After giving up his position as general manager of the Esks after last season, Hugh Cambell took himself completely out of the Esks organization today as he resigned his position of CEO. Personally, I'm glad this has happened, Hugh wasn't around all season long(specifically he missed the labour day game while vacationing, this angered many eskimo fans), and has basically just been a figurehead lately. Time to clear out the old, and start a new regime of Eskimo football.
This was announced on the local 11 pm global news in Edmonton.
Maybe Hugh took the hint from Bobby Clarke and realized that the game has passed him by! Will be strange to not have Hugh associated with the Esks, but there comes a time where the torch has to be passed on to the younger pups!
....remember him mostly as a Rider receiver...When Lancaster threw him the ball....he rarely missed...hence the name Gluey Huey....great at what he did ...on and off the field...So long Huey...enjoy your retirement :thup:
Wow, thats a surprise. As much as we liked to kid around about him being the CFL Commisioner and Leader of the Evil Empire,he was a great person for the Eskimo's organization.
while most of us spent the last decades hating the man for his success, i think we all need to acknowledge that he was one of the great stable forces in the league during some very difficult years for the cfl. now that i have given him the credit he deserves i will go back to my deeprooted hatred of all the successful teams he has been associated with.
Cannot argue with the man's success. And one on one, he was actually a pretty nice guy.
Behind the scenes, he was a cut-throat son of a ...gun...and as the leader of the Evil Empire, he was both a stabilizing force for the CFL, at times, but some of the issues and antics were destabalizing as well.
But overall, he has had quite the career. Nine Grey Cup victories, 5 as coach (in a row),the second alltime winningest coach in 'Smo history, a Grey Cup appearance on average, every two years, a huge part of the 34 year play-off streak--whether you think the 'Smos tactics were always on the up and up or not-- and one of the most influential people in the CFL during that time.
And some think he might be bailing as the 'Smo star is fading; that maybe he should have retired last year, while on top.
But I think that by hanging on a year, he has taken one more opportunity to give to the 'Smo organization.
If he had resigned last year, and the team missed the play-offs this year, there would have been much greater turmoil and disatisfaction. This way, now the new team will not face that same pressure, and they can move on to rebuild on their own terms, not by fighting off ghosts.
I think that final move, to take that last bullet for the team, tells us a lot about the man.
I think we all hate the man out of respect--if that makes sense--and while we won't miss seeing the 'Smos in the play-offs every year, we will miss Hugh Campbell!!
This is basically paving the way to Hugh's son Rick Cambell losing his job as defensive coordinator in the offseason, as there has already been speculation that he will be a victim of coaching changes in the off-season.