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B.C.FAN
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The Lions aren't the only team in the West looking to shake up their coaching staff for next year. Every team except Winnipeg could have a new head coach in 2016, and most or all teams will have new offensive and/or defensive coordinators.

B.C.: The future of HC Jeff Tedford, OC George Cortez and Dc Mark Washington are up in the air. Some changes are expected, with Tedford perhaps being replaced by GM Wally Buono. The Lions have reportedly refused permission for other teams to talk to their assistants while the HC job is under review.

Calgary: John Hufnagel has already been succeeded as HC by Dave Dickenson, which means Dickenson will likely need to hire a new OC. Dickenson confirmed that DC Rich Stubler will not be back. He is reportedly being lured back to Toronto as DC. TSN is reporting that defensive line coach DeVone Claybrooks is expected to be promoted to DC.

Saskatchewan: According to Gary Lawless of TSN, Saskatchewan has received permission to talk to Chris Jones about leaving the Grey Cup champion Eskimos to become GM/HC of the Riders. The betting is that the Riders can outbid the Eskimos for Jones' services, since Ed Hervey isn't likely to give up the GM role with the Eskimos. If Jones moves, it's a safe bet that some of his assistant coaches and free agent starters will move with him.

Edmonton: Just days after celebrating their Grey Cup win, the Eskimos could be looking at a rebuilding job, beginning with the coaching staff.

Winnipeg: HC Mike O'Shea is safe but he's looking for a new OC and Paul LaPolice's name is said to be on the top of the list. As a former HC himself, LaPolice could also move into O'Shea's job if the Bombers don't turn it around next year.

Here are a few links to TSN articles and tweets used as reference above:

CFL coaching carousel picks up speed

Roughriders granted permission to speak to Eskimos' Jones
gary lawlessVerified account ‏@garylawless
GM Wally Buono refusing teams permission to speak with @BCLions staff. Uncertainty in BC right now, losing assistants would just add to it
TheLionKing
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Is there a team that Rich Stubler has not worked for ?
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Farhan Laji reports an announcement from the Lions on the future of Jeff Tedford could come as soon as Wednesday.
Farhan Lalji ‏@FarhanLaljiTSN
Amid plenty of speculation throughout the #CFL that #BCLions & Jeff Tedford are about to part company, team officials remain eerily quiet
Farhan Lalji ‏@FarhanLaljiTSN
2/2...Wally Buono would not confirm or comment on the report. A source tells me an announcement could come as early as tomorrow. We'll see..
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SammyGreene
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Sure seems to me the Lions had no plans on bringing Tedford back and were hoping he would just quit to take a job down south and avoid paying out the final year of his contract. Guess they are not waiting any longer. Here comes Wally the savour.
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Dave Dickenson isn't happy about Rich Stubler's decision to make a lateral move from Calgary to Toronto as DC.
“The explanation isn’t good enough in any way, so it really doesn’t matter to me,” Dickenson said. “You’re a grown man, and you get to decide what you want to do. He’s still, to me, a good guy, and I like his coaching, and I really respect the man for how he does what he does. He came to me with that decision and told Huff, so — explained or not — it was unexpected.

“But we’ll move forward.”

Dickenson likely won’t have to look far for Stubler’s replacement, as defensive line coach DeVone Claybrooks, whose work with the cast of bodies in the front-four has received much praise since he took over the position group four years ago, has long been seen as the successor.

The 38-year-old Claybrooks is just as surprised by Stubler’s exit.

“Yeah, I mean, I thought we had a good thing going, and for whatever reason, he decides to take his song and dance and show another place,” Claybrooks said. “Stubes and I are real, real close, so it was a surprise to all of us.

“We’ll just handle it and move on and keep chugging along.”
It may not be the only coaching shuffle in the Stampeders future.

On the offensive side of the ball, Dickenson is still sorting through options that could include everything from hiring a veteran offensive co-ordinator to simply adding another coach and keeping play-calling duties himself.

Dickenson has also spoken with incumbent special teams co-ordinator Mark Kilam about his future, at the same time leaving the door open for the possibility of luring his brother Craig away from the same role with the Eskimos.
Rich Stubler bolts for Argonauts as Dave Dickenson takes over reins of Calgary Stampeders

It's already a turbulent offseason.
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WestCoastJoe
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Wally Buono Redux.

Bring it on. If he is a saviour, good. If it leads to middle of the road results, at least we know where to assign responsibility. Offence. Defence. Special Teams. We have analyzed it plenty.

Tedford has been pretty much hung out to dry at season end. He walked into a very difficult situation at the start of the year. This fan would actually like to see Wally Buono once again as Head Coach. Give us some closure. Succeed or fail, it seems to this fan that it will help us understand the dynamics of the organization that he runs. Can he compete at the top level? Well, with all the changes going on around the league, he might be able to. Odds are? Middle of the road. Just IMO ...

Next year could be as good as any for Wally to move back into the coaching ranks. New guys all over the place.

Hopefully Chris Jones does move on from Edmonton. I'd rather not see the Evil Empire regain dominant status.

Regina? Whatever, those rabid fans do deserve to have a good team.

Calgary. Stubler moving on? Good. And Dickenson might find it is not so easy to duplicate what John Hufnagel did as Head Coach.

Winnipeg. Land of stability. Who would have thunk it?
..........

Ottawa. Stable so far.

Hamilton. Stable so far.

Toronto. With Stubler they will be better. New home field? Also makes them better. Hopefully they can keep Milanovich, for the sake of the CFL.

Montreal? Popp as Head Coach? It used to be a stop gap measure. Not sure it will be all that good as a full time job.
..........

Re Chris Jones ... We have seen that he can coach up an aggressive, attacking defence. Now we have seen that he can also coach up a less aggressive zone defence. So the man can mix it up. As noted in the Grey Cup thread, Burris was slicing up the more aggressive defence. Jones adapted. As noted, he went to more of a Stubler type defence, with blitzing still mixed in effectively. 3 man rush sure worked versus Burris. Not so sure it would work against Ricky Ray, or a Dave Dickenson. It is a big advantage if you can mix it up.

I don't think anybody is going to say that Mark Washington is at the level of Chris Jones or Rich Stubler as a Defensive Coordinator. At least towards the end of the year we saw Mark W trying to bring some more variety, aside from the deep drop, soft zone.

Just IMO. Some might like the way Mark W coaches defence. Not this fan.
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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The carousel will be spinning for a while. Add George Cortez to the list of experienced coordinators who could land with a new team, and now this speculation about possible successors to Chris Jones as HC in Edmonton:
Jason Gregor ‏@JasonGregor 28m28 minutes ago
If Jones leaves...top candidates for Eskimos head coach: Mike Benevides, Mark Washington, Jason Maas and Orlando Steinhauer. #CFL #Esks
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Today Buono confirmed, Cortez was let go, but no mention of anyone else. Clearly Tedford's son is gone, but what about the rest. I feel Chuck McMann has to go. Special Teams were embarrassing this year. Rumours of him retiring, but no official announcement. Khari Jones needs to go. God I help he is not back as OC and Lulay has no experience, for some comments on TSN suggested maybe he should be. They need a receiver to be receivers coach, not an ex QB. Washington I expect to be back and the rest likely too, except maybe anyone Tedford brought in, defensive line coach comes to mind, cannot remember his name.
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Don't forget that Bud Grant was seen around Winnipeg recently, making the rounds and such. Perhaps he was shopping himself around as well....
Tongue, meet cheek. :tease:
TheLionKing
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JohnnyMusso wrote:Today Buono confirmed, Cortez was let go, but no mention of anyone else. Clearly Tedford's son is gone, but what about the rest. I feel Chuck McMann has to go. Special Teams were embarrassing this year. Rumours of him retiring, but no official announcement. Khari Jones needs to go. God I help he is not back as OC and Lulay has no experience, for some comments on TSN suggested maybe he should be. They need a receiver to be receivers coach, not an ex QB. Washington I expect to be back and the rest likely too, except maybe anyone Tedford brought in, defensive line coach comes to mind, cannot remember his name.
Farhan Lalji is saying that Jarius Jackson might be considered for the Offensive Coordinator position.
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BC 1988
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WestCoastJoe wrote:Wally Buono Redux.

Bring it on. If he is a saviour, good. If it leads to middle of the road results, at least we know where to assign responsibility. Offence. Defence. Special Teams. We have analyzed it plenty.

Tedford has been pretty much hung out to dry at season end. He walked into a very difficult situation at the start of the year. This fan would actually like to see Wally Buono once again as Head Coach. Give us some closure. Succeed or fail, it seems to this fan that it will help us understand the dynamics of the organization that he runs. Can he compete at the top level? Well, with all the changes going on around the league, he might be able to. Odds are? Middle of the road. Just IMO ...

Next year could be as good as any for Wally to move back into the coaching ranks. New guys all over the place.

Hopefully Chris Jones does move on from Edmonton. I'd rather not see the Evil Empire regain dominant status.

Regina? Whatever, those rabid fans do deserve to have a good team.

Calgary. Stubler moving on? Good. And Dickenson might find it is not so easy to duplicate what John Hufnagel did as Head Coach.

Winnipeg. Land of stability. Who would have thunk it?
..........

Ottawa. Stable so far.

Hamilton. Stable so far.

Toronto. With Stubler they will be better. New home field? Also makes them better. Hopefully they can keep Milanovich, for the sake of the CFL.

Montreal? Popp as Head Coach? It used to be a stop gap measure. Not sure it will be all that good as a full time job.
..........

Re Chris Jones ... We have seen that he can coach up an aggressive, attacking defence. Now we have seen that he can also coach up a less aggressive zone defence. So the man can mix it up. As noted in the Grey Cup thread, Burris was slicing up the more aggressive defence. Jones adapted. As noted, he went to more of a Stubler type defence, with blitzing still mixed in effectively. 3 man rush sure worked versus Burris. Not so sure it would work against Ricky Ray, or a Dave Dickenson. It is a big advantage if you can mix it up.

I don't think anybody is going to say that Mark Washington is at the level of Chris Jones or Rich Stubler as a Defensive Coordinator. At least towards the end of the year we saw Mark W trying to bring some more variety, aside from the deep drop, soft zone.

Just IMO. Some might like the way Mark W coaches defence. Not this fan.
Thinking about what has happened so far today, I tend to agree that it's for the best we get Wally running the whole show. Tedford was never going to be given the level of control he needed anyway.

No more hiding behind others, pulling the strings. Sekeres actually used the phrase (about 1/2 hour after his interview with Wally today) "puppet master".

Given how (unexpectedly) fluid coaching in the West is right now, it's become an interesting scenario. Chris Jones has been a real rolling stone throughout his successful career. One can only assume that money is his highest priority (using his success as immediate leverage).
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BC 1988
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JohnnyMusso wrote:Today Buono confirmed, Cortez was let go, but no mention of anyone else.
In the interview with Sekeres today, Wally said that Cortez informed him (when the season ended) of his intention to retire.
All this explains why there were no exit interviews with the players. Tedford's departure also wasn't a sudden decision.
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BC 1988 wrote: Chris Jones has been a real rolling stone throughout his successful career. One can only assume that money is his highest priority (using his success as immediate leverage).
More about ambition, I'd say. He's taken on additional responsibilities and gradually moved up in the hierarchy at each stop. And has been successful at every step. If I were Edmonton, I'd match anything Sask offered and fire Hervey if necessary.
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DanoT
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maxlion wrote:
BC 1988 wrote: Chris Jones has been a real rolling stone throughout his successful career. One can only assume that money is his highest priority (using his success as immediate leverage).
More about ambition, I'd say. He's taken on additional responsibilities and gradually moved up in the hierarchy at each stop. And has been successful at every step. If I were Edmonton, I'd match anything Sask offered and fire Hervey if necessary.
If Esks are smart they will give Jones a big raise and make Jones the HC and VP of football operations, making him Hervey's boss.
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WestCoastJoe
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Jones to Regina?
As Eskimos general manager Ed Hervey told the Edmonton media, “It’s a growth position. In this business you don’t stop people, try to prevent people from advancing, from growing. Football has opportunities for all of us. In this particular case there’s a team that wants to have a chance to speak with Chris about their general manager’s position, their head coach position. Why would I stand in the way of giving him that opportunity to talk about it?’’
In his press conference Wally was asked if the assistants could listen to job offers. He said they were under contract, and it was his job to protect company assets. If they wanted to go to an interview, they could resign their position with the Lions. Wally was protecting the assets of David Braley's team.

Different approach by different organizations and GMs.

http://3downnation.com/2015/12/02/show- ... katchewan/
John Madden's Team Policies: Be on time. Pay attention. Play like hell on game day.

Jimmy Johnson's Game Keys: Protect the ball. Make plays.

Walter Payton's Advice to Kids: Play hard. Play fair. Have fun.
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