new D-coordinator

Ed O'Neil takes the title of coordinator and Rust will be a "defensive consultant"

I wonder what caused this change - was it something from Rust? or something from the Cats organization that changed?
At the very least, anyone concerned about Rust being too old should be satisfied with this. And really, it looks pretty good since Rust will still be on board to share his wealth of CFL knowledge with a coach new to the league, but O'Neil certainly brings some impressive coaching credentials as well.

Announcement here

All the other teams are well into their preparation for the 2007 season and we are still sorting out our Coaching Staff.

Losing faith in Mr. Desjardins daily.

Rod can hopefully assist in the transition to 3 down football.

Most coaching staffs dont get together until april...the new staff will all be in Hamilton starting Monday. Seems like they are 'together' to me.

if all the staff will be there, I wonder if the Cats will finalyl announce a more complete staff... positional coaches maybe?

Ummm they did...

[url]Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Just how long did it take to get from "an embarrassment"

to

"Rod looked at the requirements and responsibilities of the position and measured that against the best interests of our organization"

The new dude's (Eddies) credentials look outstanding.

yeh ed looks wicked, but this doesnt make to much sense?? why was rust to step down?? it jus doesnt make logical sense, if he was such a great coach in the first place why wud he be replaced then?? wats going on in ticat land here fowlkes??

on ch sports it was reported that rust's health was not up for the job

…so like Ron he gets a title until he goes away.

Should this latest be categorized in the saga of 2006, or an omen for 2007?

O'Neil was drafted by the NFL's Detroit Lions in the first round (eighth overall) in 1974 and was a linebacker with the club from 1974 to 1980.
His career is very good. PLus, he has great experience as a linebacker...which will be very good for the new guys coming in and the vets from last year. I thought linebacker was a big weakness last year.

All of Coach have been Announced
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats announced today that head coach Charlie Taaffe has finalized his coaching staff by hiring Jeff Bleamer as offensive line coach, Mike Nelson as defensive line coach and Dennis Goldman as receivers coach.

Look here http://www.ticats.ca/index.php?module=s ... staffnum=1

Personally most of them don't have CFL Experience
That worries me a lot

NFLE is best we can do for DC That's bad.

Looks like we got the best of both worlds here..

Rust,who probably thought maybe at his age was over his head,but still stays as a consultant.

O'neil..with loads of credentials,knowledge and much younger..

I don't see any down side to this at all!

These new coaches all have great resumes, and a lot of them have worked together before.

I think making Rust a consultant is a great move. Now we have two very good coaches overseeing the D. And I also like the fact that the new Defensive Line Coach has coached teams that have been sack leaders. I can't remember the last time we had a D that was all over the QB.

What the newspapers didn't mention was that after his NFL stint, Ed O'Neil enjoyed a successful career as AL Bundy on NBC's "Married...With Children". :lol:

The Ticat management has successfully met the timeline of filling out its coaching staff and commencing work as a group by Mar 5/07. While it is a concern that the defensive coordinator and the position coaches (other than Mike Nelson) lack CFL coaching experience, they all have extensive football coaching experience and they have two and a half months to get ready for the 2007 CFL season.

Hopefully the entire Ticat coaching staff can attend the CFL Evaluation Camp in Toronto next weekend so that the position coaches can do a first-hand assessment of the potential draftees in the various positional drills and provide reports to Marcel Desjardins.

Sudsy’s D was the last one of that nature in Hamilton.

.....there's something fishy going on in "Tiger town........ :cowboy:

Its truely a small world I went to the same high school as he did but was a year ahead of him in the same class as his brother Dan .

He was a good football player in high school and I do remember him playing for Penn State . He played with John Capeletti for anyone that remembers him . I lost track of him after he went pro .

Onknight wrote:

Personally most of them don't have CFL Experience That worries me a lot

NFLE is best we can do for DC That’s bad.


I disagree…

With Rust teaching O’Neil about the Cdn. game for the next few months and over the season I really think he will do well.

Plus, Mike Nelson and Gregg Butler have CFL experience and that will help even more.