Today's Post article presents a bunch of possible front office scenarios across the CFL including the Cats.
An Argo-Cat fan
Ticats' moves will ripple across CFL
New Coaches, GMs; Teams can expect a busy off-season of changes
Matthew Sekeres, National Post
Published: Wednesday, November 07, 2007
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have fired the first shot, but it promises not to be the last. You may hardly recognize Canadian Football League front offices and sidelines next year if the dominoes fall in certain ways.
The Tiger-Cats are in search of a general manager after firing Marcel Desjardins on the weekend, and the fate of head coach Charlie Taaffe hangs with the successor.
Club president Scott Mitchell intends to hire a general manager this month, and said he was seeking an A-lister who had accomplished enough in the game to be given full control of football operations. What Mitchell is suggesting is that he will hire someone away from another team, and if it is a lateral move-- GM chair to GM chair-- that could set many dominoes into motion.
It is just the start of what is going to be a busy off-season," a CFL executive said. "Trust me."
Taaffe has many fans around the league and, should he be fired, he could land elsewhere. After all, there could be plenty of empty offices.
This weekend, the spotlight will be on the Montreal Alouettes and Calgary Stampeders, the semi-final road teams that underachieved in the regular season.
Calgary head coach Tom Higgins, if not general manager Jim Barker, needs a win in Saskatchewan to feel secure. (Neither is a candidate in Hamilton). The speculation is former CFL and NFL assistant John Hufnagel could be the Stampeders' next coach, and that former Roughriders general manager Roy Shivers could take over personnel duties should Barker depart.
In Montreal, head coach and general manager Jim Popp led the team to its worst record since 1986 in his first full season of coaching duties. Popp's rich, long-term contract means he is likely to return as general manager rather than be fired altogether -- unless he wants to leave or the club is prepared to eat more than $1-million in severance.
If Popp were to move to Hamilton, he could work with someone he has hired (Taaffe) and the person who brought him into the CFL (Ticats director of football operations Dan Rambo), both of whom Mitch-ell would like to keep. But Popp, who built the Alouettes into consistent winners from 1996 until this year, might also command the dual role he now holds with Montreal.
If Popp stays with the Als, he could hire Taaffe to coach again, assuming the latter is available. Taaffe won two coach-of-the-year awards while guiding Montreal to a 24-12 record in 1999 and 2000.
One source said that Winnipeg general manager Brendan Taman is at the top of Hamilton's wish list, and the Ticats could move quickly if the Bombers get knocked out of the playoffs. Taman's star is on the rise after several personnel finds and the Bombers' marked improvement, but changes at the top of the organization could have a trickle-down effect.
Team president Lyle Bauer hired Taman in 1999 and refused to fire him during some rough patches, but Bauer's future is uncertain. David Asper, chairman of National Post and executive vice-president of CanWest Global Communications, wants to invest $65-million into a new 40,000-seat stadium.
Asper's offer, which is also contingent on government funding, would be in return for full ownership of the community-owned club. The team's board of directors has already voted to give ownership to Asper's company should the plan proceed.
In Toronto, Argonauts president Keith Pelley is leaving for a 2010 Olympic position and sources say ownership is trying to convince head coach Michael (Pinball) Clemons to come back. Clemons planned on leaving coaching after this season, but Toronto's owners do not want to lose him and Pelley at once.
Minus Pelley, and possibly Clemons, where does that leave general manager Adam Rita and director of player personnel Greg Mohns? A move from Toronto to Hamilton is the most logistically seamless in the CFL.
Then there is B.C. Lions director of player personnel Bob O'Billovich, who lives in Oakville, Ont., and has been within Hamilton's area code ever since the franchise began tinkering with its football department in 2005. O'Billovich fits all of Mitchell's criteria, and has done a spectacular job stocking the Lions with high-end talent.
The 67-year-old O'Billovich said yesterday that he is contemplating retirement should the Lions win another Grey Cup this year, and would not talk to another team until B.C.'s season is over. But his contract expires in February and O'Billovich said he would be willing to listen to offers later this month.
"I've always had an agreement with the [Lions] that if somebody has a GM job they want to offer me, I wouldn't be bound by my contract," said O'Billovich.
msekeres@nationalpost.com