THE CANADIAN PRESS
A window in Wally Buono’s office looks out on a grass field where the BC Lions’ general manager truly believed his team would be practicing this week to face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Eastern Final.
“I can show you five pages of notes on Hamilton I had already started working on,” said Buono.
Buono’s optimism, and the Lions’ hopes of playing in a Grey Cup at home, were shredded when BC was humiliated 50-17 by the Montreal Alouettes in a CFL crossover game Sunday.
“It’s bitter and it’s disappointing,” Buono said about the crushing loss.
“Was I in a state of shock? Yes. Would I ever imagine that would have occurred? No. I learned the fact we are not good enough. I learned the fact we have to do something about it.”
Head coach Mike Benevides was equally as blunt.
“To lose in that manner is very disturbing and certainly disappointing,” said the man Buono groomed as his successor.
Saying the Lions must be better is easy. Making the team better is a much bigger challenge.
Should the coach be fired? Do the Lions need to replace quarterback Travis Lulay who started just one game this season due to shoulder problems? Must the Lions get younger? Does the team have enough Canadian talent?
“The reality is there are a lot of questions that have to be answered,” said Buono. “We have to make decisions that are going to be tough.”
Buono can sometimes be cagey in answering questions. He seems to enjoy toying with the media. But the man who won more games than any other CFL coach seemed genuinely shaken by playoff loss and the impact it could have on the team’s future.
“We have to get better,” he said.
Buono didn’t exactly give Benevides a ringing endorsement when asked if the head coach would be back.
“Are any of us going to be back?” Buono said.
Benevides understands he will be under scrutiny.
“If you are winning and doing things right, that usually isn’t an issue,” he said.
The Lions were riddled with injuries this year. The loss of Lulay forced Kevin Glenn, the 35-year-old acquired as an insurance policy, into the starting role. He threw as many interceptions (17) as touchdown passes.
All-star running back Andrew Harris and clutch receiver Courtney Taylor were also lost for the season. Early on the offensive line was a revolving door. The Lions went into one game with two running back who had never played a down in the league.
Considering the roster juggling Benevides faced, he should return as coach next year. But if the Lions were to stumble out of the gate a change could be made. Just don’t expect Buono to take over the reins on a full-time basis.
“When I gave up coaching I did it for a reason,” he said. “If something had to occur that was drastic, would I do it for a game or two? I probably would.”
“Would I do it for a career? No. I don’t think that would be the proper thing to do.”
The one coach who could be replaced is offensive co-ordinator Khari Jones. The Lions offence was inconsistent and struggled to score points. In the final three games of the season, BC managed a combined 36 points.
The biggest decision the Lions face is at quarterback. Do they gamble that Lulay will return healthy next season? Or has he become injury prone and unable to regain the form that made him the league’s most valuable player in 2011.
In the past Buono released quarterbacks like Dave Dickenson and Buck Pierce when injuries reduced their effectiveness. The problem this year is there is no clear successor in waiting.
“We have a concern,” said Buono. “We have shown in the past we are going to try to deal with this the best we can.”
“There are quarterbacks that have Travis’s injury and they are playing and they are very successful. He’s got six months to get to where he wants to be.”
Glenn is a free agent and likely won’t be back. He managed to get BC into the playoffs but his abysmal performance against Montreal, 64 yards passing and two costly interceptions, probably sealed his fate.
“Can I tell you today I know who the starting quarterback will be next year?” said Buono. “I am going to say I don’t. We are in a situation now where it’s tough.”
BC’s roster is getting older. Management will have to decide if players like defensive end Khreen Smith, 35, running back Stefan Logan, 33, safety J. R. LaRose, 30, cornerback Dante Marsh, 35, defensive tackle Khalif Mitchell, 30, and offensive guard Dean Valli, 31, have reached their best-before-dates.
It’s possible placekicker Paul McCallum, the 22-year veteran, has played his last game as a Lion. McCallum, the oldest player in the league, took time to take pictures from the end zone the season-ending game at BC Place.
“If that’s the last regular-season game and (if) Wally doesn’t want to bring me back, so be it,” said McCallum.
When Buono stepped down as the Lions’ coach in 2011, the team had recovered from a 0-5 start to finish first in the West with an 11-7 record and won the Grey Cup playing at home. In Benevides’ first season as coach BC again finished first in the West with a 13-5 record but was upset by Calgary in the Western Final.
Last year, the Lions finished third with an 11-7 record then lost the Western Semi-Final to the eventual Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders. This year BC struggled to finish 9-9 then were blown out in the playoffs.
It’s a slide in the wrong direction which Buono knows he can’t let continue.
“In professional sports, it’s always about winning, right?” he said. “So 13 (wins) 11 and nine, that’s simple math.”
“When you are 9-9 and lose in the playoffs, we are all at fault.”
