By Sean Millington,
CBC Sports
I’m beginning to think that Saskatchewan general manager Eric Tillman is a shrewd judge of talent with a pretty sharp eye for a good deal. Maybe next time I go shopping, I should bring him with me.
With the loss of the amazing Kenton Keith to the Indianapolis Colts this off-season, it would be understandable if the Roughriders saw a drop-off in performance at running back. But due to the machinations of the aforementioned Mr. Tillman, i.e. the acquisition of Wes Cates, that has not been the case.
Now to truly appreciate this situation one needs to look at what went into making this deal possible.
Eric sends Rob Lazeo, an O-lineman, to Calgary in exchange for the running back. But not just any O-lineman — a Canadian O-lineman straight up for an American. Trading a Canadian for an American is generally considered to be bad business. How was Eric able to pull this off?
If you look at this deal more closely, you see that due to the efforts of Mr. Tillman, the Riders were actually flush with Canadian O-linemen. Earlier moves through a trade and free agent signings had secured the club the services of Wayne Smith, Mike Abou-Mechrek, and Marc Parenteau, resulting in a Rider team with plenty of Canadian O-linemen depth.
Fast forward to June. When the Stampeders are in need of a Canadian O-lineman, who is in a position to give up such a valuable commodity? None other than the new look Riders, who wrestled the extremely talented Mr. Cates away from the Stampeders despite the reluctance of head coach Tom Higgins.
Now the Saskatchewan GM has done it again by regaining the services of one of the favourite sons of the Rider Nation, Corey Holmes. Much teeth gnashing was done when Corey was sent east to Hamilton and I’m sure there are many a fan who consider his return to be something of a homecoming.
Nevertheless, as sharp as these moves look to be at the moment, the one that trumps them all is the decision to hire Kent Austin as head coach.
I’m sure Eric Tillman could have found other candidates with more experience or someone that he had worked with in that capacity before (Dave Ritchie comes to mind) but he went with the untried Austin and that decision is paying huge dividends.
The Riders currently sit alone atop the competitive West Division with a lofty 6-2 record, something which few people other than perhaps mothers of players and fans in the fanatical sense of the word would have predicted. Responsibility for this turnaround can be laid squarely at the feet of Mr. Austin who has inspired his charges to perform in such a way that the total is greater than the sum of the parts.
Years ago, I used to feel that it was unfair that a head coach got fired when his team was doing poorly; after all he wasn’t the one out there playing and losing games. Over the years, I have come to recognize the critical nature of the head coach position to a team and the turnaround wrought by Coach Austin only serves to reinforce that observation.
Between the two of them Eric and Kent have managed to field a team that has not only been entertaining but has won, and for that they are to be applauded. Keep up the good work gentlemen. I look forward to see what the fruits of your labour produce for the remainder of the season.
Sean Millington played 13 years in the CFL with the Edmonton Eskimos, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, B.C. Lions and Toronto Argonauts and has been a panellist on the CFL on CBC since 2003.
(The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily of the Canadian Football League)
