He was expansive, thoughtful, generous with his time, friendly, warm and, at times, a little coy.
But most of all he was A Presence. A Big Presence.
And that’s among the first things Fantuz mentioned Monday. He recalled the immediate swagger that Austin brought to the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2007, their last Grey Cup championship year. And, like most coaches, and just about every quarterback, he oozes confidence, sending out the vibes that things will be all right no matter how bleak they may seem.
That presence and confidence are imperative for the “face? of the franchise, which Austin immediately becomes.
Milton has become a must read. What an excellent sports writer.
Love how this piece expresses his gut reaction to Austin during the media conference yesterday. Milton expresses hope.
"Austin will be quarterbacks coach — he believes in developing all three roster pivots to game-ready status — but hasn’t decided whether he will also be the offensive co-ordinator."
This makes me a bit nervous. He's already HC, GM, and VP football ops. He's going to be QB coach and possibly also OC on top of that? I sincerely hope he hires a dedicated OC. Otherwise, he'll have too much on his plate.
Last year, with the Cortez and Burris hirings, I felt like it was 1998 again, when Lancaster rode into town with Flutie and McManus. Boy was I optimistic last winter.
This year, I am going to wait until around Labour Day 2013 before I get excited about the Austin hiring. Since 2004, we have had too many "saviours" that turned into clay. Like they say in Missouri (the land that spawned Harry S. Truman), "Show me."