Not liking this move…
Mods… please delete this. I missed the started thread.
Football staffing of management poaitions is a lot like playing golf. You only play with your own ball until it is lost and them you play with someone else’s, that you found in same area that you lost yours. You don’t own golf ball, you just rent it for a while. It a revolving door, everyone is recycled!
Surely, I think thy mean the James Barker Band.
I don’t really mind Barker very much, apart from that time he was whispering in the officials ear that one game. What I don’t like is the “Consultant” position. You hire a Consultant because you want to identify weaknesses and you need advice which to me says, you have a staff that doesn’t know what it’s doing. That or you just want to gift someone a position.
If he was suddenly GM, with actual roles and responsibilities, that would be a different story.
Solid football guy and person. Tillman’s departure means you have to replace his network of contacts with a similar one.
Hiring Barker does that.
This is a good hire.
When Austin signed with the US college, I made a joke about whether they would replace him as a “consultant”. Joke’s on me - the answer is yes.
I’ll admit I wasn’t a big Barker fan when all I knew him as was an Argo. Because, well, he was an Argo.
But he grew on me a bit with his TSN performances last season. He is essentially the anti-Rod Black. Not the classic voice (or look) for a TV commentator, just solid, relevant commentary.
TSN’s “blowhard quotient” just went up a bit, assuming Burris stays in 2019. The departure of Climie will not be enough to lower it.
There might be a couple of new fresh faces on the panel next season with the departure of Climie and Barker.
- I agree 100%. Not only is Barker a nice guy, he is a very smart football man also !!
His credentials speak for themselves !!
I agree with the Dork. Barker is a good football man ! In the old days at Ivor Wynne, I used to arrive an hour early, in order to find a parking spot at Dom Polskis, near St. Ann Church . If the Argos were playing our good guys, I’d take my seat in Section 7 and watch a solitary figure jogging around and around and around the field . That jogger was Jim Barker , trying to stay in shape and maybe drop a pound or two . He was the enemy for a day but I did admire his determination.
I really like Tillman. He knows talent. I believe Barker will be our next Tillman. Our head coach trusts him and that’s good enough for me .
Pat Lynch (the Dork fan)
While I agree that it’s a good hire, you -may- be on to something.
Maybe he can point out some inefficiencies, redundancies, or people that either cannot or will not pull their own weight. Hiring a new guy from outside the organization may be the best way to do that.
Found the following tidbit at this link:
Zimmerman is no longer with the Argos and is expected, if he hasn’t already, to land back in the Hammer. [b]There’s also talk of Tommy Condell rejoining the Ticats organization.[/b]Condell was on Kent Austin’s staff and was lured to Toronto as a consultant before Condell joined the team’s coaching staff two years ago.
Following the recently-completed season, which saw the Argos go from Grey Cup champs to the CFL’s basement, Condell had no contract.
Condell ? Plan the parade.
Wow ! There’s a lot going on in that one article . Thanks Dork . 
Pat Lynch (the old person)
The name being bandied about as the Argos’ new offensive co-ordinator is none other than Marcel BellefeuilleI found this interesting in that article
I feel better about the upper management of the team after reading this
https://3downnation.com/2019/01/04/making-sense-of-the-ticats-football-operations-moves/
"Tillman held the GM title in Hamilton in name only but didn’t have the final decision-making authority on football operations matters that usually comes with the role. Instead, personnel decisions were made by committee, one made up of assistant general managers Shawn Burke and Drew Allemang, head coach June Jones and assistant head coach Orlondo Steinauer. It’s also good to remember that team CEO Scott Mitchell usually plays a significant role in the big decisions – he and Tillman met with Montreal general manager Kavis Reed to get the Johnny Manziel trade finalized."
"Burke and Allemang now have the identical titles of “senior director of personnel co-manager of football operations? and have been part of the front office since the Bob O’Billovich era – they have essentially grown up within the organization. Burke started in community relations and communications before transitioning into football ops, diligently learning the craft from Ron Lancaster, Obie, Marcel Bellefeuille, George Cortez, Austin and any other football mind that came through the door. He’s handled contract negotiations, salary cap management, player relations and a lot of other heavy lifting – much of his work unrecognized and uncredited. He’s been seen as an up-and-coming potential general manager for quite some time. Everyone calls him “Burkie.?
"Meanwhile, Allemang literally grew up in the Ticats locker room, his father Marv a long-time offensive lineman for the club. He got his first chance under O’Billovich and has handled the Ticats Canadian scouting for the better part of a decade – the Ticats were one of the first teams to dedicate a guy more or less full-time to the procurement of Canadian talent and Allemang was that guy."
"What’s interesting about both Burke and Allemang is that they’ve earned the trust and respect of not one, not two, not three, but four general managers and/or head coaches: Obie-Bellefeuille, Cortez, Austin and Jones/Steinauer. That’s remarkable."
"the Ticats added former Argonauts GM Jim Barker as a consultant and repatriated Spencer Zimmerman as director of U.S. scouting, another young football mind who got his start in the Ticats organization before departing for the Argonauts before the 2016 season.
Barker, meanwhile, has a wealth of experience and the network of relationships that are sure to come in handy."
As a “coaching consultant,” I guess.
Condell’s career has all been on the offence side and his title has been “O-Coordinator / Recievers Coach” for the past 6 CFL seasons. The Cats already have an Assistant HC / O-Coordinator, a QB Coach, and OL Coach, an Assistant O-Coordinator / RB Coach, and an Assistant WR Coach / O - Quality Control.
Agreed, The TiCats Football Ops/ Coaches/trainers/consultants/etc. has been announced
and Condell is not on this extensive list
Never been an HTC front office with this many Canadians? Is there another team that has as many?