One of the reasons is that Wally will sign a contract and then later in the contract he will force the player to either take a pay cut or be let go. While this behavior is not isolated to Wally, he is known for doing this more often than any other GM, when he has leverage. The player moves and sets up house, children in school in some circumstances or the player is a local B.C. boy and wants to play in B.C. and doesn;t want to go anywhere else and Wally will use that leverage. Wally is a tough contract negotiator (or sets the paramaters) and that is good but sometimes promises and committements are made and renaged on later. Wally also calls out or blames players in the press publically and that is not a trait that is liked by vet players.South Pender wrote:Excellent analyses, MLF and Blitz, as usual. Blitz, I had one question about something you raised: Why do you think that (particularly international) free agents do not want to come here with Wally as GM? The GM usually doesn't interact with the players once they're acquired; after that, it's the coaches that are in their faces. It's certainly true that we didn't pick up top-flight free agents this off-season, but I had assumed it was because Wally wasn't interested in pursuing many (outside of, perhaps, Craig Butler).
Wally pursued a lot of free agents in the off-season and got a lot of rejection.
A few more comments on the start of the season so far:
I agree with West Coast Joe that the coaching in the league has improved significantly in recent seasons. There are a lot of very good CFL coaches. Wally often had the advantage in his career of having superior talent both in Calgary and B.C. and the coaching was often not good enough to overcome it. However, his playoff history shows that when he encountered good opposition coaching in the playoffs his success rate was lower than it should have been.
I have less of a problem having an experienced, smart opposition coordinator preparing or calling a better game against us. I have less of a problem when a Hufnagel or a Milanovich or a Chamblin or a Kent Austin come outs with a better game plan.
But this is why I have a problem with our coaching for for our first two games.
1. Chris Jones is a rookie Head Coach and he had his team much better prepared to go into enemy territory than Benevedes had our squad prepared for our season opener. Chris Jones keyed on Harris and Logan and had his defense playing aggressively and smart. Offensively, he provided direction to his offence and ensured that Reilly was better protected through the utilization of a better blocking back and a game plan that focused on a perimeter game against our defense while minimizing our defensive strengths. Smart coaching.
2. Benevedes did no such thing against Edmonton. We have an experienced quick read, quick release quarterback in Glenn. Yet our passing attack emphasized longer patterns. Benevedes knew that we had a rookie left guard and a nicked up left tackle. He also knew that Glenn has not had the opportunity to do a lot of work with our recievers and our offence in game action. So give him high percentage plays to get into a groove rather than forcing Glenn to attempt to make great throws under a lot of pressure. Defensively, we kept blitzing, even when it was obvious that Edmonton was going quick strike a lot and that was a waste.
The problem is that Benevedes has no clue about offence. Benevedes only experience as a position coach was being a linebacker coach under Ritchie. Benevedes brought in Stubler as a defensive line coach, when Benevedes was our defensive coordiantor because Benevedes realized that, without Ritchie, he needed a mentor. Right now Benevedes needs another mentor, which is what Wally was trying to do towards the end of last season. Wally can mentor Benevedes in terms of deportment, leadership, etc. but Wally is not an x and o's guy and relied on his coordinators.
With two inexperienced coordinators in Khari Jones and Mark Washington, Benevedes is in no position to provide the kind of direction and mentoring they need. They are basically going to have to learn on their own. Benevedes is not going to teach them anything other than coming up with empty slogans, using ice cream and popsicle as treats, letting them know that if ever one of their players is accused of making throat slashing signs to say that the player is religious, suggesting that chest bumps, corny pre-game speeches, high fives, and laying a little skin helps team morale, and teaching them that *beeotch* at officials, running down the sidelines like an amateur, and charging around with a yellow piece of cloth in my hand, while posing all dramatic is the way to future success.
How many of you that played the game would have wanted to do chest bumps on the sidelines with your HC? Totally cool eh? NOT. Players play and coaches coach. Players pose and dance and shake and bake and lay a little skin on...coaches coach. Players don't want the HC to be their high fiving, 'lay a little skin on me'', chest bumping buddy. An anology would be kinda like having your mother asking you to do the bump with her at a disco....uhhhhh
I would not have been inspired to play high school football coach who acted that way. MLF discussed Frank Hindle, a junior coach back in Victoria in the 'good ol' days' and he was much more professional. Benevedes looks like a bad amateur in comparison to even rookie Head Coaches like Chris Jones.
3. Benevedes knew that Ramsey was hurting going into our season opener. And yet there had to be a discussion, during the game, when Ramsey got hurt as to whom would move to left tackle. Valli finally got the nod. Valli should have been given some practice reps at left tackle, if he was going to be a backup for that spot and better still, Olifoye should have had some practice reps at left tackle and prepared for either Thorn or Valli to move to right tackle. Glenn was sacked 7 times against Montreal (two were called back due to penalties) and that was not just on our new left tackle. For the second game in a row we did nothing for Glenn strategically and allowed him to get killed back there. He's probalby aged two football seasons in the last two games.
4. Worse still, Montreal, a team with a HC in Higgins who has been out of the game for a long time and Ryan Dinwiddie, a rookie offensive coordinator who was surprisingly given the job partway through training camp had a better offensive game plan than we did. They gave their quarterback the tools to have a chance of success. They watched what Edmonton had done against us and used the same type of game plan.
We knew that Montreal would bring the blitz and also try to exploit a new left tackle who had just flown in. Did we go tight end on Ramsey's side or double tights to help negate the blitz. Did we use a back to help block on that side. Not very often. Even Chap ran double tights mostly on first down for the past 3 seasons. Nope, we went five receiver set way too often and Glenn was a sitting duck under a lot of heat and even the 'quick draw McGraw' Glenn had no one to pass to.
The fact is that two Head Coaches, one a rookie (Jones) and one a old vet out of the game for a long time (Higgins) outcoached Benevedes and their coordinators McAdoo and Dinwiddie outcoached Jones. We lost to an Edmonton team with less talent and less experience but was better prepared. We lost to a Montreal team that is nowhere near as good as us talent wise but significantly outplayed us.
Overall, most of our players put in a good effort but were not put in positions to positively impact the outcome of our first two games in the way they should have been able to. We didn't lose because we lost a starting left tackle. That is one position to overcome with strategy and game planning and play calling. We lost because we lacked coaching leadership, direction, strategy, preparation, and wisdom.
Benevedes called the Kevin Glenn trade for a first round draft choice 'the deal of the century' prior to our season opener. Wally wisely just said he had paid fair market value rather than 'fleecing Dejardins...a much more accurate and wise comment.
Right now the 'bad deal of the century' is appearing more and more the contract extension awarded to Benevedes. It's time for him to start earning it.
