Can Ed Hervey Turn Lions Around This Season

[JohnnyMusso]

Yes, he make major changes and team will start to win and make the playoffs.
Yes, he will make some major and minor moves and team will win, but fall short of playoffs
No, he will try to make changes to shore up their weaknesses, but not enough and they will continue to lose
No, team beyond repair for this season, but Hervey will be renewed for another year or 2 to fix his mess.
No, team will continue to lose and Braley or Rick LeLacheur will fire Hervey before the end of the season or after.

[JohnnyMusso]

I started the poll and picked the last option. There is nothing he can do in mid season unless he fires Jackson and/or other coaches, which he will not do, and his player changes will not be enough to stop the runaway train. After the season or before the last game or 2, Ed Hervey will be fired by David Braley or Rick LeLacheur, whoever is calling the shots. They will finish 3 and 15 I predict.

[The_Pauser]

I don't think they can salvage the season. At this point the goal should be identifying who stays for next year, and seeing if you can bring in some NFL cuts. If Duke Williams and Alex Singleton get cut, Hervey should be waiting at the airport with a blank cheque.

[SammyGreene]

Beyond repair was my answer. Way too many holes and talent depth is painfully thin (that's why their kick coverage with mostly back-ups is horrible). After a dreadful off-season of recruiting US talent, NFL cuts will never be important with plenty of opportunity to plug and play in so many positions. At this point, who cares about the learning curve.

[WestCoastJoe]

Where to start? What needs to change? How to fix this mess?

I expect Ed Hervey to change some personnel. I think that will be mostly window dressing. Not much effect.

Coaching change? That would be radical surgery.

Defence? The players have not been able to make Stubler's defence work. Expect some changes in personnel. D Line. LBs maybe.

Offence? It would be nice to see adaptations in pass protection schemes. Change in starting personnel? I expect so.

STs? How to improve the game preparation? Tricked. Big returns given up.

Save the season? I do not see how that is possible.

Is the team talented enough? It does not look like it.

Are the systems top level? They do not look like it.

Motivation? Morale? Discipline? Determination? All missing in action.

I voted for Door #3.

Just imo.

[JohnnyMusso]

I like to ask the 3 people who feel Ed Hervey will be given a new contract to fix his mess why you feel he will get one?

If Lions finish say with 2, 3 or 4 wins, why do you think he will be rewarded and given a new contract.?

Will they trust Wally Buono's faith that Ed Hervey is the right man.

I personally feel if that worst does happen, he should be fired. His contract is up and they can move on to someone else if they wish. I kinda wish I had the poll never ending to see if the results would change with every mounting loss. I limited it to 14 days which I regret now. Wish I could change it.

[WestCoastJoe]

I like to ask the 3 people who feel Ed Hervey will be given a new contract to fix his mess why you feel he will get one?

If Lions finish say with 2, 3 or 4 wins, why do you think he will be rewarded and given a new contract.?

Will they trust Wally Buono's faith that Ed Hervey is the right man.

I personally feel if that worst does happen, he should be fired. His contract is up and they can move on to someone else if they wish. I kinda wish I had the poll never ending to see if the results would change with every mounting loss. I limited it to 14 days which I regret now. Wish I could change it.

New contract for Hervey? His track record prior to this year has been pretty good. Hired Jones, Grey Cup. Hired Maas. Schmoes look pretty good. Hired Claybrooks. The team looks like the Titanic. Based on the results this year, firing could happen. Not sure if he can turn it around. Not my call. Absentee owner. No idea what will happen with Hervey. I wonder if he went through the locker room postgame, talking to players., trying to put some steel in the players' resolve.

[David]

This season is FUBAR. It's 11 games (!) of seeing what you have for next year. Who shows up at practice on a rainy October willing to grind? Who makes that extra effort to block in another blowout loss? (we seem to specialize in those).

Talent-wise I don't think we're far off. We lack depth to be sure. Need a good RT, a WILL linebacker (which we may already have in Toomer) and a rush end or two. Where we fall short is coaching. This team routinely looks ill-prepared, uninspired, can't make necessary adjustments or hold leads, and has a habit of taking undisciplined penalties at inopportune times (not that there is a good time to take bad penalties, mind you....).

In short, our 1-6 record belies the level of talent on this team. Is Claybrooks the answer? I hope so. I like the guy. Maybe he's being let down by his assistants, but coaching is where I am placing most of the blame for this debacle. Right now, it looks like a bunch of guys playing for themselves. It's the coaches' job to unite them.


DH

[TheLionKing]

I keep hearing that the Lions is a talented team. Have I been watching the wrong team ? The team I've been watching in Black and Orange sucks in every facet of the game.

[JohnnyMusso]

If this continues Lion King I think the tide will turn against Ed Hervey and more and more people will want him fired. Fans in BC just are not patient. Canucks rumoured to fire Jim Benning if they don't make playoffs or come close and I think Hervey will be on hot seat too and probably Bob L of the Whitecaps.

[pennw]

I keep hearing that the Lions is a talented team. Have I been watching the wrong team ? The team I've been watching in Black and Orange sucks in every facet of the game.

Coaching matters too. We got the worst OC and the worst DC in the league . It's not just players .

[pennw]

Mike O'Shea , HC of the Bombers went 7-11 his first season , then 5-13 his second season . Back then it did not look like he would last much longer . Now he Has his team at the top of the league . Sometimes it takes time for a new HC to get a team going . Bombers could have fired O'Shea after those two seasons but chose to stick it out , and now the patience has paid off . Bombers had a long stretch of years of being a bad team before that . They could have fired Mike and still be at the bottom .
Hervey has a good track record . Lots of new coaches this year that may need some better Coordinators to lead them . I suspect Stubler and Jackson will be gone after this season . JJ was not really qualified to be an OC yet and Stubler is way over the hill and will never be anything but the worst DC in the league should he still be a DC in the future( which I highly doubt) . I suspect Claybrooks brought Stubler in as sort of a security hire , but he was mistaken on that as is now plain to see. Every OC in the league knows everything Stubler is going to do in advance and beat him like a rented mule .3 man rush and drop all DBs 30 yards back just doesn't cut it anymore .
I think if Claybrooks is still here next season it will be with different coordinators on both sides of the ball , if so he may turn it around next year .

[DanoT]

While fans are quick do some firing during tough times, the guy doing the firing has to also consider who will be the resulting new hire.

Ed went too far in gutting the team, paid too much for Reilly but probably had to,paid too much for Chung and didn't have to, possibly the same for Boyko and others.

Nevertheless, because Ed has a good record prior to coming to B.C. and because hiring a new GM means starting over, I think Ed will be given a chance to see things thru including a one or two year contract extension. However I am assuming that the Lions have now hit rock bottom and will actually be playing like a football team by the end of the season.

IMO, Jackson and likely Stubler won't be back in 2020, Claybrooks will.

[The_Pauser]

If this continues Lion King I think the tide will turn against Ed Hervey and more and more people will want him fired. Fans in BC just are not patient. Canucks rumoured to fire Jim Benning if they don't make playoffs or come close and I think Hervey will be on hot seat too and probably Bob L of the Whitecaps.

With respect to the Canucks, they have been way too patient with a GM who has proven to be incompetent. Jim Benning should have been fired years ago.

The White Caps have more than just on-field problems and the scandals they have faced are a very bad look and they certainly need a change to get rid of that stigma.

At least with Hervey you have a guy who simply has made so many changes that the team just hasn’t gelled. He certainly has put his stamp on the team. Perhaps too many former Eskimos, but I am at least encouraged by his willingness to make changes and not be complacent. I wouldn’t write him off yet, and want to see how the rest of the season plays out before deciding whether or not to extend him.

[Toppy Vann]

Some great comments above.

My two cents and don't tell me I'm wrong haha:

PRESENT

1. David Braley is not one to fire or let the GM do major firings mid -season.

Braley's a highly successful business leader who believes in hiring the right people and when it f..ks up like this - give them the challenge to fix the mess they created.

He also knows it rarely works to fire and make massive changes even if he believes now he might have the wrong guy in his Pres and GM. He also knows there's not a lot of experienced CFL replacements.

2. Money - he's not going to toss money at a problem like pay out coaches and hire new ones and they have a cap and a budget.

BOTTOM LINE:

1. Maybe the GM and HC will let an assistant coach but I doubt it now. What would they gain unless they had someone else and this is a new team.

The question is - do they see the Jarius offence the problem we fans see it to be? If so forcing Jackson to open up the play book or have someone else call the plays might be an option but to me the book is so narrow now. Jackson would have to be under threat it seems.

2. Player moves - OL, DL and LB could lead to casualties.

As much it is not the issue, a coach always has the easy target in Duron Carter as the Als and Riders did him in before and they know with his reputation fans will buy it that he's the issue - when he isn't.

3. Ed "gutted the team" and over paid for a QB with no money for the likes of leaders like Sol E who'd solidify a DEF. He tossed ST leaders like Lumbala and now you get spotty cover.

FUTURE:

1. Not sure if Braley will want to keep the President or GM if Hervey's contract is up. No doubt he relied on Wally to advise him on these two. Doubtful the HC will be let go so soon.

PennW is spot on on Mike O'Shea. Stability and the long term paid off there and I watched a lot of games where I thought O'Shea made some bad decisions. Now he makes far less and has a great organization.

I'm not sure what - if any - relationship Ed Hervey has with the owner nor if it's the President the owner deals with.

Wally had his own deal with the owner and even with Ackles as President, Wally dealt direct with the owner on the football side.