Very good hire by the Als, Higgins will probably end up with the dual GM/HC by next season, seeing as Popp's contract ends after the 2014 season.
Also found this interesting.
[url=http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2014/02/24/les-alouettes-embauchent-tom-higgins-contre-la-volonte-de-jim-popp]http://www.journaldemontreal.com/2014/0 ... e-jim-popp[/url]
Executive Alouettes ruled. Tom Higgins is not Jim Popp to be head coach of the team next season. Popp was not consulted in this decision, learned Le Journal de Montreal . It take the final year of his contract as general manager of the team in 2014.
It goes without saying that it is unhealthy when head coach is hired without the approval of the Chief!
It's a mess, especially after a disappointing season (8-10 record and elimination in the semifinals).
Popp was called to replace Dan Hawkins, who was fired after only five games as head coach in July.
The veteran leader, who has been with the team since his return to Montreal in 1996, was prepared to reoccupy the dual functions.
Dispute over the contract period
Popp however, does not want to engage with the team for a period of four years, as desired by the owner Bob Wetenhall.
He would have preferred to sign a contract extension of two years, who wants to keep the doors open in case a job in the NFL would be offered. His name also circulates each winter in the rumors.
This file has dragged on for two long months and a half. Popp remained on its positions and suspected that the owner had a plan B up his sleeve.
No press conference
The Alouettes have just issued a press release Monday afternoon to announce the new hiring Higgins. The latter will participate in a conference call Tuesday morning at 11:00.
The team said in the statement that personal obligations and time constraints do not allow the holding of a formal press conference.
You guessed that Popp will participate in the press conference on the phone since it is not he who committed Higgins.
Bob Wetenhall and his son Andrew, as well as team president, Mark Weightman will be invited to deliver further comments on this job during the conference call.
Plans are chambardés
Popp had already chosen his successor as head coach of the Alouettes in 2015, the excellent defensive coordinator Christmas Thorpe.
He also chose a new offensive coordinator and contacted other coaches, including francophones, for next season.
Now, this responsibility to fill positions back to Higgins.
An experienced man
Who is he? Higgins led the Edmonton Eskimos from 2001 to 2004 and the Calgary Stampeders from 2005 to 2007.
He won the Grey Cup in 2003, after losing in the final in 2002. However, it has never succeeded in bringing the Stampeders in the final.
It should be noted that Montrealers Danny Maciocia worked with Higgins in Edmonton ...
The future CEO?
Higgins has contacts all over the league. He was director of arbitration in the Canadian Football League from 2008 to 2013.
When he was at the helm of Eskimos from 2001 to 2004, Higgins also acted as CEO of the Alberta training.
It leads us to believe that there may well be called upon to replace Popp at the end of the 2014 season, when the contract expires American.
As head coach in the CFL, the 59-year-old posted a record of 72-53-1.
Higgins was named head coach of the year in the CFL in 2003 and 2005, but has not led a team for seven years.
He could hardly do worse than Hawkins ...
"This news took me by surprise, commented Luc Brodeur-center Jourdain.J 'have however met Higgins few times in the past. He knows the league very well. It has already won the Grey Cup. This is a good communicator. There will be no gray areas as was the case last year, early in the season ... "
