Finalists for CFL Coach of the Year

[WestCoastJoe]

http://www.cfl.ca/article/hufnagel-higg ... ts-for-coy

Hufnagel, Higgins, Jones named finalists for COY

Posted: January 07, 2015 11:59 AM

CFL.ca Staff

TORONTO -- The Canadian Football League announced today the finalists for the 2014 Annis Stukus Trophy, awarded to the CFL Coach of the Year. As voted by 65 members of the Football Reporters of Canada, the finalists are Montreal Alouettes Head Coach, Tom Higgins, Calgary Stampeders Head Coach and General Manager John Hufnagel, and Edmonton Eskimos Head Coach, Chris Jones.

The 2014 CFL Coach of the Year will be presented the Annis Stukus Trophy on January 21, 2015 in Winnipeg, Manitoba as part of the CFL’s annual Congress.

** The CFL Coach of the Year will also be streamed live on CFL.ca. Details to follow. **

Chris Jones – Edmonton Eskimos
In his first season at the coaching helm for the Edmonton Eskimos first-year head coach Chris Jones helped lead the Esks to a 12-6 record and second place in the West Division, capping the biggest turnaround by any CFL team in 2014.

2014 Coach of The Year Nominee: Chris Jones

The Esks stormed out of the gate to begin the season 4-0, a mark the team has not completed since 2011. The momentum continued throughout the season thanks to a balanced offence and anchored by the defence.

The Esks went on to claim second place in the West Division and hosted their first playoff game since the 2011 season.
Jones’ team led many defensive categories this season including; interceptions, fewest first downs, average gain per pass, fewest yards passing per game, fewest passed completed, lowest points against per game and fewest points to name a few.

This is the first time that Jones has been named a finalist for the Annis Stukus Trophy.

Tom Higgins – Montreal Alouettes
In a year where the Alouettes had to fill the void left by the CFL’s all-time passing leader, Anthony Calvillo, Alouettes head coach Tom Higgins found a way to put an impressive second half of the season together to help lead the Alouettes to a playoff win and a chance for a berth in the 102nd Grey Cup.
After beginning the year 1-7, playoffs seemed like an unlikely possibility until the team rallied and finished the rest of the season with an 8-2 record to finish in second place in the East and earning the right to host the Eastern Semi-Final.

2014 Coach of The Year Nominee: Tom Higgins

To open the 102nd Grey Cup Playoffs, the Alouettes played their most dominant game of the season knocking off the Lions 50-17 and qualifying for the Eastern Division Final against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Although the Alouettes came up short against the Ticats, Higgins led the Alouettes to a remarkable in-season turnaround that marked the first time a team had ever fallen six games below .500 and recovered to finish at .500 or better. The Alouettes are also the fourth CFL team to ever start as low as 1-7 and make the playoffs.

Higgins won the Annis Stukus Trophy twice in his career; in 2003 with the Edmonton Eskimos and 2005 as a member of the Calgary Stampeders.

John Hufnagel – Calgary Stampeders
In his seventh season as head coach and general manager of the Stampeders, Hufnagel guided the Stamps to a league-best 15-3 record during the regular season and capped it off with a Grey Cup victory.

2014 Coach of The Year Nominee: John Hufnagel

The 15 victories were the largest total by a CFL team since 2009 and the best by a West Division team since 1994. The impressive record was accumulated in a very tough West Division with the team being led by a third-year starting quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell and without all-star running back Jon Cornish for several games throughout the season.

The Stamps led the league in a number categories including points scored, away record, most first downs, most yards net rushing, average gain per pass, fewest passes intercepted, fewest yards penalized and fewest quarterback sacks.

This is Hufnagel’s fourth nomination in his career and has won the award once in 2008 as a member of the Calgary Stampeders.

[WestCoastJoe]

Chris Jones is here to stay, as a Head Coach. He certainly seems like a good one. One wonders if he will have a burn out effect, on himself, or on his players.

As he is in our conference, one considers: "Know thy enemy."

Interesting article on him. Nothing surprising. Tough guy. Disciplined. His team reflects his personality, as is the case with all good coaches.

http://www.thestar.com/sports/football/ ... calls.html

Argos coach Chris Jones’ life-changing phone calls

Argos defensive coach Chris Jones makes a phone call to his cousin in Georgia every morning during their 5 a.m. walks and the calls have been life-changing for his cousin, who once weighed 300 pounds.

Toronto Argonauts defensive coach Chris Jones taking his morning walk on University of Toronto campus in Mississauga earlier this month. During his walks, Jones calls his cousin in Georgia who is also taking a daily constitutional.

Aaron Harris / For the Toronto Star

Toronto Argonauts defensive coach Chris Jones taking his morning walk on University of Toronto campus in Mississauga earlier this month. During his walks, Jones calls his cousin in Georgia who is also taking a daily constitutional.

By: Bob Mitchell Sports Reporter, Published on Mon Sep 17 2012

Rain or snow, just like the postman, Argos defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones has been going for 5 a.m. walks since the mid-1990s when he coached at Tennessee Tech.

He reflects on how he’s going to approach players at practice. He thinks about what new defensive schemes to use against teams and which players to rotate in and out of the lineup.

Whether he’s on his way around the University of Toronto’s picturesque Mississauga campus or around a hotel on the road, Jones makes a cell phone call about 10 minutes into his walk to his cousin Keith Mickler in Rome, Ga. It’s a call that has been life-changing for the 5-foot-9 Mickler, who once weighed 300 pounds and had health issues.

“I don’t know if I saved his life but I know I extended it,” said Jones, 45, who knew he had to do something for his cousin, also 45, when he realized he was headed for trouble if he didn’t dramatically change his life. Their family has a history of heart problems.


They had gone for a walk when they were visiting family for the Christmas in 2009 back home in South Pittsburgh, Tenn., where they were more like brothers than cousins growing up.


“We were three blocks into our walk and I realized he was way behind me. I turned around and went back and got right up in his face and told him that he needed to get his butt in shape because he had a little boy, who depended on him,” Jones said. “He couldn’t even walk three blocks without being out of shape and red in his face. We walked for the next six days. I’d walk and get ahead of him and then go back and then get ahead of him again and go back.”


Jones couldn’t be there to make sure he got in shape. He decided to call his cousin every morning so they could exercise together even if they were hundreds or thousands of kilometres away.


Now 2 ½ years later, Mickler walks about four miles every morning around his subdivision, six days a week. He takes Sunday off although Jones walks seven days. Mickler now weighs just over 200 pounds.


“You can’t go on vacation with Chris. If you do and you try to sleep in late you have to turn your stinkin’ phone off because you can’t get away from him,” Mickler said. For the past two months his 8-month old Australian Sheppard named Ellie May also walks a few blocks with him before he returns her home and then continues his walk, all the while waiting for the call from Jones.


“If I don’t pick up the phone, he’ll keep calling me until I do. He always asks me the same things every morning. What am I doing? And I tell him I’m the dumbass walking at 5 a.m. talking to a guy from Toronto.”


Mickler felt pretty embarrassed that day back in Tennessee.


“My feet felt like I was wearing diving fins. They hurt so bad. Chris found a lot of hills. I don’t know if he was trying to kill me or prove just how bad a shape I was in,” Mickler said. “It’s embarrassing when somebody, who is six months younger than you walks down the street and is two or three blocks ahead of you and has to come back and circle behind you.”


By the time Jones starts his walks, he’s already been at the Argos training facility since about 3:30 a.m., watching films and going over the playbook. He usually tries to get to sleep about 9 p.m. As one of the most aggressive defensive coaches in the CFL, Jones literally lives and breathes football 24 hours a day.


“The walks allow me to clear my thoughts but I’m still always thinking about football. I can’t think about anything else,” said Jones, who often sees deer and skunks on his walks around the Erindale campus. “When I’m walking I think about whether I’m going to be a field general, a tough guy with the players at practice later that day or be a little more relaxed with them.”


Mickler has become a big CFL fan. He follows the Argos online and reads about them in the Toronto newspapers. But he never gives Jones advice although he asks him for some because he now helps coach his son Zachary’s little league football team.


“It’s tough coming up with crap to talk about every morning. We talk about the black sheeps and the not-so black sheeps in our families. The crazy family members and the not so crazy ones and we talk about the weather and how hot it is or cold it is down here and up there,” said Micker, a horticultural specialist for the University of Georgia. “We make fun of ourselves. We’re equal opportunity at making fun at our family members at our expense but we take it too.”


Living in the south where eating fried food is a way of life and where people usually die from heart failure or cancer, Mickler now eats better in addition to walking.


“Diet alone doesn’t cut it. It is truly a lifestyle-changing attitude, pushing things back from the table, like that big piece of pecan pie or that baked potato with lots of cheese,” Mickler said. “You look in the mirror and you’re not happy with yourself. My doctor kept telling me that if I didn’t do something he was going to introduce me to a heart bypass specialist.”


Jones’s CFL teams have never missed the playoffs. He’s coaches in five Grey Cup games, winning in 2002 with Montreal and 2008 in Calgary. He arrived with the Argos in the off-season and has completely revamped the team’s defence into an aggressive, attack-oriented group.


The weather in southern Ontario should be a lot better for walking than it was out west.


“I remember walking in Calgary one day and there was a sign that said the temperature was minus 18 Celsius. I didn’t know what that was but I knew it was cold,” Jones said. “People thought I was an idiot. Another time I was walking and I saw these big flakes coming down. It looked like somebody was burning cardboard. By the time I finished my walk there was a foot of snow on the ground.”

[WestCoastJoe]

5:00 am walk ...

[B.C.FAN]

I don't like Jones but I respect the turnaround he accomplished in Edmonton. He would be my pick for the award.

[WestCoastJoe]

It seems easy to overlook Tom Higgins, alias Ned Flanders. However, in his own way, he gets results. He played the game at a high level. He comes from a coaching family. I think the players buy into what Tom is teaching.

In hiring him, Hugh Campbell said he was sure Tom Higgins would grow on people. Works for me.

[WestCoastJoe]

John Hufnagel ... I expect he will get the nod, although all three of these guys are worthy. IMO ...

2014. Sparkling season.

[Rammer]

I don't like Jones but I respect the turnaround he accomplished in Edmonton. He would be my pick for the award.

Ditto, having his team delaying entering the stadium missing the anthem, just spits of arrogance on his part. Still the Esks look very solid all around and they even make you think about watching out for a trick play or two.

[WestCoastJoe]

I don't like Jones but I respect the turnaround he accomplished in Edmonton. He would be my pick for the award.

Ditto, having his team delaying entering the stadium missing the anthem, just spits of arrogance on his part. Still the Esks look very solid all around and they even make you think about watching out for a trick play or two.

For sure, he is arrogant. And he is "us against the world." His players buy in. His opponents kind of hate him. His players feel the opposite. Like a rat in hockey: hated by the opponent, loved on his team. Ken Linseman. Derek Sanderson. Brad Marchand. Alex Burroughs. On and on ...

Agree how bad it was to disrespect the anthem. Agree about how childish it is to not shake hands with the opposing coach after the game. Bush ... But he can coach.

Jones is the polar opposite of Tom Higgins in his vibe.

After the playoff game, Hufnagel was pointedly looking for Jones, who was nowhere to be found. Get out there and shake the hand, Jones. Who do you think you are, Bud Grant, or Don Matthews? LOL ... Not yet, if ever.

[Sir Purrcival]

There is a part of me that thinks Higgins should be the one who get this award. Considering the turmoil with the coaching at the beginning of the season and the disastrous beginning of the season for the the Als, what he managed to do with them is pretty close to a miracle.

Truth is that you could really make a compelling case for all three finalists. You could really pick any one of them and not be "wrong". So kudos to the eventual winner but kudo of equal weight to those who end up not getting the award. An outstanding job done by all three.

[Toppy Vann]

I don't like Jones but I respect the turnaround he accomplished in Edmonton. He would be my pick for the award.

Ditto, having his team delaying entering the stadium missing the anthem, just spits of arrogance on his part. Still the Esks look very solid all around and they even make you think about watching out for a trick play or two.

The headhunting of Buck Pierce by the Argos D in the first pre-season game of the year when they were in the same division was the turn off for me although like others here I acknowledge he's been a very good coach both as a DC and so far as HC. Time tells with new HCs as we know. It can often take a year or two to see they don't have it as HC's.

I'd say Hufnagel as he's won just once. Higgins might not want the award or he will find Trestman replacing him.

[KnowItAll]

since this award is simply coach of the year, why not someone other than a head coach?

is there not an assistant coach that stood out?

who was last seasons leading gurus for offense, defense and ST?

might one of them not be more deserving than any of the HCs?

[Dusty]

I don't like Jones but I respect the turnaround he accomplished in Edmonton. He would be my pick for the award.

Ditto, having his team delaying entering the stadium missing the anthem, just spits of arrogance on his part. Still the Esks look very solid all around and they even make you think about watching out for a trick play or two.

I'm not looking to hijack this thread into a different direction, but for the life of me, I cannot understand why the national anthem is played at every sporting event. Yes, I understand its purpose during international sports competition, but I do not understand why the national anthem is played at non-international events. Yes, as a seasons ticket holder, I go to the games and stand when the anthem is played, because to do otherwise is disrespectful, but I just don't see the reason.

Thus I can hardly fault Jones for having his players miss the anthem...... He seems like a person who lives and breathes football. Esks are another western team that will be hard to finish in front of next season.
D.

[TheLionKing]

Whether the national anthem should be played at a sporting event is open to debate. However the fact is it is played prior to the game. Having the players miss the anthem is inexcusable and shows a lack of disrespect.

[Toppy Vann]

Whether the national anthem should be played at a sporting event is open to debate. However the fact is it is played prior to the game. Having the players miss the anthem is inexcusable and shows a lack of disrespect.

Furthermore, Jones coaches a FRANCHISE operation with requirements for its teams and players - also there are sponsors and fans with expectations.

[Lions4ever]

Whether the national anthem should be played at a sporting event is open to debate. However the fact is it is played prior to the game. Having the players miss the anthem is inexcusable and shows a lack of disrespect.

A lack of disrespect I don't mind. A lack of respect is another thing entirely.