Head Coach - Lions announce Jeff Tedford as 2015 HC

[dupsdell1]

it is up everyone

[TheLionKing]

It's finally on

[TheLionKing]

Signal lost again. Auspicious start for Tedford

[dupsdell1]

It's finally on

Very pathetic conference micky mousy done , this is were the cfl, lions comes across sometimes so bush league.

[sj-roc]

I'm getting the message that the conference hasn't started.

Actually it's already over. I was expecting it to go longer, but being late on a Friday maybe brevity was the plan.

Lions have tweeted some quotes from Tedford:

"There is a great tradition of success here and I am very happy to join the #BCLions"

"I loved my time with Wally and Huf in Calgary, it was difficult to leave back then. To be back is very exciting."

"Coaching staff will be a process. I will meet with the people here and I have people in mind."

[Blitz]

Jacked about this hiring. How often can you go out and hire a new head coach who instantly has a resumé that every other coach in the league would be envy of? And to boot he has experience as a coach and a player in the CFL too. That is huge.
Listening to his interview on 1040 sounds like the Lions just gained lights years of experience on potential recruits south of the border. Gave the impression you could throw the name of basically any recent NCAA QB at him and he would have an opinion.

It's not going to take him long to find out if Travis Partridge is the future starting QB in BC or he has better candidates in mind. Can't wait to see how he utilizes Canadian rules into his offensive scheme.

Only concern is just a 2 year deal but also not stupid enough to think he came here thinking this was the final chapter of his coaching career or he no longer had greater ambitions. Let's just enjoy him here while we can.

I completely agree Sammy...its huge. A few weeks ago things looked very different. There really was no one that had the qualifications and was inspiring. I'm sure Wally was feeling very differently a few weeks ago than he is right now. He could hardly have kept Benevedes on after this season and especially the way the season ended.

The top list of candidates north of the border had no HC experience (except for LaPolice) and often little coordinator experience. Orlando, mentioned often as a top candidate on this board only had a couple of years of defensive coordinator experience with one team and his unit had finished last in the CFL against the pass. Garcia had less than one year of CFL experience as a QB coach and said that he is not an x and o's guy and therefore not an offensive coordinator but wanted a HC position. LaPolice was not even the top choice of Saskatchewan, his old team where he won a Grey Cup for the position of OC there.

Then suddenly Telford is available and interested. Its like winning the lotto at this point. Telford has his work cut out for him but with his qualifications a coach of his stature and previous pay scale was not someone who would have normally have been interested.

Wally got very fortunate and we are fortunate too. Its early but its certainly very positive. I listened to Telford's radio interview and he came across as a good communicator, easy going, direct, down to earth, and confident. When you've played in as many bowl games as he has, he certainly has been interviewed a lot and it was obvious that he is at ease in speaking to the media.

Its going to be diferent for him coaching home games in front of 25,000 - 30,000 when he coached in front of 61,000 at home games in California but I'm sure he won't miss the recruiting or the brutal hours. He worked about 90 hours a week at California. He may work very long hours during the season but in the off-season his days shouldn't be that long...recruiting at the major college level in the off-season is supposedly brutal.

He said that he has some assistant coaches who are on his radar. Certainly, he is very much in tune with the talent that could be available to bring into training camp.

[sj-roc]

It's finally on

Very pathetic conference micky mousy done , this is were the cfl, lions comes across sometimes so bush league.

The conference itself was fine; the video feed was the problem. 1040 carried a lot more of it.

[dupsdell1]

Not a good start to get people interested to promote him

[sj-roc]

Not a good start to get people interested to promote him

With the timing — which Skulsky acknowledged right off the hop and he thanked the media that showed up for it — I doubt there were that many who tuned in online to catch it live; the people who did are prob more from the hardcore group of fans who wouldn't be as put off over something like this.

[Hambone]

One little thing that stood out was that Tedford would be calling each and every player to introduce himself and give them his phone number so they could continue to communicate through the offseason. This was not unlike Willie Desjardins who it was noted took time to meet in person with each player no matter where they lived; Vancouver, Quebec or Sweden. That apparently went over bigtime with the players compared to Torts who couldn't even be bothered to have a conversation with his players during the season. Canucks of course have a lot bigger budget and fewer players making the face-to-face thing more realistic. Nonetheless reaching out to each and every player right away shows some class and leadership.

[sj-roc]

Only concern is just a 2 year deal but also not stupid enough to think he came here thinking this was the final chapter of his coaching career or he no longer had greater ambitions. Let's just enjoy him here while we can.

Buono was on with Moj & Taylor a little while ago. He said the 2 year thing was not a concern with Tedford. Sounds like it is more about lining Tedford's contract up with his own. He said that was also a Bobby Ackles thing. Ackles would never sign a coach to a contract that expired after his own.

Audio of that 17min segment here:
http://www.tsn.ca/radio/vancouver-1040- ... l-1.164113

[sj-roc]

From bclions.com, a 3 min video of Wally Buono talking about Tedford:

http://bclions.com/video/index/id/107837

[sj-roc]

It's finally on

Very pathetic conference micky mousy done , this is were the cfl, lions comes across sometimes so bush league.

Lions have tweeted that a full video of the media conference will be posted soon:

Update: we will be posting the full press conference shortly. Stay tuned. #TedfordBC

[South Pender]

Well, now that this is a done deal, I'm pretty pumped about having a guy of Tedford's experience and success as our new HC. This answers one of the two questions we had heading into next season: that of HC. The other was stability at quarterback. That will be Tedford's biggest challenge, I think. I'm with those who do not see Travis Lulay as a sure bet for 2015. His presence in the picture creates a certain amount of ambiguity given the uncertainty surrounding his long-term health and ability to last a season. I think that for Tedford to succeed, he will have to add a legitimate starting CFL quarterback to the roster. Many of us think that that guy could be Dan LeFevour. There doesn't seem to be much else out there at the moment (I'm not considering Drew Tate as a viable option--others will see this differently). I suppose it might be possible for Tedford to know of a good prospect from his NCAA and NFL experiences, and we can hope for this.

The other thing that strikes me about this great HC signing is just how effective Wally must have been to persuade Tedford to come to Vancouver. At the moment, this looks like a true GM coup (but, of course, if Tedford bombs, it will look quite different). So let's give Wally the credit that I think he deserves for moving us to a place that augurs well for success.

[B.C.FAN]

One little thing that stood out was that Tedford would be calling each and every player to introduce himself and give them his phone number so they could continue to communicate through the offseason. This was not unlike Willie Desjardins who it was noted took time to meet in person with each player no matter where they lived; Vancouver, Quebec or Sweden. That apparently went over bigtime with the players compared to Torts who couldn't even be bothered to have a conversation with his players during the season. Canucks of course have a lot bigger budget and fewer players making the face-to-face thing more realistic. Nonetheless reaching out to each and every player right away shows some class and leadership.

Yes, that's also what stuck out for me as I listened to the press conference on Team1040. He seems like an approachable, down-to-earth guy.