Rod Pedersen
CFL.ca
Soon the Football Reporters of Canada will be asked to cast their ballots for the Coach of the Year of the 2008 Canadian Football League season. The award will be handed out March 4 at the league’s Annual Congress in Hamilton. Unlike 2007 where Saskatchewan’s Kent Austin was as close to a slam dunk winner as you could get, this year’s race could be considerably tighter.
Throughout this recently-completed campaign, it became a curious three-way battle between three first-year CFL coaches: Calgary’s John Hufnagel, Montreal’s Marc Trestman and Saskatchewan’s Ken Miller. Each of them brought impressive credentials to the table.
Hufnagel sat out of football for a year after parting ways with the New York Giants, but got the three down bug again after guest coaching for his buddy Wally Buono at the 2007 B.C. Lions training camp. The week before that year’s Grey Cup, Hufnagel was named coach and General Manager of the Calgary Stampeders, taking over from Tom Higgins.
The Stampeders had long been thought-of as one of the top teams in the CFL talent-wise, but hadn’t been able to get back to the dance since their 2001 Grey Cup victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Montreal.
In his rookie season with the top headset, Hufnagel only led the Stampeders to a CFL-best record of 13-5, and as we all know, a Grey Cup championship at the season’s conclusion.
Throughout the regular season however, Calgary trailed Marc Trestman’s Alouettes in almost every offensive category including points scored (584 to the Stamps’ 568), touchdowns scored (63 to Calgary’s 58), as well as first downs and pass completions. Trestman became the Cinderella story of the ’08 season, taking over a Montreal club which appeared to be in organizational disarray and pointed the ship in the right direction. They became the least penalized team in Canadian football, and were the best at protecting quarterback Anthony Calvillo with a league-low 22 sacks.
Speaking of Calvillo, the now-36 year old quarterback experienced a renaissance season under Trestman where he led the league in efficiency rating (107.2), and was a deep completion away from throwing for the most yards (he finished 37 behind league-leader Ricky Ray). Three days before the Grey Cup, Calvillo won the league Most Outstanding Player Award in Montreal and he quickly credited his coach.
Trestman will get some votes based on the fact he’s a true CFL neophyte, never having coached, or assistant coached, a down north of the 49th parallel. His lone CFL experience boiled down to a few weeks as an Alouettes’ guest coach a few years previous. He had to adapt to this strange new game in a hurry after all his years as an NFL offensive coordinator and he passed with flying colours.
And don’t forget about Saskatchewan’s Ken Miller, who chuckled at the notion he was a 66-year old rookie as the defending Grey Cup champions embarked on their first season under the Oregonian in June.
With a revolving door of quarterbacks due to injury, Miller led the Riders to a 6-0 start, their best since 1928. However as the season entered its middle third, it wasn’t just the quarterbacks being helped off the field. Long-term injuries to offensive mainstays such as receivers D.J. Flick and Andy Fantuz, tailback Wes Cates and quarterback Darian Durant caught up to the Riders and they went 6-6 the rest of the way. Although not documented, the Riders’ nine broken legs during the 2008 season is regarded as some sort of dubious CFL record.
Through it all, Miller managed to pilot Saskatchewan to a second consecutive 12-6 record and home field in the western semifinal where they eventually succumbed to the B.C. Lions. Despite the Rider coach’s heroics in keeping his locker room together and performing remarkably on the field with an ever-changing lineup, his decision to keep the struggling Michael Bishop in the game too long in the playoffs may cost Miller the Annis Stukus Trophy in the end.
If it then comes down to a two-horse race between Trestman and Hufnagel, then one only needs to examine the Grey Cup championship itself, a 22-14 Calgary victory over Montreal in the Alouettes’ own stadium before 66,308 fans in November.
Hufnagel put the ball in quarterback Henry Burris’ hands and told him to go win the game. The Oklahoman would pass an impressive 28/37 for 328 yards, a touchdown and an interception and would be named game MVP. Anthony Calvillo on the other hand, passed for more yards (352), but had zero touchdowns and two devastating interceptions.
Hufnagel fostered an effective “us against the world” mentality during Grey Cup week and in the end, they road out of town with the championship trophy while the Alouettes sat bewildered.
In the end, it’s advantage Calgary. Again.
Rod Pedersen is the Voice of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and was named Canada’s 2007 Sports Blogger of the Year.
