Jamie Nye
CFL.ca
A lot has changed for the Saskatchewan Roughriders since they last took to the field two weeks ago against the Toronto Argonauts.
The biggest headline during that span was obviously Ken Miller replacing the dismissed Greg Marshall and Doug Berry as head coach and offensive coordinator.
In many ways, the bye week was a time to heal, reflect and move forward for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. First I’ll address the coaching changes. The two biggest things a new coach can bring to a team is a change in preparation and motivation.
Preparation and motivation were clearly lacking within the Roughriders walls in the early parts of the 2011 season.
The Riders would often come out flat-footed in the early stages of games, and it showed with terribly executed plays. As a result, the Riders would often find themselves playing from behind, and were not once able to recover.
One thing we know for sure is that Miller will do a much better job of motivating this team to play than Marshall.
Not because Marshall lacks motivational tools, but because Miller knows the locker room much better and knows which buttons to push at the right times to get his players amped up.
Another thing Miller needs to do is make sure his coaching staff is behind him – which they should be. While the staff is filled with a solid group of professionals, it is also filled with friends and acquaintances of both Marshall and Berry.
Receivers coach Bob Dyce, who coached with both Marshall and Berry in Winnipeg before joining Saskatchewan in 2010, acknowledged that it’s difficult to see a ‘good man’ like Marshall last just eight games into his first season as a head coach.
Dyce added that he feels he let his good friend down by obviously not doing his job well enough to help the team win.
Defensive coordinator Richie Hall, who returned to Saskatchewan this season after serving as head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos for two years, reiterated Dyce’s mindset that the coaching staff and the players alike let both Marshall and Berry down.
Now we get to the players.
Will a change in preparation work or are the players just not good enough to win?
There is no better way to find out than their first two games back from the bye week. A home-and-home set against the 7-1 Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The one thing Coach Miller will have going for him is a much healthier team.
Running back Wes Cates is set to return after missing the last four games with a high-ankle sprain. Defensive end Remond Willis will return after a short stint on the injured list. Linebacker Chris Graham, who was a standout in training camp, is also back at work after a few weeks out of the lineup.
Add to those returnees, the four players set to come off the nine-game injured list after Labour Day; WR Cary Koch, K Luca Congi, WR Ernie Wheelwright and DB Leron Mitchell.
The bye week was a great time to not only heal physically, but emotionally, for a fragile football team.
The Roughriders have been playing like a team scared to lose rather than the one who knew how to win.
Coach Miller brings a new attitude to a refreshed group of men.
But is a difference in motivation and preparation going to mean the difference between winning and losing? I doubt Marshall and Berry think so.
And now we’ll find out if Marshall’s exit speech in which he believed the team took the easy way out instead of the right way by firing him was indeed true. Regardless, it’s a new chapter in the 2011 season.
The chapter began with Miller’s first address to the team this past Sunday with his patented, ‘Good Morning, Riders.’
He may have wanted to follow that up with; it’s time to wake up.
