OUT OF THE TUNNEL: CONCLUSION OF THE COACHING CAROUSEL
BY: RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF
The CFL coaching carousel of head coaches finally came to an end this week with two jobs being filled. Frankly, both were a little surprising.
The Edmonton Eskimos named Scott Milanovich as their man to lead them into the 2020 season. This wasn’t a name that was on many radars but that’s for good reason, as he currently has a job. Milanovich is the quarterbacks coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
On a great piece by 3DownNation, they went through the complete coaching situation of the Jaguars with the conclusion that current head coach Doug Marrone and his staff will be let go at the end of the season. So, Milanovich decided to come back north to lead the Eskimos.
Scott has a great CFL resume with a pair of Grey Cups as the offensive coordinator of the Montreal Alouettes and a championship as head coach of the Toronto Argonauts.
This feels like a bit of a coup because it was the same day the Argos made Ryan Dinwiddie their new head coach (more on that later) and the Argos could have brought Milanovich back to where he had great success.
It’s a great hire by the Eskimos grabbing a veteran CFL head coach who will keep the offensive consistency Jason Maas enjoyed during his tenure.
Now to the Argos. They announced that Corey Chamblin won’t return to lead the Argos and named Calgary Stampeders quarterbacks coach Ryan Dinwiddie as head coach.
At age 39, Dinwiddie is the youngest head coach in the CFL and doesn’t have the coordinator tag on his resume. He was quarterbacks coach in both Montreal and Calgary as he enters 2020 with the daunting task of trying to get the Argos back into the playoffs and also into the minds of a very stubborn Toronto sports market.
This is one of the reasons why general manager Michael Clemons made the change; to create some sort of momentum into next season. Clemons also wanted to create a staff under his watch and bring in some offensive punch.
Now that all of the head coaching jobs are filled, the frantic race to hire coordinators and assistants begins. There are four new head coaches in a nine team league and that means there will be numerous announcements across the league over the next little bit. It also puts pressure on the other five teams to keep their coaches on staff.
It’s interesting to see the current background make-up of the nine coaches across the CFL.
Five of the head coaches (Edmonton with Milanovich, Calgary with Dave Dickenson, Toronto with Dinwiddie, Montreal with Khari Jones and Ottawa with Paul LaPolice) have offensive backgrounds.
Hamilton’s Orlondo Steinhauer had a predominantly defensive background while Saskatchewan’s Craig Dickenson and Winnipeg’s Mike O’Shea are special teams gurus.
B.C.’s Rick Campbell has been both a defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator.
What this all means is that the CFL has been an offensive league first and foremost and the current crop of coaches shows this.
The four teams with new head coaches are now under the gun to fill their staffs and they will be a step behind the other teams in the scouting process for the new crop of American free agents and the 2020 CFL draft.
Head coaches and their staffs have a lot of input on what kind of player they need to run their systems. It’s not all on the general managers, scouts and player personnel men. The staffs need to be in place over the next month before the American college all-star games in January (at all college levels) and to get after potential American free agents before they are gobbled up by the newly created XFL(2.0).
It can be done but it will be a whirlwind of activity.
One final fun note regarding Ryan Dinwiddie.
Let’s go back 12 years to the 2007 Grey Cup. It is fondly remembered in these parts as the Saskatchewan Roughriders third championship. They knocked off the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 23-19 at the Skydome in Toronto.
Bombers fans look at what could have been because starting quarterback Kevin Glenn was injured for the game and his three backups are all now head coaches.
Dinwiddie with Toronto, Kliff Kingsbury with the Arizona Cardinals and third stringer Zac Taylor is currently the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals.
You never know where former CFL players will end up, especially former quarterbacks. They seem to dot the NFL, CFL and the NCAA.
(RODPEDERSEN.COM STAFF)
Kavis Reed comes back as Montreal’s GM until new ownership is realized. Khari Jones rides shotgun as CO-GM, that way it keeps organization matters in order.
Patrick Boivin It seems the problem in Montreal. Think about it people, Kavis should return for the interm until new ownership determine their path moving forward.
Hindsight being 20/20, It would behoove the Roughriders to reacquire Armanti Edwards and retain Nick Marshall with the impending CFLeague mandated 2 man quarterback roster rule. Edwards, Marshall two proven quarterbacks of some repute to that playing position.
What do you call “proven”? It’s one thing if QB’s get converted to DB’s in the NFL which happens, quite another if it happens in the CFL. Just because they both have a Rider connection & played QB in college doesn’t mean they can play here. Give the CFL some credit as a tough league. For a team that has had over 20 QB’s on the roster over the Jones years, there is a reason Marshall & Edwards weren’t auditioned for QB & the reason they are still playing at other positions is because of their athleticism. That doesn’t make… Read more »
On the field Injury insurance. They can play the position if pressed into emergency situations. Two qbs 2020 CFL/commissioner mandated, Fajardo injury, team insurance, on field team insurance. Think outside the box mr know it all.