CHAPBALL IS A PRIZE CATCH -EX LIONS RECEIVER HAD A HAND IN RIDERS HIRING OF 'GENIUS' OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
The Vancouver SunMIKE BEAMISH
The traits that have made Jacques Chapdelaine a successful offensive co-ordinator with the Lions — Grey Cups in 2006, 2011 — did not make him a beloved figure in B.C.
Jacques Chapdelaine’s style of offensive playcalling should fit in well with Saskatchewan’s older receivers.
His detractors believed he benefited from the recruiting and development of star quarterbacks such as Dave Dickenson, Buck Pierce and Travis Lulay, and his schemes were called predictable and conservative. Because of his Canadian roots, perhaps, Chapdelaine felt he was more circumspect than his American counterparts, and his sensitive antennae seemed attuned to the criticism that came at him in print, through the airwaves and on Internet fan forums.
But his supporters, among them Geroy Simon, always believed Chapdelaine got the most out of his players and put them in position to succeed.
The Canadian Football League’s all-time pass reception yards leader, Simon says he would have had success in his 12 starry seasons as a Lion, but not as much, had it not been for Chapball.
His faith and loyalty to Chapdelaine was demonstrated when, after a single season as OC and assistant head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos, Chapdelaine was fired in 2007.
Simon immediately went to Lions head coach and GM Wally Buono and urged his re-hire. (Chapdelaine returned to B.C. in 2008 as receivers coach).
“I believe in what he does,” says Simon, who has segued, following his retirement as player, into the Lions’ player/ business development adviser. “I think Jacques got a bad rap here (B.C.). Sometimes, the offence didn’t have success. But, I think, without him for the past couple of years, you see his genius. This offence isn’t as good. Players don’t have as much success as when he was around. At times, the fans took him for granted. I never understood why there was a hate on him, at times. A lot of guys had their best years under his system.”
When the Lions met the Saskatchewan Roughriders Friday night at BC Place Stadium, Chapdelaine was the wizard coaching on the other side, calling the shots for the Prairie invaders.
The fact he now hangs his coaching whistle in Regina is partly Simon’s doing.
After head coach Corey Chamblin fired his OC, George Cortez, now with the Lions, he contacted Simon to put the final stamp on the hire of Chapdelaine, who was serving as the head coach at Simon Fraser University.
Chamblin, general manager Brendan Taman, quarterback Darian Durant and receiver Weston Dressler all were involved in the interview process. But none of them knew Chapdelaine as intimately as Simon did.
“The best thing was to talk to Geroy, because he had spent so many years with him,” Chamblin says. “He would give me an honest assessment. More than that, he would give me an honest assessment between both of the offensive co-ordinators (Chapdelaine and Cortez). I knew of Jacques’ work, but I really didn’t know him. What’s his demeanour? What’s he like as a person? How does he think? The more I talked with Geroy, the more I thought he was the right hire. He (Simon) put it over the edge.”
When Chamblin surveyed the work of his offence last season, he knew he had to turn it over to another mind. It was in need of a revamp, and he thought Chapdelaine might be the man to do it.
The decision to jettison Cortez was not a condemnation of his coaching tactics or philosophy, Chamblin says. Indeed, the head coach continually references the fact that he has a Grey Cup ring because of Cortez, his offensive co-ordinator in 2013 when Durant, now injured, had a career year.
“There was a shift, in terms of what we were doing, with our older receivers,” Chamblin explains.
“Sometimes, they couldn’t beat coverage, going man-to-man, straight up. George’s offence offers more of a vertical (deep passing) threat. Some of our guys couldn’t get to where they needed to be. Jacques’ offence has a horizontal (shorter, crossing routes) component as well as a vertical approach. It caters to our older receivers. It’s a better fit. There’s more motion, to free guys up.”
In simple terms, it’s the difference between the Bombs Away! approach (Cortez) and a mix of long and shorter range strikes ( Chapdelaine). Both can be effective as end-zone storming tactics.
Chamblin says Simon remained a dangerous pass receiving threat well into his 30s, even though he had lost half a step, since Chapdelaine’s offence played off his other top-flight skills. Simon had 84 catches, 1,350 yards and eight touchdowns in 2011 — at age 36.
“You never knew how he (Simon) would release,” Chamblin says. “The things they’re (Lions) doing now with (Austin) Collie, (Manny) Arceneaux and (Bryan) Burnham, it’s straightup speed. They fit their offence because those are the players George wants in his offence. We needed our team to go more lateral.” (Dressler, Rob Bagg, Jamel Richardson, Taj Smith and Ryan Getzlaf, every member of the Roughriders’ five-receiver set who started Friday’s game is between 30 and 33).
At 37, Simon’s trade to the Roughriders in 2013 was supposed to revitalize his fading career. Yet his final playing season, with Cortez calling the shots, was personally unfulfilling, statistically, even though Simon finished with a flourish, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the 101st Grey Cup game, a convincing Saskatchewan victory.
From his perspective, however, Cortez had a closed mind about how best to use a crafty, veteran receiver no longer equipped with an afterburner.
“The thing I like about Jacques is that he tailors his offence to the players he has,” Simon says. “He’s not going to try to put a square peg into a round hole. It takes a guy who believes in your ability to create something and use your skills to have success. When I left B.C., I didn’t have success because I didn’t have a co-ordinator who believed in me. It’s not a shot at George. It’s just that he didn’t believe in me.”
Horses for courses. When the story of the 2015 season is told for the Lions and Roughriders, it perhaps will be recalled that a turnaround began with the hiring of an offensive guru from the other’s backyard.
Answers to about a thousand more questions remain to decide which is the better fit. Maybe both.
I found this article by Mike Beamish very interesting. I also found the article quite surprising, with Simon and Cortez now both on the Lions staff. Simon doesn't hold anything back regarding his thoughts.
