Wow! Higgins blames the players for the special teams disaster! What a d*ck…
[b]But Higgins was quick to point the finger at Whyte, claiming he must assume at least some of the responsibility — along with the cover teams and special teams coaches.
“Yeah, kick the ball out of bounds. It’s only a 10-yard penalty. That’s better than bringing it all the way back, although it’s easier said than done,? Higgins said. “We were there. There’s no reason he should have been able to break that. A lot of players were there. We just missed it.?[/b]
Special teams have killed team
[b]The Als’ special teams have killed the team much of the season, especially recently[/b], making one wonder why kicker Sean Whyte didn’t angle his punts or simply kick out of bounds.
Special Teams is about preparation and attitude. Well we got “Golly Gee” team that came up short time and time again against the 3 most physical teams in the league. That’s a Higgins team for you. 0-2 Winnipeg, 0-2 Edmonton, 1-2 Hamilton.
I nominate MadJack to be our new special teams coordinator. He called it before the game (Banks burning us on special teams) and he was right on.
Special teams is about attitude, hustle, and buy-in. If you have, let's say, a good defensive unit but lousy ST, it doesn't mean you have bad players, it means your players don't respect the coach and aren't buying into his system. The performance of ST all season long under Higgins speaks volumes.
We can't do anything about Higgins as HC, since the senile idiot Wetenhall jumped the gun on confirming he'd be back, but for the love of God, PLEASE hire a dedicated ST coach who knows what he's doing. If we had played even competently on special teams, we might have won the game.
Also, I just want to say that for all his blather and nice-guy act and his corny jokes, Higgins always throws his players on the bus and never takes the blame. Ever. Every time something goes wrong, he points the finger at the players. Or his assistants. Or weather conditions. Or what he ate for breakfast. Never at himself. That's exactly the opposite of Marc Trestman. They may look similar but they're not...
I don’t see his comments as throwing people under the bus. He was just stating the obvious. As his players say he does not play the subterfuge game. And he took responsibility for Worman and stated he failed Troy Smith.
He should either say outright that he said kick it out of bounds and Whyte didn’t (SW’s fault), or admit he didn’t and take the blame. There is no “he should of known” when you are the ST coach.
Thorpe under contract for one more year. Has no out clause in his contract.
Made a decision last year to take a raise and stay here for the next two years.
The coach is ultimately responsible for what happens on the field. Allowing Banks to walk into the end zone 3 times on the same type of play is plain pathetic. End of story.
Wettenhal and Popp need to decide whether a “vote of confidence” given with a couple of games left in the season, when there is no choice but to give it remains in place after the last two visits to Hamilton.
I wondered at the time if Higgins somehow sparked the question to back Wettenhall into a corner; what else could he say as the team was making a playoff run, “The guy running the show won’t be back but go out and play hard for him anyway”?
Interesting. Thorpe was quoted that the Als have to allow him to talk to BC should they call. Who’s lying?
IMO Lions have no interest in Thorpe so moot point.
The Als have the players for sure on cover teams. Townsend and Herbert where injured and have been great coverage teams guys. Still you cant tell me that Marco B, Chip Cox, Venables, among others who play on coverage teams are not players with desire and Hustle. Whyte looked dead in the water in 2013 and came back this year pulling double duties and herd very little complaints.
For whatever reason, the end of Trestman's tenure and now Higgins the Als do not have full time ST coordinator. Seems like they had one last season but Higgins decided he would do the job himself.
Higgins en est à sa dernière saison avec les Alouettes. À moins de circonstances extraordinaires, le prochain entraîneur-chef sera Noel Thorpe. Ce dernier a déjà indiqué que son objectif était de devenir entraîneur-chef dans la LCF. Ce scénario m’apparaît comme le plus probable.
