Where to for Wally From Here???

Let's face it. There is not a coach in the CFL or any other pro league who will admit to making a blunder. Wally would be one of the very last along with that other successful coach Don Matthews to admit his choice was a poor one.

But that was last week and the challenges for this BC Lions team are ahead and not back. The question has arisen in the sports media if the Lion coach's blunder will lead to further sliding and eventually another lost season without a Grey Cup. Whether the loss in Regina is a momentum loser for the Lions or not remains to be seen but for sure it has give new life to the Riders and ensured that they are still considered a force in the West this year.

The BC players know that some of their better play was more evident in the pre-game melee than in the actual game but they also know they are a good enough group of players to win. They also know that their coaches choice of allowing them to win with a one punt shot was a choice that they didn't make and wouldn't have if asked to be a part of that decision. They weren't asked and won't be as coaching is not what players do best and in the heat of battle like that there is no time for a team meeting and a lot of consultation.

What Wally Buono could do but likely won't do as it doesn't befit his style is this.

Tell his team at practice this week that in retrospect he made the wrong call. He went for the quick win over trusting his offence to not lose the ball and move it closer for a FG or single from closer in. He can say that with Paul punting as he was and the wind to his back that it looked like a no-brainer and a low risk way to win. In retrospect it was a high risk play and he was wrong to ignore his offence and how guys on his team can and did step up just to tie the game. The coaches should have let the players play out the game and so it wouldn't have had to be better than a perfect kick. He could make a joke by saying that when he was a punter, it'd be a no brainer but today's athletes are like in his day. Guys would laugh. He could say, it's a lesson learned but it's past now. That was last week. We have got to focus now on this week. The tension in the team that might linger on is what a coach wants to avoid as if it is an undercurrent of discontent with a coaching decision, it can be bad down the stretch when every point in the standings counts and tension in the games builds.

What players want coaches to do is to acknowledge it when they blow it as the coaches make the players do when they err.

When coaches err and it is rare, it is always best to ensure the team understands that if faced with that same decision again, they won't be making that dumb mistake. This can re-set the tone for how the team is going to play for the balance of the season. It can be said that they are not going to be stupid and high risk but they are going to trust their players to do what is needed in situations like that should they come up again. It doesn't have to mirror Don Matthews aggression but it has to counter the message of fear of his team that the Lion tamer sent last week.

Football and especially offensive play is about tactics and execution. The best teams have an attitude that they don't care what their opponents know about them as they will simply execute better than their opponent can defend them. That is the winning culture you want your players to embrace but that comes first from the coaches.

Too much is made of this bad Wally play for good reason. Fans know from last year how quickly 11 and 0 can go to missing a Grey Cup opportunity. All slides begin with a loss so fans rightly think a loss might be the sign that the team is done. The Lions aren't but the tests from now to the end will be tougher than what has been given to them so far, despite the next opponent being Hamilton.

I'm not worried yet.

I balance the good things and the odd bad things. I'd take Wally over any of the current coaches.

Wallys the man, for a long time. Bussiness practice says so. One bad decision, no more I hope, but lots of Western Finals...I'll take that kind of coach and the good times at B.C. Place.

Every one is getting so bent out of shape about the call.

Look at Edmonton, they ran Higgins out of town on the fake punt call. Bet they would like him back!

Take a valium everyone. We'll be all right. Don't let one bad call cloud your mind over all the good things Wally has done.

I didn't agree with the call but if it had worked, no one would have anything to say about it. It just wasn't executed the way it was planned.

All other fans are calling it a bad call but IF the Lions had won on the single, the other fans would all be claiming it was a cheap way to win.

Lions didn't take advantage of the opportunity and the Riders did so that's it. Game is over. It's a loss. Move on to next week.

Hey...I'm not complaining...I had the Riders to win plus 4. I thought I wasted my money untill that call and for the Riders to come back and score a TD???? :thup: :lol: :lol:

Thanks WALLY!!!! Do it again when playing the Ticats...we may need the help! :smiley:

Relax. Losing one game doesn't automatically produce a long losing streak. Irrational to assume that history always repeat when conditions are different every year. Unlike 2nd half of 2005, the schedule is easier and BC is among the healthiest teams.

thirdperson - I suspect last year when the 11 and 0 Lion season went 11 and 1, that they too said the same thing.

This thread is about what the coach does this week to refocus his team after a loss that has become more about how they lost, than the loss. Most fans are focused on the one key play at the end, but there are other signs showing that this team has moved from solid ground closer to the edge they fell over last year in finishing out the season.

Some of the disturbing things that continue are the selfish acts of players who are getting into post- and pre-game fights just like they used to do in Major Junior Hockey and drive killing roughing calls on the offensive tackles - Jimenez, Murphy. What's worse is that these offenders are in the Vancouver papers defending their actions.

The coach has to instill a culture that there are NO circumstances where a player taking matters in his own hands will be acceptable. It is not open for discussion, explanation, nothing. They have to go as far as sitting these guys out if they have to. Fines the coach says he has levied have not worked. Benevides comments in the papers about Armstead waking the sleeping giant are not what you want to hear from a coach as that sounds less than a zero tolerance policy and more like 'boys will be boys' and all you do is get more of the same.

The question is if the other things going now are going to be irritants but not impediments. More later, gotta work.

Until you can find a replacement that's equal to or better than Buono, there won't be, and shouldn't be, any coaching changes.

How ironic is it that Buono will get his 200th victory against Calgary on Oct. 6th?Still one of the best coaches of all time, despite OT blunder against Riders.Everyone makes mistakes.Lions,Buono #1. :smiley:

Just to be clear…this topic is not about Wally Buono’s future or demise. It is simply about what he is going to do to refocus his team this week and beyond given how the Lions chose not to play out the game but try a punt on first down in OT. Plus. There are clearly signs of issues like discipline in his team and from what I hear and read the Lions players and coaches think that it is fine… It is highly questionable that this lack of discipline won’t bite them in the rear in the balance of the season as the games get tight and far more important. That is what this is about… not whether he is or should be removed as that is not what is suggested even by the angry fanatics.