By Arash Madani,
CFL.ca
Don’t blink and expect the landscape to be the same in the CFL.
How situations unravel is stunning. The fate and direction of a franchise, the people in charge of them, and the league’s actual operations can be altered so quickly, it is truly amazing how some things unravel.
Take March of this year, for instance. A few days before leaving for Halifax to cover the Carleton Ravens at the Canadian university basketball championships, it appeared as if pro football in Ottawa was somehow, finally, being salvaged. Lonie Glieberman had resigned as the team president; his father, Bernie, was poised to hire a new general manager and the search was on for a CEO.
Eric Tillman later told me he went to bed one night, expected to once again be named GM of the franchise.
So I spent an elongated St. Patrick’s Day weekend watching the Ravens win their fourth straight title, got back to the nation’s capital and before you knew it, the franchise had suddenly collapsed. Days later, the Renegades were “suspended” and obviously are continuing their unbeaten streak in 2006.
That wasn’t the only instance of late.
There had never been as much optimism for football’s return to Ottawa until two weeks ago. As many as three new ownership groups had expressed interest in revitalizing the CFL at Frank Clair Stadium. And many insiders had pegged Tillman to be the GM hired if the franchise were to come back.
It was the job many of us knew Eric wanted. Having worked with him during the 2004 season, and communicated frequently while he worked in the media, it was quite apparent Tillman was quite disappointed with how his tenure ended in Ottawa. The CFL returning to the capital with E.T. as its face was his ideal scenario.
But this is the CFL, don’t forget. And please do not, even for a moment, expect that logic and the inevitable would play its course.
On a short vacation – less than two weeks this month – I guess I shouldn’t have been stunned to see Roy Shivers getting canned in Regina. After all, the Riders had just won by four touchdowns.
And with the job he wanted still a pipe dream, Tillman made the move to a stable franchise committed to win – leaving the roots he’s established the last five years in Ottawa behind.
Try not to make sense of why. To keep track, just don’t blink.
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There are plenty of ironies with Tillman in charge of football operations in Regina, the least of which have to do with him turning down the identical job there in 1999.
Don’t forget who brought Saskatchewan’s top two offensive threats to the league to begin with. Both Kerry Joseph and Jason Armstead were Tillman finds. Offensive coordinator Tommy Condell was hired in Ottawa three years ago, while safety Donnie Ruiz was plucked in the expansion draft back in 2002.
Most coincidental, though: the finalist to Joe Paopao in becoming the first coach in Renegades history? George Cortez – now on the Riders coaching staff.
In a transition that will be interesting to monitor, here are some thoughts and predictions of what fans may expect in Riderville…
Coaching Staff
Danny Barrett is not Tillman’s hire, and watching how Shivers’ guy deals with the next nine games will be intriguing. Saskatchewan should be vying for a division title this year and the team’s success will ultimately have to spell the Barrett’s fate.
It also will come to no surprise if Gary Etcheverry returns in some kind of capacity at some point over the next four years (the reported length of Tillman’s deal). The two are close, won in Toronto together, were made scapegoats in Ottawa and the veteran defensive coordinator is presently in B.C., coaching junior football, awaiting an opportunity.
Kent Austin’s lasting legacy in Regina may not just be passing numbers and a parking lot named in his honour. The former Argonauts offensive coordinator, unceremoniously fired in Toronto last month, is a play-caller Tillman has considerable confidence in. He hired him in Ottawa prior to the 2003 season and the GM has continuously spoken highly of him – not to mention coming to Austin’s defence in the media after he was canned. If both Austin and Condell are eventually on the staff together, it would be interesting to see how they’d work together should the latter remain (and it could very well be Condell’s choice with the strong rapport he and his boss have).
Dave Ritchie has been a man Tillman has trumpeted for a while. They patched up a rift from a few years ago, and when Ritchie was fired in Winnipeg before last season, Tillman was interested in having him on board had he remained the head of football ops in Ottawa. With the way Ritchie has his defence playing in B.C., his stock is at its highest since taking Winnipeg to the Grey Cup in 2001. The question becomes, at 67, will he want to continue coaching?
Canadians
Shivers did an outstanding job of finding high-impact Americans who can play. The emergence of Matt Dominguez and Kenton Keith – of late – are evidence of that. Tillman has proven he, too, can find high impact imports.
But in this front-office acquisition, the Roughriders now have become in the top four ratio-savvy teams in the league. There is a clear divide of which organizations balance and build around Canadians properly.
Saskatchewan now joins Montreal, B.C. and Calgary as leaders in one of the fundamental keys in CFL success.
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Perhaps no franchise in Canadian pro sports has gone through the ringer more than the Roughriders. Saskatchewan’s football players have even given the Portland Trailblazers a run for their money.
The rap sheet over the last half-decade almost matches playoff wins, and it will be quite intriguing to see how many of the 12 free agents and 25 other players entering their option year will be re-signed under the new regime.
Tillman realizes how each charge the Riders players have pressed against them makes an impact on its fan base.
In his previous stints as GM, he showed that character is an important trait in assembling his crop of talent. Expect that to continue in Regina.
Arash Madani is a sports anchor/reporter with A-Channel television in Ottawa
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily of the Canadian Football League)
