Thorough Rebuild, Muddle Through, or Challenge NOW?

Cortez comes in.
He chooses to be his own OC for the year.
Obie is coming (has functionally come?) to the end of his leadership of the team.
The first older vet (one who was a team leader in his short stay) is released and other players are beginning to be shed in the annual dance.
An older QB with potential for a very good year or two is brought in.
The owner makes excited pronouncements about challenging for the Cup.
The team has one year before it starts wandering in the wilderness without a home for a season.
In 2 years there will be a gleaming new stadium.

So....

Is this a team that is genuinely looking to challenge this year?
Is this a new Coach/Football Ops. Head who is willing to mortgage a bit of the future to win now or is he the kind of guy who wants to build patiently even if there are fewer wins right now?

I'm kind of interested in the 'take' on this board.

The options as I see them?

  1. The team can challenge hard regardless of effect on the future and so will be aggressive in free agency, trading, etc.
  2. The team genuinely believes that it is only a few modifications from being a major challenger for the near future.
  3. The team will muddle through, play both sides, and hope Burris keeps them looking respectable, while looking for chances to improve.
  4. The team will go the rebuild route under new leadership and patiently assemble pieces regardless of current win total.

I don't know Cortez. I don't know his tendencies in this matter.
I DO know that we may be beginning to get mixed signals and it's probably too early to be sure of which way the wind is blowing.

Which way do YOU think it's heading?
And hey.... to distinguish the matter, which way do you WANT it to head?

This team is ready to contend and has a legit shot at winning the cup. I think we need atleast one more star in the secondary and another pash rusher but besides that I like what we have.

I see the offensive line as being an issue. I don't care who we have as a running back if the OL can't open any holes.

I'm hoping we can do a bit of a tea leaves analysis here. My main question is which way do you SEE the larger picture heading? (The "what we want" is secondary because we really DO discuss that in many threads and - as fans - most of us just want a championship...NOW.)

I'd say Cortez and Obie want the best of both worlds. Lots of new talent for the future plus some experience at QB and the lines.
Can't ignore the fans while re-building. We have to win some games to show we are improving.
Looks to me like George Cortez knows exactly what he wants and we are seeing the start right now.
Can't wait for training camp!

I'm not sure exactly what you mean Mark but in terms of the larger picture, I think that Caretaker is really adamant about the team he owns winning a Grey Cup and soon and under his caretakershipmanship which may or may not last that much longer. The man just wants a GC before his time is up and we never know when that will be for any us! I think we underestimate just how competitive Bob Young is. If I worked for him, I wouldn't want to get on this bad side I can tell you. :o (not a slam Caretaker at all, you are a driven person and it is people like you that truly make many things happen in this world no question).

While the team management is hopefully planning ahead for seriously contending in 2012, working through '13 on the road, having a great kick-off season in the new digs in '14, and a strong team in '15 to hold onto the extra ticket buyers who were attracted by the new stadium, I hope they have a clear and strong realization of the importance of having a plan in place to prepare now by building extra strong depth on the roster, particularly among non-imports, for the Expansion Draft in December of next year to create the 2014 Ottawa Whatevers.

Here's an article on all the goodies Ottawa will get and how. It was written when the plan was approved by the league and the expectation was that Ottawa would field a team for 2013, so wherever there is reference to a calendar year, add one.

http://cfl.ca/article/expansion-draft-plan-approved

Earl.... exactly.

Bob is a fan. He also owns the team. He wants to WIN!
Bob is a businessman. He owns the team. He wants a PROFIT! For the long run??? Or just now because he may drop the team?

We've done this analysis before.

Now comes Cortez. He gets to own a program. If I were in his shoes I would want to build for the long-term and be happy with anything in the first year. But Obie is coming to the end. He would want to win NOW!

So we have conflicting extremes.
And we have a fascinating situation with the stadium and the age of our QB to muddy the waters.

I can be included among those who desire an immediate championship, but like you, Mark,
I am in a quandary as I wonder if we haven't overstepped the bounds of good football logic
with all the (risky perhaps) moves we have made.

I could site all the moves here once again, but by now, I think we are all more than aware of them.

Our pass defense continues to need support in my opinion and remains the weakest link on our team.
This pass defense was shredded by team after team all last season, and I still don't see much hope here
for the future. Both lines require bolstering and lets hope that Smilin Hank's age doesn't come into
play this coming season. Due to his age, I feel that the need for a strong backup QB becomes that much
more important and I really don't see Quinton Porter being a viable answer to that particular problem.

All things being equal, I'm looking forward to an exciting season.

He wants a PROFIT

True Mark but I will give Bob a heck of a lot of credit, he wants to leave the club in good shape for the next owner and who knows, the next owner may be community ownership so he wants to leave the team as healthy as possible. Some people on other sites have called him "Bob the Bully" for not playing at WH but this man truly does care about this community I think. I don't think he will make much money, if anything, from the TigerCats either way, leaving it healthy or unhealthy and more than likely will lose money either way.

In terms of a plan, well forget it, it's pro sports of this day and age, you win any way you can. Not saying the Canadian draft isn't the way to do it, for sure it's important, but if you win and didn't draft that well, not many people will really care, it'll just be that the Cats won.

I think under the Marcel Bellfeuille era we already went through options 2,3 and 4. This year we seem to be assembling a team aggressively (and somewhat ruthlessly) in an attempt to ensure our appearance in the 100th Grey Cup.

Krisium, you are voicing exactly my thoughts on first viewing Mark's fouroptions, That is that 2, 3, and 4 have already been tried with poor results.
It seems to me that Cortez has already initiated Step 1. I get the strong impression that his influence on futiure strategies started long before his official addition to the team. If not, there can be no doubt that he, and he alone, is now in charge. And, that's a good thing. I sense from the moves being made that he will be willing to stand or fall on his decisions, but they will be HIS decisions, brooking no outside influences.

I look forward to seeing a team this season that will not be comparable to past teams in any substantial way.

Hey Wilf.... side question, my old friend. Considering your signature tag line, which option did you choose? :slight_smile:

I'm afraid that I may have gone the wrong way on this one. :frowning:

Mark, as my signature line indicates, there is no choice involved,

"Growing old is mandatory" That leaves no room at all for choice. So long as we are here, we continue to grow old.

It is when we consider the wisdom part that it becomes optional. Note that wisdom is not the same as intelligence.
Intelligence san be acquired, or not. That simply depends upon one's willingness to accept education.

Wisdo. on the other hand, is rarer and more difficult to achieve. I like to think that longevity helps. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Contrary opinions are rife, but not necessarily welcome. Stay well, my friend,

With a starting quarterback who will be 37 before the season begins and whose recent performance indicates he may be on the downside of a great career, the Ti-Cats need to go for it NOW.

Sorry but where and when did Bob say he was selling the team? Lets not speculate on what Bobs plans are shall we?

Eventually he will sell the team or if he dies and his estate owns the team, his family may not want to continue. That's all I'm saying. You are correct, he hasn't said to the best of my knowledge that he will sell the team in so many years or at a time. My bad. It might be a situation like Ralph Wilson with the Bills who I think has basically said as long as he's alive he'll own the Bills. His family doesn't want to own the team I've heard and will put it up for auction, so I've read.

My expectation is make it to the playoffs with the talent we have right now. How far we go is another question. I do not expect a Grey Cup appearance or East Semi win for the following reasons.

  1. Special Teams questions - Losing Thigpen is a huge loss for our return game and not having a good kicker locked up is a huge question. With Medlock pursuing the NFL, right now Josh Maveety and Dave Stala are our kickers, and while I know little of Maveety love Stala that's not going to cut it.

  2. Offensive Line Questions - Losing Rottier, likely to Edmonton or Calgary is a big loss for us, but keep also in mind how our O.line fared when Marwan Hage went down. The offense stalled quite a bit, and with Mark Dewitt traded there is a lack of depth on the O.Line. Sure Hage, Dyakowski and Johnson are good, but Jimenez still attracts penalties and there isn't enough depth if we get injuries.

  3. Offensive Backfield Questions - Burris has questions, is he too old or was that a fluke season last season? Burris has been known to lay an occasional egg. Mallet as well now has questions. Has he lost some edge with a season trying out for the NFL or is he just as good if not better then when he was with the Leos? Will Darcey Brown have a bigger role? How will the team take the loss of a leader like Cobourne? What is Quinton Porter's role and what will his future be with the team? All valid questions that need answering.

  4. New Coaching Staff - I don't care how good Cortez is or the pedigree of his staff. It is a new coaching staff and that takes time for a team to adjust to. Picking up a brand new system takes time, as does tweaking said system to address your strengths and weaknesses. It's been a problem with our revolving door coordinator positions, and needs time to be worked on.

    • Defensive Backs - Last year our DBs were inconsistent, and the air attack that AC managed to get away with during the playoffs was unacceptable. Now these guys will get better with time, but there are a lot of veteran receivers in the league right now who are outperforming these guys. Now the high risk defense of last year caused some of this, but it needs to be addressed.

So yeah, those are my concerns, now some of these can be resolved in the off season, but some we won't know until the season begins. If these issues get addressed, I say we have a cup caliber team, if they don't or it takes too long to address them, the coaching focus needs to be on improving and rebuilding. Montreal is on the downswing, AC is getting older as is his O.Line and they lost another key receiver but still are a force to be reckoned with. The Argos still have a lack of receiver depth so I expect us to do better then them and Winnipeg is looking fierce right now. I expect this season to end the exact same way as the last.

  1. losing Thiggy isn’t that big of a deal on special teams, I thought Williams was better back there last year. As for Medlock id love to have him back but if he does get an NFL job Obie will bring a ton of guys into camp so Stalla wouldn’t even be a thought.

  2. Hage is healthy and we might have Jimenez back now that Marcel is gone.

  3. Burris is a question but I think he can get the job done. As for the running game that doesn’t worry me at all.

  4. Last year Edmonton proved that you don’t need to suck just because you have a new staff.

  5. The DB’s were scary at times last year so we need a few new guys and hopefully another vet in training camp

I would say ’ right at this moment’ the Argos are better than us overall. Hopefully that will change.