Tom Higgins fired

[aklawitter]

from the michael sam hoopla to a confirmed lame duck hc, it's amateur hour in la belle province

[Toppy Vann]

from the michael sam hoopla to a confirmed lame duck hc, it's amateur hour in la belle province

You got that right! Twitter is running 100% in favour of Higgins. Not so much Schonert who Herb Z and others question as to his calls.

Quite frankly, Jim Popp has a good gig as the GM and he's not as good a coach as he thinks he is. "

I believe this to be unfair and hey if you don' t like his decisions you're the GM - give him guidance, input and time to make the changes but firing him at this point makes the CFL a joke.

[DanoT]

from the michael sam hoopla to a confirmed lame duck hc, it's amateur hour in la belle province

You got that right! Twitter is running 100% in favour of Higgins. Not so much Schonert who Herb Z and others question as to his calls.

Quite frankly, Jim Popp has a good gig as the GM and he's not as good a coach as he thinks he is. "

I believe this to be unfair and hey if you don' t like his decisions you're the GM - give him guidance, input and time to make the changes but firing him at this point makes the CFL a joke.

Keep in mind that the Higgins hire was done by the owner, against the wishes of the GM, so Popp has likely been lobby the owner to firer Higgins from day one. So while the mid season firing was a surprise, to just about everyone, it shouldn't have been.

This should play into Lions hands for the rematch with the Als on Sept. 3. OTOH the Als would have won the last game by a bigger amount if not for some Als penalties on a couple of Logan returns, so for the Lions to win they will need to change the play calling to better utilize Lulay's skill set and schemes on D...not likely to happen.

[Toppy Vann]

from the michael sam hoopla to a confirmed lame duck hc, it's amateur hour in la belle province

You got that right! Twitter is running 100% in favour of Higgins. Not so much Schonert who Herb Z and others question as to his calls.

Quite frankly, Jim Popp has a good gig as the GM and he's not as good a coach as he thinks he is. "

I believe this to be unfair and hey if you don' t like his decisions you're the GM - give him guidance, input and time to make the changes but firing him at this point makes the CFL a joke.

Keep in mind that the Higgins hire was done by the owner, against the wishes of the GM, so Popp has likely been lobby the owner to firer Higgins from day one. So while the mid season firing was a surprise, to just about everyone, it shouldn't have been.

This should play into Lions hands for the rematch with the Als on Sept. 3. OTOH the Als would have won the last game by a bigger amount if not for some Als penalties on a couple of Logan returns, so for the Lions to win they will need to change the play calling to better utilize Lulay's skill set and schemes on D...not likely to happen.

As Higgins told Rintoul on the interview the night before the game - that Rakeem was 6 or 7 on the depth chart when they started and lost first off Crompton, then immediately Lefevour. He's been through something like 5.

Firing Higgins who had to deal the Sam divisions in the locker room - yet he's never bad mouthed the player but told the truth - is a poor decision. It makes the CFL once again look AMATEUR and BUSH league.

Higgins has been all class and Jim Popp for several years now would be what Cal Murphy called Eric Tillman - a pissant.

[Sir Purrcival]

This should play into Lions hands for the rematch with the Als on Sept. 3.

All in fun. This sentence made me laugh. It makes it sound that everything the Lions have done to this point, to quote Baldric from Black Adder, has been

"a cunning plan"

This team unfortunately isn't fooling anyone and if we couldn't beat them in our home town with a 15 year streak on the line and where our Defense scored more than our offense on the first play of the game...... The only way the Als could do something that would play into our hands when next we meet is to play blindfolded. And even then, I'm not sure the Lions are up to the job.

Ah well, the sunshine is beautiful at this time of the year isn't it.

[DanoT]

This should play into Lions hands for the rematch with the Als on Sept. 3.

All in fun. This sentence made me laugh. It makes it sound that everything the Lions have done to this point, to quote Baldric from Black Adder, has been

"a cunning plan"

This team unfortunately isn't fooling anyone and if we couldn't beat them in our home town with a 15 year streak on the line and where our Defense scored more than our offense on the first play of the game...... The only way the Als could do something that would play into our hands when next we meet is to play blindfolded. And even then, I'm not sure the Lions are up to the job.

Ah well, the sunshine is beautiful at this time of the year isn't it.

Your post reminded me of when I was growing up in Hamilton in the 60s. HC Ralph Sazio was the Defensive guru of the day and with a strong defensive team he would keep the O under wraps, not wanting to give the opposition too much film to study. Then during the playoffs, off come the wrappers and new never before seen plays for the Offense would be reveled.

[B.C.FAN]

Your post reminded me of when I was growing up in Hamilton in the 60s. HC Ralph Sazio was the Defensive guru of the day and with a strong defensive team he would keep the O under wraps, not wanting to give the opposition too much film to study. Then during the playoffs, off come the wrappers and new never before seen plays for the Offense would be reveled.

Playoffs? Don’t talk about — playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game! Another game.
Sorry, I couldn't resist the Jim Mora quote.

[Toppy Vann]

Popp no doubt like me questioned how AC would not be their QB coach. They brought in Garcia last year and he coached QBs... but AC is no slouch either. So what does Popp do... make AC QB coach. Higgins was a fool not to consult Popp on that when AC came back. It would not have saved him but AC is reputed to be one of the best prepped QBs ever. Wasting him as a REC coach not able to influence his QB is nuts.

[KnowItAll]

Popp no doubt like me questioned how AC would not be their QB coach. They brought in Garcia last year and he coached QBs... but AC is no slouch either. So what does Popp do... make AC QB coach. Higgins was a fool not to consult Popp on that when AC came back. It would not have saved him but AC is reputed to be one of the best prepped QBs ever. Wasting him as a REC coach not able to influence his QB is nuts.

but they have a QB as RB coach

[Lions4ever]

but they have a QB as RB coach

I don't think that's so unusual. For example:

Tee Martin was a QB (and QB coach) but has been a receiver coach (currently at USC) for years now.

Marques Tuiasosopo was a QB (and a QB coach) and is the tight ends coach at USC now.

[cromartie]

Our 2000 GC win notwithstanding, midseason head coaching changes are seldom wise and generally do more harm to the organization than good.

Hypothetically, let's pretend for a moment that these are lost seasons for both the Als and the Riders. Which puts the franchise in a better position for 2016, what the Als are doing by firing the head coach at midseason and bringing in the GM to replace him? Or what the Riders are doing by having their coaching staff and front office unwrap the youth on the roster to get them game tape and experience for the next staff?

[Robbie]

I didn't see this coming, especially after a big road victory.

Yeah, despite the win it didn't help Higgins keep his job. I don't know what the statistics are but I think it's fair to say that in cases in which a head coach is fired in the middle of the season there's a strong correlation that the last game before the firing was a loss. That's certainly the case in recent history when a Lions head coach was fired in mid-season:

1987: After a strong 8-3 record the team suffered three big losses and Don Matthews was fired.
1989: Starting off the season at 0-4 Larry Donovan was fired.
1990: Standing at 2-3-1, the team lost four in a row and Lary Kuharich was fired.
2002: Starting the season at 0-3 before the first win, then two more losses and Steve Buratto was fired.

--------
Let's see how long Corey Chamblin will keep his job as head coach of Saskatchewan Roughriders. This happens more often in the NHL but I don't recall this happening in the CFL in which a team fires their current coach for the sake of hiring another coach who suddenly became available. So that said, will the Saskatchewan Roughriders management seriously think about firing Chamblin and hiring Tom Higgins?

[Toppy Vann]

Chamblin and Taman got fired.

[KnowItAll]

I didn't see this coming, especially after a big road victory.

Yeah, despite the win it didn't help Higgins keep his job. I don't know what the statistics are but I think it's fair to say that in cases in which a head coach is fired in the middle of the season there's a strong correlation that the last game before the firing was a loss. That's certainly the case in recent history when a Lions head coach was fired in mid-season:

1987: After a strong 8-3 record the team suffered three big losses and Don Matthews was fired.
1989: Starting off the season at 0-4 Larry Donovan was fired.
1990: Standing at 2-3-1, the team lost four in a row and Lary Kuharich was fired.
2002: Starting the season at 0-3 before the first win, then two more losses and Steve Buratto was fired.

--------
Let's see how long Corey Chamblin will keep his job as head coach of Saskatchewan Roughriders. This happens more often in the NHL but I don't recall this happening in the CFL in which a team fires their current coach for the sake of hiring another coach who suddenly became available. So that said, will the Saskatchewan Roughriders management seriously think about firing Chamblin and hiring Tom Higgins?

don't lump Mathew in with your examples. That was pure galat stupidity. Donavan never should have be coach in the first place. Matty and Co almost won the cup in spite of him.

[Robbie]

Chamblin and Taman got fired.

Right, didn't catch up with the news last night.

Time to swap coaches between Montreal and Saskatchewan?