RedBlacks have started interviewing HC candidates.

gary lawless ?@garylawless 48m Former #bombers coach Paul LaPolice had long interview with @REDBLACKS for their head coach position last week. Told he was very strong #bn

LaPo is a horrible choice, IMO.
no personality. boring. losing record as a head coach.

he's a coordinator, not a HC.

if he does get the job, the bright side is, he won't be on TSN anymore. he always puts me to sleep.

I would be surprised if they hadn’t started interviewing. They aren’t allowed to sign anyone until midnight after the Grey Cup. They are not officially allowed to talk to current CFL coaches until after the Grey Cup. Unless they want to talk to a fired coach like Kavis Reed.

They are not allowed to sign players but they can sign any coach they want who is not unemployed. They are doing the smart thing and interviewing candidates now who are available so they can get this sorted out with the employed one in December. They will want that knowledge around the table when they draft in mid-December. Lapolice is not a bad choice. He’s very involved in the community where he coaches. He’s pleasant with the media and has no enemies so he can build a staff with other experienced coaches. Not sure it will be him but of the available guys he’s certainly on the short list.

I disagree, for one he’s high profile being a TSN commentator, so that helps attract people to the franchise. Second, he still got the Bombers to the Grey Cup before Mack threw him under the bus and helped the Riders make it to the show.

I agree. Lapolice will Coaching soon in the CFL. Either Ottawa or Edmonton. Mack was the problem in Winnipeg, not Lapolice.

Lapolice also can provide an opinion on players in preparation for the draft. Certainly knows the Winnipeg and to an extent Saskatchewan rosters well. The more people they interview the more information they have to make decisions :thup:

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=437066

The Grey Cup has the attention of the entire nation this weekend, however the staff of Ottawa RedBlacks' is focused on an event that is a few weeks away.

With the December 16th expansion draft less than a month away, Ottawa is yet to hire a head coach but general manager Marcel Desjardins plans to use this weekend to rub elbows with prospective head coaches.

"We all know how important this hire is going to be. So we have to put in our due diligence," Desjardins told the Ottawa Sun. "Without getting into specifics, there are some coaches interested who you may be familiar with from the past and some not quite as familiar; some are intriguing, some are not."

A source told The Sun the RedBlacks have spoken with former Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach and current TSN analyst, Paul LaPolice.

Also on the list of candidates are former Hamilton Tiger-Cats head coach Marcel Bellefeuille, who joined the Blue Bombers as offensive co-ordinator in mid-season and Calgary Stampeders offensive co-ordinator Dave Dickenson. Bellefeuille is from Ottawa, went to Ridgemont High School and later played, then coached with the Gee-Gees.

Desjardins is prepared to let the timing of the coaching process play itself out.

"In an ideal world, we'd have somebody in place (before the expansion draft)," he told the Sun. "But we could go into January without a coach. It's not like we control all the elements. It's not like we're the only team who's looking for a coach."

Desjardins has an idea of his criteria for the next head man.

"(Whoever we hire) has to have CFL experience, not necessarily as a head coach," he said. "That doesn't mean he has to have been a coach this year. We're not going to reach out to people we know don't have a chance of getting the job.

"It's a three-step process. First, there's an informal get-to-know interview. Then, there's a more detailed discussion, more specific to football. Give us reasons why we should hire you. In some cases, we've had to combine steps 1 and 2. In step No. 3, we get into more detail."

George Cortez for HC?

he's my first choice for HC.

Take what he learned in hamilton plus his playbook and you have a great choice, imo.

How about Mike Miller?

[url=http://sports.ca.msn.com/top-stories/alouettes-coach-mike-miller-parting-ways-1]http://sports.ca.msn.com/top-stories/al ... ing-ways-1[/url]

I would guess because of the Gatineau 300,000 population next door, a French Canadian like Marcel B. would be the favourite.

I do think that Marcel Bellefeuille will be the Head Coach and Tim Burke the Defensive Coordinator.

Richard

I hope not.

What are we supposed to do? Only ever hire bilingual people now? Is that not a little limiting?

Best man for the job. If he happens to speak French, terrific, but it shouldn’t be a factor otherwise.

How many French-speaking head coaches have the Alouettes had?

I couldn’t agree with you more. Hire the best man. And I’m french, btw. I would rather see them win than be PC.

Wow, I cannot believe some of you folks don’t think this does not happen!
This is Canada after all, reverse discrimination.

Why would being bilingual be a pre-requisite for a CFL coaching job?????
This is not a government agency, it's a private football team where all the players speak English!!
Even Ottawa hired a Police Chief that wasn't bilingual because they wanted the best person for the job.
Why would the REDBLACKS handicap themselves, how many coaches would actually be bilingual??
What's next, demanding that BC hires a coach that speaks Chineese so they can attract the 25% Asian population?

Let's keep language, political correctness and politics out of football..................get the best person for the job!!

I’m not saying it doesn’t happen, I’m saying I don’t want it to happen here.

It’s easy. Would Bellefeuille get the job if was unilingual and came from Halifax? If not, he shouldn’t get it based on a couple of traits which have nothing to do with his ability as a coach.

LOL, reverse discrimination. Nothing funnier than an anglophone Canadian who thinks he's a widdle victim. :lol: