After last week's huge victory over the Esks with several key Rider players back, this only heightens the fact that Ken Miller was a genius keeping his fingers in the dyke and pulling out victory after victory with all the Rider injuries this season. No disrespect to Montreal's coach nor Huff in Calgary but clearly Miller did a better job managing the team to such a record this season.
Well done Ken Miller - Coach of the Year in my books hands down. :cowboy: :rockin:
Well turkey given the adversity the Riders' faced this year, Miller's performance as a head coach certainly merits consideration, although I doubt I'd agree he should win it "hands down".
Now, if they gave awards to coordinators, then Richie Hall should win the Defensive Coordinator of the year award, and in that case I WOULD say "hands down."
Trestman does not impress me. Why? It just seems like the same old powerful MTL . . . I am wondering if it is just the players making the coaches look good for executing as good as they always have.
Hufnagel is the more likely candidate out of him and Trestman IMO.
Miller is a very good coach. I hope him or the Huf gets it.
Miller has had more injuries to cover up which according to the TSN analysts, have defined the Roughriders this year. Is it enough to Win Coach of the Year? We shall see.
Unfortunately for Miller, the Riders won the GC last year and the Stamps didn't. Huff gets it hands down.
to bad trestman has done a better job then huff and miller. miller hasn;t been that good in my eyes anyway, strong start and flunk. trestman had the best turnaround and the als are a very good team.
So, they get some of their starters back and win a home game, and that means Miller should be Coach of the Year? Don't think so...
Y'er right. It was only Edmonton.....
Huff’s not in the running if Burris, Reynolds and the entire receiving corp is gone for a good portion of the season “hands down”.
I don't see anyone saying Huff would be in the running if he did have major injuries. I mean, if you guys had kept winning, maybe Miller would be considered. But you guys have only won 5 of your last 11 games. One week you guys are great, and the next it's like you guys didn't even show up.
So how do you explain Als poor showing last season? Considering EVERY SINGLE reporter picked them to finish dead last. I would hope they will own up and give him the award.
If I follow your thinking. Miller inherited the GC champs and Hufnagel took over an underperforming team that was picked last year and this season by most to go to the CG.
Tied for second in the league overall with the amount of injuries that the Riders had, I would say he is a strong contender for coach of the year. It would be him and Huff the magic dragon. No other team had the amount of injuries that the riders had. Sure they lost a few games and only won 5 of the last 11, but wait a minute, only one team has more victories…
I don't buy the "Miller inherited the GC Champs". At the start of the year not many people gave the Riders a chance because of some of the changes that were made. Then they play most of the year with the back-ups and 3rd stringers of the team nobody thought would win. Even if you don't like the decisions Miller has made, the Riders are going to finish with 11 or 12 wins. He deserves some credit for that.
I'm not saying he wins hands down as Hufnagel and Trestman are good candidates, but he should definitely get some consideration.
Anyone remember last year when Lions fans said they were using a third stringer and said thats why they lost games? Then people turned around and were like injuries are no excuse? So which is it injuries are a factor or are they not?
Either way Miller doesn't deserve it me thinks. At best they finsh second in the west and at worst 3rd in the west and stumbled down the finish line. Games get harder to win at the end of the season when they are actually played for meaning not at the begining when a horrible start can mean nothing and can still host a playoff game.
I'm proud of what the Riders and Ken Miller have done despite the injuries they've had.
I think you guys are looking at this the wrong way. What kind of record do the Riders have if Flick, Fantuz, Dominguez, Bowman, Cates, Chick and others healthy for the season? I would say you could put at least 3 more wins in the W column- the Riders are 14-3 heading into the final week. At this point I would think its a 3 way race between Hufnagel , Trestman and Miller.
I'm also getting tired of the injury excuse. You guys have a lot of injuries, there's no denying that. But good teams find a way to make due.
It's funny, when the Riders ripped off 6 wins to start the season, all we heard was how good the Riders were because they kept winning despite all of the injuries. But now that they're losing games, suddenly it's because they have injuries. You can't have it both ways.
In my opinion, the Riders started out hot, but now they're only a mediocre team, whereas both the Stamps and Als have been consistently good, and that's why Huf and Trestman deserve consideration and Miller doesn't.
The problem with that is it’s pure speculation. I could also say that if the Eskimos had proper coaching, they’d have maybe 11 wins instead of 9.
Its been said that we really haven't had a starting QB all season, and yet the Riders are 11-6, equal or better than 3 other teams that do have #1 guys-- Buck Pierce in BC, Ricky Ray in Edmonton and Anthony Calvillo in Montreal. So whats the reason the Riders have that record? Coaching- it may not be all Miller, but he is the one who gets the credit for the success and the blame if the team fails.
Exactly! The Riders have had a lot of injuries to very important players yet they’ve found a way to make due. It’s come down to the last week of the season and they have a chance for a home playoff game. In my mind Miller deserves at least consideration.
My thoughts exactly… what happened to good teams finding ways to win in spite of adversity? What happened to the belief that only losers make excuses?
Anyway… the Riders are reigning Grey Cup Champs (as Riders fans love to point out) and AFAIK, the biggest change from last year’s team was the team’s decision to get rid of their starting QB. The QB situation (IMO not injuries) was their Achilles heel, but they chose to get rid of the league MVP because they thought they didn’t need him. And Joseph’s performance in TO seems to prove them right, he isn’t that good, his Rider teammates made him look good in 2007.
I think that the 2008 Riders are about as good as last year’s team, but with a few extra losses due to injuries. Miller didn’t make them any better.
As much as I think Huff has done a good job, just getting rid of Denny Creehan is good for an extra 3 or 4 wins a season!
Trestman took the 8-10 Als and turned them into the best team in the league… with minimal personnel changes. Trestman added 4 wins all by himself. IMO, he’s the best coach in the league… and I don’t even like the Als.