By Kevin Thompson
Ticats.ca chats with General Manager Bob O’Billovich about his team and their performance thus far.
First off, give us your thoughts on how the team is progressing this season?
BO – “I think the team is a lot like my hip it’s getting better everyday. I think we are making good progress and the addition of Arland Bruce III is going to give our offence a little spark and maybe give us that missing piece to the puzzle to make us a more cohesive unit.”
Talk about the reasons you brought Arland Bruce III to Hamilton…
BO – “Arland is one of those guys that can make big plays, we needed another playmaker on offence to give the defence more to think about. When you watch him in practice you really get to appreciate him even more because he’s got fantastic hands… really strong and soft hands… so you hardly hear the ball hitting his hands”
“Another characteristic about him which is key to our game is that he is extremely dangerous after the catch, which they call “YAC” yardage – yards after the catch – having been a former running back he’s very good with the ball once he catches it so he can turn a five or six yard pass into a twenty, thirty, or forty-yard touchdown. He’s an exciting player and we were very pleased that we had a chance to acquire him. We are looking forward to seeing him with a full weeks practice to figure out how much he can contribute.”
How much playing time to you expect Arland to see against the Eskimos?
BO – “He should play a lot because he will be in the starting group with the receivers. We will probably alternate him and Marquay McDaniel on offence and returning so he should get a lot of time against Edmonton.”
How would you evaluate the progress of your draft selections from this year’s CFL draft?
BO – “I think they are all doing well. I have often said that it’s not very common that your number one draft pick can get into the line up and start right away, it’s usually a work in progress. We feel good about our first round draft picks, last year’s Dylan Barker got hurt and he has really been coming on lately on special teams and made a big play in the B.C. game by knocking the ball loose. We have very high hopes for Simeon Rottier who looks like he will be a very good offensive lineman and Zac Carlson is very similar in that respect. Zac hasn’t been on the forty-two man roster yet but in time he will be.”
“Darcy Brown is coming around, not so much learning a new position but he’s got to learn to be more productive on special teams and we think that is going to happen with him because of his athleticism. Our draft picks are doing well and we feel like this year’s draft was a very good draft for us.”
What are the biggest differences between the 2009 Tiger-Cats and the team you saw last year?
BO – “Well right off the bat the two lines, offensive and defensive, are a lot more explosive and can control the game a lot more than we were able to last year. I think we have some more speed and quickness on the defensive side, we have some young players there that are coming into their own. Darrell Adams is the only guy that is a returning player from the group from last year so the young guys we have now are just going to keep getting better with more playing time. As for the offensive line, there is a lot more experience on the line and more consistency compared to last year. So both of those areas have been much improved and I think we have improved our receiving core with the addition of Bruce and some of our younger receivers are getting better and better. As a team our speed is so much better now and maybe as good as any in the league if you look at special teams in particular and in this league speed is a big factor so we have tried to address that on both sides of the football.”
You made it a priority to address the offensive line in the off-season by bringing in Dan Goodspeed, Alexandre Gauthier and drafting Simeon Rottier and Zac Carlson. Talk about the play of the offensive line…
BO – “I think it’s like a lot of the other areas we are still trying to get them to gel as a unit so that each guy knows what the guy next to him is going to do and how to go about it. Developing that chemistry and familiarity with each other takes a little getting used to because we have some new guys on the offensive line even though they are veterans which helps but it will take them a bit of time to work together. I think our quarterbacks feel very good about the protection they are getting and we are running the ball effectively with the way our line is coming off the ball and making things happen. So I think we are making good progress and we are only going to get better as the season goes on because we are going to become more cohesive as a unit barring any serious injury because it is a long season. I believe the offensive line is coming along quite nicely and I think that Coach Gibson is doing a good job with them.”
Jamall Johnson currently leads the team with 34 tackles in only four games. Tell us about the addition of the former B.C. Lion…
BO – “He has been an awesome addition, he was never an every down player when he was with B.C. and I think that is one of the reasons that he wanted to leave that organization. Since he has been with us, he’s all over the field making plays and I think the fans are really noticing him. A city like Hamilton, where the fans have always appreciated good defence and good defensive players, he’s becoming a fan favourite along with Otis Floyd. Those guys give us a little extra in terms of attitude, athletic ability, and desire to make plays, which is becoming contagious for our defence. Our front seven, when we have those guys in the line up along with Adams, I think that it’s a pretty formidable group. Jamall is a very welcomed addition and I see him getting better with each game.”
Have any of the first year CFLers you brought in impressed you?
BO – “I think some of our receivers have been very impressive, they still have a lot of good plays ahead of them as they learn and get comfortable in our system. DeAndra’ Cobb has been a very welcomed player to the offence because of all the injuries we have had at running back, he’s taken advantage of his opportunity and been outstanding at his job so you would have to be blind not to see what he’s been able to do for us. I think the defensive linemen, all those young kids are playing well and they are just going to get better as we go along. I think we have a lot of first year players that are doing good and if you look at our roster about two thirds of it is probably first year players so we are relying on the athleticism, hustle and desire of new players to come in here and make up for lack of experience by bringing those kinds of characteristics to the table … that will make us an exciting team to watch.”
NFL camps are beginning and traditionally, CFL teams will add a few players once they are released by NFL teams. Will we see any NFL cuts here in Hamilton?
BO – “Well we all go through that process, they have changed it a little this year so we were probably not going to bring in NFL cuts until October cause if you bring them in October, they will stay on until the end of the season however long that will be. Whereas in the past we used to bring them in after the first week of September and they could stay for thirty days but then they wouldn’t be there at the end of the season if you needed them. So we moved them up so we can have the flexibility of having those guys available if we needed them.”
“We have our scouts out there right now, Richard Wade is covering the west coast teams, Danny McManus is covering most of the teams in the east, I’ll probably get down
to see a couple teams during the bye-week and we will likely have Drew Allemang covering a couple teams for us close by. So we will have the NFL camps pretty well covered and we have some guys on our negotiation list that we will follow and see what their progress is like. If they become available, then we would be interested in bringing some in to evaluate during that period where we can expand the practice roster by another five or six guys.”
What’s a typical day for a general manager of a Canadian Football League franchise like?
BO – “I think you get in a routine and everything is relative to your football team. Our team is not a veteran team yet in terms of their personnel, we are getting closer to being that way because you got to keep upgrading talent wise so that your young guys become veteran players. Once they become veteran players you don’t typically see many new guys making your team anymore. The process over the last year and half has been one of making the team better.
“I think we are on the right track and have things in order in terms of having the right types guys here, athletically, physically and speed wise, so I think we are getting close to where guys coming in here next year will have a tough time making this team. Because of that your continually working on the personnel side of things in terms of keeping up with players in the league and staying in touch with other general managers in the league to keep up with what’s going on around the league.”
“It is also important to keep a close eye on the salary cap situation which allows you to make moves and bring in players such as Arland Bruce III, as well as re-signing players at the end of the season. Once the season starts that’s more of the coaches and the players and I meet with Coach Bellefeuille every day to get a feel for what is going on, but tend to exist as more of a resource person for all the coaches. After everything is said and done, you have to be a good cheerleader for your team.”
