far as not starting Glenn goes, I think both MB and OB had a pretty good idea where this team was going to be positioned this year, and new that it was a good opportunity to get Porter some starts. They may have left things a little late when the Bomber started to surge at the end of the year. One more win earlier on, and the team could have rested prior to the playoffs. I was dissappointed that they didn't win against BC, but I don't think they would have got past Montreal either way.
Still some more pieces of the puzzle to complete, and more maturation for this team before they will contend for the cup. That goes for both the players and the coaches.
MB
-got the guys to believe in his system
-players coach
-make the QB switch at the right time (don't forget, a Porter-led team started 4-2)
Marshall
-guys bought into his defensive system
-took a few weeks for our D to start playing well
-with better DBs next year, and a full year of starting for Barker, we should be even better
-D line really improved
Gibson
-needs to go
-we have no identity on offense
-we used the run in the beginning of the season and then abandoned it half way thru
-need more formations and plays
-we have the right talent on offense right now to be very competitive but poor play calling cost us
Easley
-not sure if ST was more of a coaching problem or talent problem
-we had some beasts (Barker and Cater) on punt returns
-very poor runbacks = long field
Enough of the Porter 4-2 start already because it is a pile of BS. The fact is Glenn Bailed Porter out of the first Winnipeg game with two touchdowns to win the game 25-13. Porter had no touchdown passes that game. I think most agree Glenn was the winning QB that game. With that little tidbit sorted out Porter’s season ended less than spectacular, 4 wins 7 losses.
Glenn in reg. season play was 5-2. Glenn’s two losses, 1 point loss to Ed 31-30, and a 3 point loss to Montreal 41-38.
Don’t even get me started on the yds. gained, Porter with more starts had ruffly 1700 passing. Glenn in relief had over 3000 yds. passing.
Glenn had 3 x’s the touchdowns with 18. It goes on and on so stop already with the Porter BS. The experiment was a complete failure. Marcel and the managment made a hudge mistake in naming Porter as the starter.
Managment’s failure to pull Porter earlier almost cost the team and its fans a playoff spot. I want to Thank Kevin Glenn for having the patience to hang in there while Marcel was having brain craps on how to fix Porter’s struggles. I also want to thank the fans for having the patience of this failed experiment.
But Special thanks to Kevin for helping make the Cats competitive again. I hope you get the start next yr. it would be well deserved. You are no doubt one of the top QB’s in the CFL. With you leading the offense I believe the Cats will win the cup in the next yr. or two.
As for this weekened, go Montreal!
Doc 8)
I agree, Glenn came into the Winnipeg game and won. The records don't lie.
But please, when you tell the story, tell the whole story.
Setta has cost both QBs wins.
Everyone was calling for Glenn partway thru the season and he started 3 games around Labour Day and went 1-2. I know what you are going to say but please read my point about Setta.
You have to admit though, that we weren't playing too bad with Porter at the beginning of the season. We actually had a balance of a running and passing game. When Porter started losing, we stopped running the ball. Glenn has the quick release and has the experience to know how to play using only the pass.
Like I said before, Glenn should be named the start now for next year and put Porter in when Glenn struggles.
We know that Glenn struggles for quarters at a time.
Glenn will teach Porter. Porter is still a good QB, no matter what anyone else thinks.
As for coaching, which was the topic, we need a better OC and you'll see a bigger difference in our offense next year. We don't run the ball enough and our plays are all the same. We have no identity on offense.