Ok, ok, this is just a silly thread to pass the time. Don't anyone hate on me for thinking about next season. I'm quite aware that 2013 is still ongoing and that we could make some playoff noise if things fall our way.
For 2014, though, how do you see the coaching staff shaping up?
Here's my preference:
Head coach: Dave Dickenson
Assistant head coach: Noel Thorpe
Offensive coordinator and running backs coach: Doug Berry
QB coach: Mike Miller
Receivers coach: Ben Cahoon
Offensive line coach: Scott Flory (though I could live with Verducci sticking around)
Defensive coordinator: Noel Thorpe
Defensive line coach: Keith Willis
Defensive backs coach: Noel Thorpe
Linebackers coach: Mark Nelson
Defensive quality control coach (entry level): Anwar Stewart
Special teams coordinator: Ray Rychleski (only because who else would replace him?)
My rationale for these moves:
With the AC era drawing to a close, we need an offensive-minded head coach to put Neiswander or Smith or whoever in the best possible position to succeed. Dickenson has been able to get the best out of every QB Calgary has had, from Burris to Tate to Glenn to Bo Levi Mitchell. All QBs with different styles. I HATED facing Dickenson when he was a player, because he was just a cerebral machine; whatever weakness we had defensively, he would isolate it and attack it.
Thorpe gets Asst HC to keep him from being a flight risk. Cahoon was a player with limited physical attributes but a master of technique and route-running; that's the kind of person I want coaching our receivers. Flory is done as a player and should be ready to transition to coaching. Giving Anwar an entry-level position on the defensive staff helps us build up our institutional memory; if Willis ever leaves, Anwar can step into his spot as D-line coach.
1- Ben Cahoon. Il n'a pas encore montré qu'il est un bon pédagogue ni qu'il est efficace pour faire progresser des joueurs. Son expérience d'entraîneur est très limitée et j'hésiterais à l'amener immédiatement chez les pros alors qu'il a encore ses classes à prouver chez les jeunes.
2- Mike Miller. Si on a Dickenson comme entraîneur, est-ce que Miller a encore sa place? C'est possible, mais je me demande si c'est lui ou Berry qui est responsable de ce qui arrive avec Nicewonder présentement. J'ai pas la réponse, mais ça me titille un peu.
3- Doug Berry avec les porteurs de ballon. A-t-il déjà assumé cette charge? Est-ce sa tasse de thé? Je suis d'accord qu'on devrait trouver un remplaçant à Speckman, mais je ne suis évidemment pas foutu de m'imaginer par qui. Celui qui me vient en tête est Bischoff, mais il est un peu occupé, et pas mal mieux payé.
4- Scott Flory. Nulle doute que Flory est un gars brillant et une excellente tête de football. Il a également un excellent leadership et, il va sans dire, une grande connaissance du métier. Est-il déjà prêt à prendre une unité en charge et à la diriger comme entraîneur au niveau professionnel? C'est possible (il me revient les premiers pas de Mike O'Shea à l'esprit), mais il serait un cas rare, il me semble. Il y a aussi Brian Chiu et Paul Lambert qui traînent dans le coin.
Mais je me fie plus sur Popp et ses adjoints pour trouver quelqu'un qu'à mon erratique jugement.
Et ce, même après le fiasco Dan Hawkins! :o Blague à part, j’aime beaucoup la liste de Disciplinenpunish. On peut avoir quelques interrogations mais en général, c’est une très belle brochette de candidats.
Par contre, tenons pour acquis que Dickenson reste à Calgary pour succéder à Hufnagel ou il ira à Edmonton, que Chris Jones n’enterre pas la hache de guerre avec Popp et que Blake Nill continue son parcours universitaire.
Ce sont pour moi des hypothèses réalistes. Ajoutons aussi le commentaire de HFX qui mentionnait avec justesse que le contrat de Hawkins sera un boulet au pied de M. Wetenhall.
Face à un tel scénario, à qui donnez-vous le rôle d’entraineur-chef?
I think Blake Nill has the potential to be the best "pure" HC in this league since Don Matthews. The guy took a crumbling program in the AUS and turned them into a National Champ, then went to Calgary and took one of the weakest programs in the most competitive division in the CIS and turned them into a perennial contender. He's put more CIS players in the CFL than any other HC in the CIS in the last 10 years. He'd be my guy without any hesitation. Highly educated. Was drafted by the Als himself, played as an olinesman in the CFL.
How about giving Thorpe a couple of more jobs to spread himself thinner. LOL
I like the addition of Stewart, and would like Cahoon if he wanted to come, but have, my doubts about Flory making the jump from player to coaching his former line-mates…
You’re kidding? :roll: Our kick return team is awful, the result of which is that, to this day, the returner position is a revolving door. It was just the same last year, when we had no dedicated coach.
Also, I wouldn’t be in such a hurry to give Thorpe more responsibility. This is his first year. Let him continue his great work for another year or two, and then reward him with a promotion.
We don’t promote him and we risk losing him to Ottawa or elsewhere. Assistant HC is pretty much a vanity position anyway. He gets his salary bump and promotion so that teams can’t poach him without giving him those same positions.
Also, Thorpe already coaches the DBs. It’s super-common for a coordinator to also double up as a position coach. When Burke was here, he coached the DBs too.
I like the addition of Stewart, and would like Cahoon if he wanted to come, but have, my doubts about Flory making the jump from player to coaching his former line-mates..
Yeah, like I said, if Scott's not ready, I don't really mind keeping Verducci. He's done all right considering all the injuries on the line and the instability at quarterback.
As for Rychleski (in response to AlsPhil), I don’t see him as that much better than Andy Bischoff TBH. Sure, Pippin sucks as a punter, but that doesn’t excuse our terrible blocking, penalties, missed assignments, and big plays given up (burned on trick plays, etc.). As I said, I’d keep him because I can’t think of anyone better, but really, his body of work this year has been far less than impressive, and you can’t blame it all on Pippin.
Every team has injuries. Not an excuse. There’s a limited set of responsibilities on special teams. We’re not talking about overly complex assignments or complicated schemes. You win battles at the point of attack, you stay in your gaps, and you play hard. I don’t see the players selling out for Rychleski TBH.
Also, if it’s not Rychleski’s fault, then Popp has to wear the unit’s struggles, for keeping Pippin around and for not being able to find a decent kick returner (something we haven’t had since we traded Chad Owens).
Lastly, despite all this, I’d keep Rych around. We really have no choice but to give him another year and hope that with a new kicker and better KRs, we can field a competitive ST unit.
Everyone has to start somewhere. As I’ve said before, Cahoon would be a great choice for receivers coach because he was a player who absolutely had to rely on intelligence and technique to excel. Often, star athletes don’t make good coaches precisely because they are unable to coach up players who don’t possess the physical attributes they had when they played.
Marcus Brady went from being our backup QB one year to being our receivers coach the next year. Not only did he have no experience coaching, he wasn’t even a receiver as a player! And it turned out fine. Any guy coming in cold is going to be mentored a LOT by the OC and the head coach anyway…
2- Mike Miller. Si on a Dickenson comme entraîneur, est-ce que Miller a encore sa place? C'est possible, mais je me demande si c'est lui ou Berry qui est responsable de ce qui arrive avec Nicewonder présentement. J'ai pas la réponse, mais ça me titille un peu.
Well, if Dickenson is our head coach, he's not going to be a position coach on top of all that. Too much responsibility for a first-time HC. I believe Miller's on a two-year contract, so why not make the most of that contract and let him work full-time with our QBs?
3- Doug Berry avec les porteurs de ballon. A-t-il déjà assumé cette charge? Est-ce sa tasse de thé? Je suis d'accord qu'on devrait trouver un remplaçant à Speckman, mais je ne suis évidemment pas foutu de m'imaginer par qui. Celui qui me vient en tête est Bischoff, mais il est un peu occupé, et pas mal mieux payé.
Doug's a veteran guy. I'm sure he could coach the RBs just fine. RB coach is probably the least taxing of the three offensive position coach roles. You're working with fewer players (compared to 5 starting O-linemen and 5 starting receivers).
4- Scott Flory. Nulle doute que Flory est un gars brillant et une excellente tête de football. Il a également un excellent leadership et, il va sans dire, une grande connaissance du métier. Est-il déjà prêt à prendre une unité en charge et à la diriger comme entraîneur au niveau professionnel? C'est possible (il me revient les premiers pas de Mike O'Shea à l'esprit), mais il serait un cas rare, il me semble. Il y a aussi Brian Chiu et Paul Lambert qui traînent dans le coin.
I'd be fine with any of those guys, or even Verducci if we decided to bring him back. The issue is really finding a home for Scott as a coach, since it's pretty clear he's done as a player. I don't want him to wind up coaching for another CFL team because we're afraid to take a chance...
Thorpe is happy in Montreal, he’s here for the long run and he’s under contract for another year, there is no way the Als will let anyone talk to him. We’ve had too much turnover in the staff this year. As for Nelson he will get opportunities but he’s overqualified to be a position coach to begin with and Edmonton realizes they messed up bringing in Marshall instead of giving him the job. His contract expires at the end of the season so he can go anywhere he wants anyway. Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton will be looking for a DC. Hamilton and Toronto may as well especially if Chris Jones takes a HC position. I don’t expect he will be here next year.
Ben was offered a job with the organization this spring and turned it down. He’s not prepared to get that far away from his kids at this point. Too bad for us :?
Dickinson's selection as the future Als head coach was, to me, a surprising but a brilliant choice. In examining his past football behavior, Dickinson emerges with exceptional status in football. From his NCAA days, his CFL years as a QB with an all time passing efficient rating and, one of the most successful QB ratings in CFl history. Dickinson has to be one of the most cerebral and intelligent of football player/coaches in our league. As noted, he would be the ideal HC with a team such as the Als who have a stable of young and promising QBs. His success in mentoring QBs in BC would be transferred to our team. A persons predicted success in a future life can be attained from an examination of a person's past life. Dickinson's past football experiences were extremely positive at every level. Thus I would predict his future role as a head coach in Montreal would again be a successful endeavor.
In the last Grey Cup match between Calgary and Montreal, Dickinson personally destroyed the Als with both his passing and running. Yes, I too would select him as the 2014 HC of the Als. His success in the CFL will definitely transfer in his future role as head coach. I doubt he would accept the challenge, however, as he will be the future coach of the Stamps.
All your choices have strong resumes and you have presented sound reasons. A key component to a head coach, however, is the ability to administrate, delegate and motivate...How good one is at these tasks can only be determined on the job. Choosing an HC will always be a crap shoot.
