Cortez So Far

After watching Marcel Bellefeille for 3 seasons and the many suspect decisions he made as well as being outcoached in most games, I was pleased with the signing of Cortez. The guy has tremendous experience and has been around the CFL a long time. I expected that at the very least the Ti-cats would have strong leadership and the fans and media wouldn't have to complain about the coaches. After only a few games though I'm starting to lose faith in Cortez and the coaching staff.

  1. I'm not overly keen on his choices for assistants. He should not have selected a first year DC. Creehan might be a decent positional coach but it appears he's in over his head as DC. The numbers and stats don't lie. Daly was also a poor choice for STC. There were many posts in the Roughrider's forum claiming his schemes were poor when he worked there. Other than William's returning the odd punt for a TD, the Special Teams have indeed been poor, especially in giving up field position. I have a feeling Cortez's selections were more of an "old boys club" type of thing.

  2. Questionable decisions remain. Why dress only one rookie running back and leave a high paid veteran on the bench? Then there was the Knowlton fiasco at the beginning of the season. What about when he was too slow at throwing challenge flag on a play that would have been ruled in their favour? How about why throw a pass from shotgun on 3rd and 1 with a minute to go and the game on the line. Because they got stuffed once earlier in the game he suddenly loses faith in his O-Line and on a 5th Quarter interview claimed that they weren't getting the push they needed. After that he decides to punt or throw passes in that situation. All teams get stuffed periodically during short yardage or goal line stands. Something stinks here.

  3. While he appears to be an offensive mastermind, I don't feel he has taken charge or control over all facets of what's happening on the field. Half-time adjustments are non-existent as has been demonstrated by our horrible 3rd quarter performances. Furthermore, he should have addressed the ongoing trend of a brutally deficient defense. Firstly by working more closely with Creehan and helping out the rookie Co-ordinater, and secondly by assessing the talent and working with Obie to bring in the right players. The man had part of the post season and all of training camp to figure this out and this is the best defensive squad that they could come up with? Plus questionable releases of players who had potential such as Baggs, Turenne, Collins and Means.

Maybe all of this adds up to the fact that after 30+ years of coaching, this is his 1st head coaching gig. He's obviously an excellent OC and positional coach but the jury is still out on his HC abilities. I'm hoping Cortez works out but we'll know for sure in November.

Well said. In November we will be under .500 , I think we have already seen the best they can offer. Keep in mind Chris Williams has saved us a couple of times or it could be worse.

I disagree with all 3 points but understand tis is what happens coming off a bad game and two losses in a ow that should have been wins.

  1. I can't blame the assistants until I see decent performance form players. The D-line deficiency is glaring, and accordingly Creehan gets a pass on that alone.

ST are great. Ti-Cats need a better punter, Congo is 9 for 11 in FGS, but kicks need more distance.

The return game has been quite good. Williams has 4 returns for TDs, and only 4 other players have 1.

  1. Don't agree with Questionable decisions. I think this is way overblown by fans of losing teams.

  2. Assumes an awful lot that I frankly think a fan wouldn't know.

But, as i said, 1,2 and 3 show a lot of understandable frustration.

ST are great. Ti-Cats need a better punter, Congo is 9 for 11 in FGS, but kicks need more distance.

Agree, when the ball is being kicked to us, thanks to Williams, but our coverage is terrible. They have given up far too many yards. What is wrong with our kicker? I think he has done very well. Remember, he is a rookie to our game. His kicks have good length and usually are near the sidelines. The one game where he was rushed, he managed to avoid the tackle and still get the kick off ( relying on his rugby skills).

Kirk, it’s not just an overblown response by a frustrated fan after a couple of losses. These are cumulative things that myself and others have noticed since training camp. There are very noticeable trends emerging. The most glaring is the fact that the defense has been a major concern since last year with Chamblin and not only has it not been corrected but has actually regressed further. It has clearly lost us many games yet Cortez has not addressed this issue either with players or coaches. We’re last in the league for every defensive category. Surely he is not naive enough to let Creehan continue to be Captain of a fast sinking ship with no lifeboats. With the defense in such disarray Cortez should step in and give Creehan a hand or some input, advice, or contribute in game planning. If he is not able to do this and defense is NOT his forte then why did he hire a raw rookie DC. When Cortez was hired he demanded full control. He has so far not demonstrated this ability and appears to be in over his head with the dual responsibility of HC and OC.

"ST are great. Ti-Cats need a better punter, Congo is 9 for 11 in FGS, but kicks need more distance"

We knew that Congi had the weekest leg in the land coming into training camp but,

BARTEL, J from last night,

5 punts / 47 average / 200 total yards / 56 longest

He's averaging 44 on the season as a rookie,

Bartel DEFINATELY needs to be replaced :lol:

Funny, that’s sure what it sounds like.

It has clearly lost us many games yet Cortez has not addressed this issue either with players or coaches. We're last in the league for every defensive category. Surely he is not naive enough to let Creehan continue to be Captain of a fast sinking ship with no lifeboats.
You make broad claims about behind-the-scenes things you are not privy to, and then you accuse someone *else* of being naive? Really.

As folks have pointed out in the past, when your solution to complex problems is “fire this guy” and “fire that guy”, you need to have a ready replacement. Coaching football isn’t as simple as digging ditches. About 75% of Ticat fans were shreiking for Bellefeuille to be fired last year (if not the year prior). When you fire a coach, he has to be replaced by somebody. Cortez is the replacement for Bellefeuille, so maybe let’s give him a chance before we fire him and start over with someone else, who the self-appointed Hamilton Welcoming Committee will again start dumping on almost immediately.

Everyone who thinks they know the obvious solutions to the problems a coach or GM has failed to solve should read this article carefully:

[url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2 ... ger_effect[/url]

And then maybe read this one for dessert:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outcome_bias

Wow. You are so far off base in interpreting the essence of my posts it barely warrants a response.

I agree he has not turned this team around yet until we are .500 or better I will like last years coaching staff better . Our biggest problem is our D and that coordinator not getting the job done and Obie not addressing the lack of talent On our D .

We don’t know if it’s all on Obie. There were some questionable cuts in the off-season and training camp. Obie brought in some secondary players late last year that appeared to have some potential and all of them were released this year.

As somewone pointed out previously, Cortez wanted complete control of all players on and off the field. So far, I dont believe the team has brought in enough talented players. That problem lies squarely on Cortez and Obies lap. I am fairly sure Cortez does not possess the correct atributes to access talent. Otherwise some of the pilons that are suiting up as O and DLine would be hard pressed to play arena football. I am also not very impressed with his smug I know everthing attitude that he conveys during press meetings. If George wanted complete control...................guess what George you got what you asked for. So George. this is how it works in the real world. you are accountable for this teams performace. Its time for you to take a leadership role and fix the horrid DLine and not so special OLine and start and win football games. And I agree with another person who mentioned questionble cuts at TC......Collins and Means
played fairly well at the later part of the season. And last but not least, signing Congi and Creehan has not worked out so far for you has it George? Montreal will have this team for breakfast next week.

^^^^^ :thup:

Very well said Wildcats. You obviously see the WHOLE picture.

It's early days but so far Cortez has failed to impress. I'd say the team has actually regressed from last season. The feeling at the end of 2011 was "wait til next year". They seemed to be on the verge of big things but so far. these guys are having a hard time playing .500 football.

Oh yeah, that pass on 3rd and inches with a minute left in the game was simply idiotic. Porter gets it if he just falls forward on his face. That killed any chances for a last minute win.

I gotta say that Obie has let the team down too. The talent level isn't high enough, especially on the D-line.

An Argo-Cat fan

Cortez is just fine, the offence is leading the league in several catergories. Its the defence that still has to gell.

Its only week 8, if its like this in week 18 then we have a problem, until then give it a chance.

I'll still support the coach.....its early and they have some new faces...BUT............

That 3rd down shotgun passing play has to be one of the worst calls I've ever witnessed.....absolutely terrible call.....even if you think you can't run for half a yard, you would at least line up on the line and play action....

Just an awful call and one that escapes any logic....

and...btw....I would expect to see some new faces on the OL next week based upon the coach's confidence in them.

But again....just a horrendous call at the worst possible time.....just plain stupid...

Boys in Sat Spec it looks like Cotez Has started to sharpen his axe and changes could be in the works :o

It appears Cortez is considering personnel changes after the Winnipeg game. This is like driving your car with a low tire fully knowing you will have to at some point change or replace it. The defense was horrid last year and they have done absolutley nothing to fix it other than hire a rookie coach and bring in reject players from other teams.

Its hard to believe the coaches thought all was well after 3 games and now after 7 games the light goes on. Give me a break. The most glaring problems so far that I can see are:

1/ Defensive tackle (both sides) Need two monsters

2/ Right offensive tackle (the blind side)

3/ Safety - no one has taken complete ownership of this position yet.

4/ Left guard - poor run blocking.

5/ Centre - not impressed at all -

6/ Failure to use Colbourne with Walker

7/ Failure to use Sam Greguer as a strength - crossing patterns like
Weston Dressler

8/ Special Teams tackeling - basic fundamentals of football.

9/ Run stuffing middle linebacker. Williams is not the answer.

10/ Half time adjustments. Cortez says they are not important. Well
George that pretty well explains why your teams is in a mess.

Any thoughts?

Cortez is a first time head coach, he's on the learning curve to.

Believe me, Marc Trestman made his share of rookie mistakes back in 2008. He didn't know how to manage the last three minutes of each half, among other things. Cortez is a first-time HC; be patient. Even the brightest mind has to adjust to a new position.

Assume you mean left tackle? Because with a right-handed QB, left is the blind side.