From Lowell Ullrich. Not holding back. Not pulling any punches.
The next game that will be played at B.C. Place Stadium is the annual told-you-so moment in three-down football, but for Josh Bell of the Calgary Stampeders it will have nothing to do with thumbing his nose at the B.C. Lions.
Bell’s sense of satisfaction upon deciding after last season to leave a CFL team that seems to be falling apart for one on the verge of a Grey Cup win is a feeling that is much bigger making than making the right assessment of free agency.
It’s one that will resonate with every male football fan on the planet.
“It made it hard on my wife, because I don’t have to hear, ‘I can make all the decisions’,” said Bell. “It makes me feel like I know what I’m doing. It makes you a bit more egotistical.”
"leave a CFL team that seems to be falling apart" ... Well, yes.
So there are bragging rights within the family structure of the Stampeders safety that would get a boost from a win over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
But what is far more instructive to those wondering why the Lions appear to have fallen further behind the best teams in the CFL are the pieces and ideas Calgary and Hamilton have picked up that will be on display Sunday.
The recipe, of course, is varied.
"why the Lions appear to have fallen further behind the best teams in the CFL" ... It does appear that way to some of us.
Bell left when the Lions didn’t meet the Stamps’ best free-agent offer after two productive seasons in the B.C. secondary.
Lin-J Shell, whose versatility was also a plus in the Lions defence, went to Calgary not long after B.C. pushed defensive co-ordinator Rich Stubler out the door and across the Rockies.
We did seem to have very good guys ready to step in. Yell. Lee. Johnson. The firing of Chapdelaine and Stubler? Hmmmm ... Scapegoats were needed. They gave Benny one more year, until the reality of the decline of this franchise made itself clear by year end. Does the firing of Benevides right this ship? Far from it. He is something of a scapegoat also.
We need to hire an outstanding Head Coach. That will not happen unless Wally lets go of the reins.
Calgary starts four non-import offensive linemen, an unfathomable concept with the Lions for years, having groomed three after drafting them. Both the Stamps and Hamilton have three serviceable Canadian defensive linemen. B.C. is only developing a second Canadian pass rusher, David Menard, this year.
O Line. Let us count the woes. Let's just start with our need to start three Internationals, due to our inability to develop Nationals.
http://lionbackers.com/bc_lions/viewtop ... =2&t=27474
D Line. For years our approach was suit up five. Now we finally suit up six. And we finally started to focus on drafting D Linemen. Westerman and Menard. But we need more depth.
Hamilton was a more palatable destination for two players who last season had been given free-agent offers by the Lions, non-imports Ted Laurent and Craig Butler.
Yes, B.C. was not the choice of destination for free agents this past year. It surprised some.
But what the Lions may be missing, former players suggest, is a locker room intangible that comes with leadership and a belief system that comes with a dynamic coach, such as Hamilton’s Kent Austin.
People see things different ways. Some might have gotten tired of me pumping the tires, as a CFL fan on the west coast, of Kent Austin. But the man can coach.
"Leadership." "Belief system." "Dynamic coach."
“Austin’s real good with making everybody feel comfortable,” said Ticats tailback Nic Grigsby, who was with the Lions at training camp in 2012 for their first season under deposed coach Mike Benevides. “He acts as if he’s one of us. Guys feed off that energy.”
Comfortable, yes. Accountable, yes. Leadership that is hard to define? Possibly, but as someone once said in a different context, you can recognize it when you see it.
“There has been a structure and tradition in B.C. for years,” said Bell. “When I came in it was Korey Banks. You didn’t get dissension. He was the politician — the bridge between players and management — and he vocalized. I don’t know if (the Lions) had that this year.”
Shell said: “Teammates want to be treated equally and fairly. When you see people getting certain privileges over others, like all distractions you get tired of it after a while and it breaks down the team in the locker room.”
Banks was given a humiliating send off. Same for Marsh coming up?
If that was indeed a capsule of the Lions last season, it perhaps is no wonder that former Lions quarterback Dave Dickenson has no interest in leaving his post as associate coach of the Stampeders.
“I’m going to be back in Calgary next year,” Dickenson said Thursday. “It’ll be the same answer tomorrow; same answer next week.”
But if there’s a common denominator on display Sunday that may make sense for the Lions, even though it is part of their past, it might be that Austin and Calgary counterpart John Hufnagel made it this far with their teams as the only two remaining coach/general manager combos.
Should Lions GM Wally Buono return as coach if he doesn’t find a replacement of his liking for Benevides? Can any coach work properly without personnel autonomy?
“It can work as long as the coach has complete control of the roster. Clarity is control,” said TSN analyst Glen Suitor.
“Paul LaPolice and Joe Mack (in Winnipeg) was a disaster. Ken Miller and Greg Marshall (in Saskatchewan), with one guy pulling the strings from behind the scenes, was a disaster.
“If Wally is running the team and making the decisions on personnel, he should become coach again.”
And that is true also. We do not really know everything about Mike Benevides as a Head Coach. Wally never let that go, by his own admission. And he hasn't changed his view to this date. He micro managed. He watched every minute of every practice from on high, either from the rooftop or from the tower. Wally's hand was heavy in areas that belong to the Head Coach. Who stays. Who plays. Systems. Philosophy. Coaching staff.
“If Wally is running the team and making the decisions on personnel, he should become coach again.”
Do we want to see Wally back as Head Coach? Some of us do not want to see that. But at least then we would see results on the field that can be attributed directly to the real Head Coach.
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.