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on having superior talent to execute game plans. It is up to him to find that talent now, and that hasn't been case over the past couple of seasons. The other teams in the CFL are much better than they use to be at it, and they are willing to find the next generation of coaching to innovate their game plans. I could sit back and watch the Lions at 3-5, as long as I began to see areas of concern improving, right now that isn't the case, even with one of the few health by starting QB's in the league. I hazard to think where the Lions might be if Durrant and Riley were in the games the Lions have won.
Rammer wrote:If I were to assess the current Lion struggles it would begin with Wally. The release of several key vets over the past two seasons have gutted the leadership and the infield play. Tedford while not showing a progression with the current group that I fully expected, was saddled with McMann and Mark Washington (also the biggest disappointment). Both of those coaching positions have put the Lions at the lowest level statistically of all 9 teams, which is on Wally's shoulders.
In Washington I would think that he is in discussion with Wally and we see the old school Wally D concepts that use to rely on the superior players Wally was blessed with. Right now, the talent of the DL can't get to the QB and can't run stop, that is even with Bighill and SolE (prior to injury).
In the end the saddest part is that I was hoping for a playoff berth, expecting the team to get better as the season moved along under Tedford. At this point I don't see any of the three facets of the Lions game improving. The ST's lone bright spot that salvages field position for the Lions has been Leone, but our return game hasn't found first gear let alone 4th. The O while showing sparks of success early in the season seems to have been figured out as of late, key on Harris, force Lulay to throw underneath or try and hit the long bomb and the two and outs begin to pile up. I can think of at least three INT's that were better catches against us than any of our own receivers have caught. The receivers simply don't fight for the ball enough, or position themselves to fend off the defenders. The D loses the line of scrimmage battle every game, that puts way to much expectations on the rest of the D to stop first downs from piling up against the Lions. The bend and don't break D doesn't work if 2nd downs are always short yardage situations.
In the end Wally has always counted
Its like Wally and this franchize is living in Flinstones era and the rest is in the Jestsons.CardiacKid wrote:My personal take on this situation vis a vis Wally and Tedford is this was supposed to be a quiet transition year for Wally. Tedford comes in with a new philosophy for the Lions, a familiarity with the league and some of it "names" and a history of some success in the NCAA (along with some bumps). However unlike Kent Austin who is Head Coach, General Manager and VP of Football Operations, Tedford likely wouldn't want all those titles at once given his recent health. For a guy like Wally (who doesn't deny being a control freak) that is probably music to his ears.
While not publicizing it, an old-fashioned guy like Wally is likely to only leave willingly if he feels he can hand over the team in good shape. And hand it over to someone he is comfortable with regarding as an heir apparent. And on the face of it, Tedford totally fits the bill with his previous success, his connections, his familiarity with the CFL and his declaration of being a proponent of up-tempo, entertaining football.
However.....I think two things may have served to trip up this transition. One, Wally not being the kind of guy who completely jettisons his crew. Yes, you can argue he shows no loyalty to vets when he thinks they are over the hill (IMO he is far more often correct with those judgements than not...and yes, I agree letting Tim Brown go prematurely was a mistake) but he does show loyalty to the team he assembles and it has shown up throughout his career as being reciprocated. Second, we get a Head Coach who may have been hesitant to accept the challenge of coaching a completely revamped team from stem to stern.
As a result, we have bit of a "Franken-Staff", a mix of Tedford's guys, Tedford-Wally guys and Wally guys. A quick glance at the coaching staffs of Edmonton and Hamilton, shows the guys working for Chris Jones and Kent Austin are "their guys" (at least all were hired after Jones and Austin took over). There is one exception on Hamilton's staff and he appears to have been shifted to a new job since Austin came on board.
I am not going to say so-and-so on the Lion's staff is a bad coach while someone else is a good coach.
My point is...sometimes when you create a working team of professional, knowledgeable people who have different approaches and philosophies, chaos can take over. And I am afraid that is what is occuring now with the Lions. Both Tedford and Wally must have believed there would be teething problems during this transition but not to this degree.
I believe Tedford needs to have a coaching staff that is assembled by him and has all the earmarks of his football philosophy. Everyone on point, everyone in unison, everything consistent.
Think of a coach as a teacher and the players as students....first and foremost, the coaching/teaching has to be consistent or the players/students are lost and have no direction. Don't even think of it within a context of someone's right, someone's wrong.....without a consistent framework or a unified message/vision to act as the foundation of leadership, the team is going to run the risk of being directionless.
flintstone would beat the jetsonsInUrFace wrote:Its like Wally and this franchize is living in Flinstones era and the rest is in the Jestsons.CardiacKid wrote:My personal take on this situation vis a vis Wally and Tedford is this was supposed to be a quiet transition year for Wally. Tedford comes in with a new philosophy for the Lions, a familiarity with the league and some of it "names" and a history of some success in the NCAA (along with some bumps). However unlike Kent Austin who is Head Coach, General Manager and VP of Football Operations, Tedford likely wouldn't want all those titles at once given his recent health. For a guy like Wally (who doesn't deny being a control freak) that is probably music to his ears.
While not publicizing it, an old-fashioned guy like Wally is likely to only leave willingly if he feels he can hand over the team in good shape. And hand it over to someone he is comfortable with regarding as an heir apparent. And on the face of it, Tedford totally fits the bill with his previous success, his connections, his familiarity with the CFL and his declaration of being a proponent of up-tempo, entertaining football.
However.....I think two things may have served to trip up this transition. One, Wally not being the kind of guy who completely jettisons his crew. Yes, you can argue he shows no loyalty to vets when he thinks they are over the hill (IMO he is far more often correct with those judgements than not...and yes, I agree letting Tim Brown go prematurely was a mistake) but he does show loyalty to the team he assembles and it has shown up throughout his career as being reciprocated. Second, we get a Head Coach who may have been hesitant to accept the challenge of coaching a completely revamped team from stem to stern.
As a result, we have bit of a "Franken-Staff", a mix of Tedford's guys, Tedford-Wally guys and Wally guys. A quick glance at the coaching staffs of Edmonton and Hamilton, shows the guys working for Chris Jones and Kent Austin are "their guys" (at least all were hired after Jones and Austin took over). There is one exception on Hamilton's staff and he appears to have been shifted to a new job since Austin came on board.
I am not going to say so-and-so on the Lion's staff is a bad coach while someone else is a good coach.
My point is...sometimes when you create a working team of professional, knowledgeable people who have different approaches and philosophies, chaos can take over. And I am afraid that is what is occuring now with the Lions. Both Tedford and Wally must have believed there would be teething problems during this transition but not to this degree.
I believe Tedford needs to have a coaching staff that is assembled by him and has all the earmarks of his football philosophy. Everyone on point, everyone in unison, everything consistent.
Think of a coach as a teacher and the players as students....first and foremost, the coaching/teaching has to be consistent or the players/students are lost and have no direction. Don't even think of it within a context of someone's right, someone's wrong.....without a consistent framework or a unified message/vision to act as the foundation of leadership, the team is going to run the risk of being directionless.
He did hand it over to his heir apparent, who coughed up a furball. Hence the reason we have Tedford.And hand it over to someone he is comfortable with regarding as an heir apparent. And on the face of it, Tedford totally fits the bill with his previous success, his connections, his familiarity with the CFL and his declaration of being a proponent of up-tempo, entertaining football.
cromartie wrote:He did hand it over to his heir apparent, who coughed up a furball. Hence the reason we have Tedford.And hand it over to someone he is comfortable with regarding as an heir apparent. And on the face of it, Tedford totally fits the bill with his previous success, his connections, his familiarity with the CFL and his declaration of being a proponent of up-tempo, entertaining football.
As for the business side, I'm always hesitant to go with a clean sweep as I remember what this franchise was like before Bob Ackles came back. But I'm well past tired of the grandstanding Skulsky, who seems to not understand that being seen but not heard is part of his job description.
When you have a Coach/GM arrangement, the GM has to be able to let the Head Coach make the coaching decisions, including the formation of his own staff. Tedford came to the CFL knowing one guy (Cortez) and relied on Wally for the rest and I suspect he realized pretty quickly that that was a mistake, hence the position he's in now.
So with Wally at the helm, we're kind of caught in no man's land as a franchise. If you bring in someone from the states, you're relying on Wally who saddles you with McMann and Washington. And decent in league candidates won't take the job because they already know they won't have lattitude with scheme/staffing differences with Wally.
Fortunately, I suppose, the solution to this is above my pay grade, but something has to give.
Your totally right about Bates and now we have Mcmann coaching RBs wtf. He should of been gone along with Washington but thats on Wally wanting to have some of his loyalists around still. which now makes it hard for Jeff. I know if a HC hhad full control both of them would of been shown the door. Now 1040 today said Wally is pissed and there will be major change coming. Or is this all talk again.MexicoLionFan wrote:cromartie wrote:He did hand it over to his heir apparent, who coughed up a furball. Hence the reason we have Tedford.And hand it over to someone he is comfortable with regarding as an heir apparent. And on the face of it, Tedford totally fits the bill with his previous success, his connections, his familiarity with the CFL and his declaration of being a proponent of up-tempo, entertaining football.
As for the business side, I'm always hesitant to go with a clean sweep as I remember what this franchise was like before Bob Ackles came back. But I'm well past tired of the grandstanding Skulsky, who seems to not understand that being seen but not heard is part of his job description.
When you have a Coach/GM arrangement, the GM has to be able to let the Head Coach make the coaching decisions, including the formation of his own staff. Tedford came to the CFL knowing one guy (Cortez) and relied on Wally for the rest and I suspect he realized pretty quickly that that was a mistake, hence the position he's in now.
So with Wally at the helm, we're kind of caught in no man's land as a franchise. If you bring in someone from the states, you're relying on Wally who saddles you with McMann and Washington. And decent in league candidates won't take the job because they already know they won't have lattitude with scheme/staffing differences with Wally.
Fortunately, I suppose, the solution to this is above my pay grade, but something has to give.
Cro, to add to what you said, I think we had a good coach in Kelly Bates who had the potential to be a great one, and no he's gone FOR DOING A GOOD JOB. As our RB Coach, we had great production from all of our RBs and he really helped Harris improve with his pass blocking, plus, Kelly did an excellent job, IMO, as our Draft Coordinator...why is he gone? I really like Doug Malone, but there was no need for Kelly to go anywhere.
And do any of you remember Washington's comments on the radio directly after the MTL playoff loss last year??? He made it clear that "someone" was pushing him to play a passive defence and that he had learned his lesson for next season if he was asked to come back...a LIE...he hasn't learned a damn thing!
