Naylor sums up the situation very succinctly:
Football is a young man’s game, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at the Montreal Alouettes right now.
The Als are not only riding a five-game losing streak, during which they’ve been outscored 174-70 and recently fired their head coach in midseason for the fourth time in five seasons, they’ve also got the oldest roster in the CFL.
And it’s not close.
Montreal has 21 players on its current 46-man roster age 30 or older, which is roughly double the CFL average. Five current Alouettes are at least 35.
So not only are the Alouettes in need of new head coach for next season, they’re going to need a slew of new, younger players as well.
All of which presents an enormous challenge to rookie general manager (and now interim head coach) Kavis Reed, who took over last season after more than 20 years of stewardship from former GM Jim Popp.
Assembling such a veteran roster for this season was a curious approach for a new GM, coming off a season in which Montreal missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season – the first time that had occurred since the Als returned to the CFL in 1996. Hiring a new GM ordinarily buys time for a team to go younger, exercise patience, and put up with mistakes in the name of being better in the long term.
The Als seemed to go the opposite direction, chasing the playoffs with a veteran team and trying to bridge to the future on the fly. It hasn’t worked.
Of course, trying to understand anything that happens in Montreal should always include the consideration of ownership, where Bob Wetenhall and son Andrew wield more influence on the operation of their team than anywhere else in the CFL.
Did the Wetenhalls tie the hands of their new general manager by insisting the Als be competitive this season? The fact Montreal fired Jacques Chapdelaine barely a week after Labour Day certainly suggests that patience remains at a premium for the Als.
Consider this quote from Reed in the Montreal Gazette back in May, on the eve of training camp: “I’m … realistic that this process has to be expedited to make certain we’re successful right away,? Reed said at the time.
With this season quickly looking like a lost cause, the biggest decision ownership needs to address is whether Reed, who had solely been a coach in the CFL before this season, is up to the task of hiring the team’s next head coach and overhauling a roster that’s become ancient by pro football standards.
What the Als need is a rebuild, one that will require some pain and a step or two backward before things get better. Getting ownership to accept that reality may be Reed’s biggest challenge.
