Head Coach Vacancies

Well, according to today's Toronto Star (http://www.thestar.com/sports/football/ ... of-coaches), the Argos have the following four men as prime candidates for their head coaching vacancy:

Scott Milanovich
Greg Marshall
Chris Jones
Doug Berry

The Blue Bombers apparently aren't going to hire any front office personnel until the end of January, and since it is highly unlikely that they'd hire a head coach before doing that, looks like the Argos are going to get first dibs here.

All good candidates, and as an Als fans it’s nice to see that three of the four men are current or ex-Als coaches, but not very much is going to change in Toronto as long as Rita and Mohns are still at the controls.

Oh I hear you there. . . I think the Bombers are doing it in the right order, straightening out the front office frst. Argos need some changes there for sure, and really should do that before hiring a head coach. Doesn't mean that they will, though.

Off that list I'd be a bit concerned about Milanovich. We all know that Trestman is really hands-on with the offence, so how much control Scott has really had over the offence is open to question; I suspect he's more of an offensive coordinator in name only, so he may not yet be qualified to be a head coach.

The Bombers BoD does have a committee that is looking at head coaching candidates and have said they hope to give the new VP of Football Operations a say in the hiring of a head coach but the new head coach could conceivably be hired before the VP of FO.

....Seems strange that Tom Higgins isn't on the Argos list....Very capable guy who has expressed a lot of interest in the job in Wpg.....Could that be the reason the boatmen are cool towards considering Higgins ...orrrrrrr is it something else.....????I can see Tom as vp/ceo material....but he has also said that he would be interested in coaching again....He sounds very keen on getting back to the game, both on the field and/ or in the front office.. :wink:

Agreed. IMO Scott hasn’t proven himself as a coordinator yet. It’s fairly established that while he is the titular offensive coordinator, Trestman is in charge of the passing game. Scott’s primary portfolio is the running game. Considering that the Als are a pass-first team, I’m not sure how much of our offensive success is due to Scott and how much due to Trestman (in terms of coaching; obviously the players have an impact too :slight_smile:).

If I was a betting man and assuming that these are the 4 remaining candidates, I would say Doug Berry first and Scott Milanovich second; my "conseil" to Scott would be:"stay in Montreal for 1 to 2 more years". There is no Calvillo in Toronto,no Cahoon,no Richardson,etc. If a coach like Scott fails in Toronto, it will "hurt" his career.

Richard

Very valid point Richard.

If you accept, as I think most of us would, that Toronto's offence (or, rather, the lack thereof) was their problem and that the defence was pretty good, then it would make sense to go with an offensive minded coach, which puts Milanovich and Berry ahead of Marshall and Jones.

Edge perhaps to Berry who at least has some experience as a head coach, which the others do not have.

I think best moves are as follows:

Berry to TO as head coach. He has the experience to deal with an average-at-best front office.

Higgins to Winnipeg as VP of Football Operations. Marshall to Winnipeg as head coach. There would be familiarity between the two while at the same time they have a proven track record of success together in Edmonton if I'm not mistaken.(Wasn't Marshall the def coordinator for Higgins in Edmonton?)

…Higgins and Marshall have worked very well together in the past…The Bomber players (most of them that have commented) agree that Marshall should be the ‘man’…I would say BigU your take is pretty close…HOWEVER…you can be sure the Bomber brass and Asper (David being the guy most likely to have to live with these decisions) will be going over EVERY applicant with a fine tooth comb…This franchise has left itself with very little or no room for error… :wink:

There are other guys beside Marshall that could be potential coaching choices if Higgins was hired in Winnipeg. IIRC Tim Burke has already been mentioned as a candidate for HC and he was an assistant for Higgins in Calgary and took over as DC part way through the 2007 season under Higgins. Steve Buratto was his OC although I haven’t heard Buratto’s name for any current HC openings.

I’m going to say Doug Berry would be the favourite, if only because he’s not currently employed. The other 3 may be great head coaches one day, but the bigger question is whether or not they’ll jump at the Argo’s job. As long as the front office remains the same it looks like a place where coaches go to die. That’s just my opinion but Benevides turned it down last year and it’s looking like a fantastic decision on his part.

If I were any of those four, I wouldn't accept the job until Rita and Mohns are gone. Look at the "anchors" they threw to the last couple of Head Coaches.

I'd make it one of my conditions. If I'm going to agree to be the HC, those two gotta go!

I would take Tom Higgins over the four mentioned in T.O.
Probably the last guy I would consider out of that group would be Milanovich (too green)

...so far Winnipeg and TO have NOT returned my calls...I thought my no-huddle defense was legendary...as far as offense goes, I am > guru than Kelly ever was...

who ever they pick as a coach, they need to make a solid commitment to keep them around for two full season. how can you be expected to have a playoff season when you go 3-15 the year before? tressman walked into a winning team, as did the huffer(some people ask "did he win with tom higgins team?") bring back the DON. I think danny barret should be on the list for winnipeg. I think it would not be a good move for Cris jones to go to toronto.

The Winnipeg FP gave 4 names for the Bombers HC job in the paper today: George Cortez, Tim Burke, Chris Jones and Greg Marshall. That's not an "official" list, only names of those the FP thought were interested or that the BoD was interested in.

the great george cortez was offered the toronto Job last year. hopefully he stays with calgary again this year.