Khalif Mitchell signed to Rider PR

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Blitz
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Chris Jones has a proven body of work as a defensive coordinator in the CFL with three different teams. He won a Grey Cup, as a defensive coordnator with all three of those teams. He's coached for 14 years in the CFL and been in 7 Grey Cup games. Those results speak for themselves.

Jones took a 4-14 football team in Edmonton, turned them into a 12-6 team in his first season and won a Grey Cup in Edmonton in his second season. You have to know football to do that.

Yes, he was a bit different, not wanting to shake coaches hands after games and he didn't have media skills or a good attitude in that area either.

So what the heck has happened with Jones this season? He wasn't ready to be given total control in Saskatchewan as Vice-President of Football Operations, GM, Head Coach, and Defensive Coordinator..He was given too much power and responsibilities. It didn't start well and then snowballed. Now he is chasing his own tail.

Chris Jones was faulted for incurring $65,000 worth of fines for the Riders organization, mostly for roster violations, but also $5,000 for logo tramping too. There was the $15,000 fine for not playing enough Canadians. Chris Jones' record in Saskatchewan: One win, eight losses, $80,000 in fines, $26,000 less to work with under the salary cap, and a post game comment to Dave Dickenson that was completely inappropriate. The sigining of Khalif Mitchell also adds to the situation in Riderville.

But its the mistakes on the playing field that are uncharacteristic of a Jones coached defense that tell a tale this season. Missed assignments are not characteristic of a Jones coached defense.

We may feel a rivalry with Saskatchewan but most Saskatchewan fans are hardworking, honest, proud people. They powerfully support their football team with 'Rider Pride'. Jones is not reflecting the values of his province or most of his football fans. They want to win but most do not want a coach who flagrantly breaks rules, has an arrogant attitude, and doesn't win to boot. Rider fans have tried to be patient with Jones but their patience is wearing thin now.

I think Rider fans were prepared for some growing pains with Jones trying to turn around the Riders but they were not prepared for the type of season they've had so far. Jones is out of control and needs to be reined in. Too much power, not able to handle the kind of power that he has, Jones is becoming desperate.

It won't be easy to fix.

I can see Jones being fired if he keeps going the way that he has so far this season.
"When I went to Catholic high school in Philadelphia, we just had one coach for football and basketball. He took all of us who turned out and had us run through a forest. The ones who ran into the trees were on the football team". (George Raveling)
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DanoT
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Apparently Jones is getting $750k/year for being the GM/HC/DC/and VP of everything, so he won't be getting fired any time soon or at least not until the Riders' salary commitments to Taman and Chamblin are paid out.
Lionsfan65
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Blitz wrote:Chris Jones has a proven body of work as a defensive coordinator in the CFL with three different teams. He won a Grey Cup, as a defensive coordnator with all three of those teams. He's coached for 14 years in the CFL and been in 7 Grey Cup games. Those results speak for themselves.

Jones took a 4-14 football team in Edmonton, turned them into a 12-6 team in his first season and won a Grey Cup in Edmonton in his second season. You have to know football to do that.

Yes, he was a bit different, not wanting to shake coaches hands after games and he didn't have media skills or a good attitude in that area either.

So what the heck has happened with Jones this season? He wasn't ready to be given total control in Saskatchewan as Vice-President of Football Operations, GM, Head Coach, and Defensive Coordinator..He was given too much power and responsibilities. It didn't start well and then snowballed. Now he is chasing his own tail.

Chris Jones was faulted for incurring $65,000 worth of fines for the Riders organization, mostly for roster violations, but also $5,000 for logo tramping too. There was the $15,000 fine for not playing enough Canadians. Chris Jones' record in Saskatchewan: One win, eight losses, $80,000 in fines, $26,000 less to work with under the salary cap, and a post game comment to Dave Dickenson that was completely inappropriate. The sigining of Khalif Mitchell also adds to the situation in Riderville.

But its the mistakes on the playing field that are uncharacteristic of a Jones coached defense that tell a tale this season. Missed assignments are not characteristic of a Jones coached defense.

We may feel a rivalry with Saskatchewan but most Saskatchewan fans are hardworking, honest, proud people. They powerfully support their football team with 'Rider Pride'. Jones is not reflecting the values of his province or most of his football fans. They want to win but most do not want a coach who flagrantly breaks rules, has an arrogant attitude, and doesn't win to boot. Rider fans have tried to be patient with Jones but their patience is wearing thin now.

I think Rider fans were prepared for some growing pains with Jones trying to turn around the Riders but they were not prepared for the type of season they've had so far. Jones is out of control and needs to be reined in. Too much power, not able to handle the kind of power that he has, Jones is becoming desperate.

It won't be easy to fix.

I can see Jones being fired if he keeps going the way that he has so far this season.
Good points Blitz, Jones does indeed have an impressive record, one has to wonder how much of his success was as a result of the people that were around him, and not Jones himself. In Montreal Don Mathews was the head coach when they won the grey cup in 2002. He was the defensive coordinator in Calgary when they won in 2008 under Huff. Calgary has been just fine without him, winning another grey cup in 2014. Over the past decade the Calgary defense has played well regardless of whether it was Jones, Rick Campbell, Stubler, or Devone Claybrooks who called the plays. In Edmonton Jones won a Grey Cup with Ed Hervy as the GM, and after a shaky start, Edmonton has been just fine without him.

In Saskatchewan Jones is the guy running the show, calling the defensive plays while also managing the team and roster moves. While Tamen and Chamblin indeed left a huge mess to clean up, Jones' ego has gotten the better of him as he tries to do to much by himself as the DC, HC, GM, and Vice President. While Jones inherited a cluster****, he has done nothing to make it better, instead pouring gasoline on the fire. Jones has no one to blame but himself for the current mess he is in. :2cents:
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pennw
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Jones made the mess himself the way I see it . The Riders were not a great team the year before , but that was with out their stating QB. When Jones came along , the first thing he did was fire more than half the team , hardly a good idea . And also thought he would stri p the Esks to create this great team in Riderville . I don't know that all the guys Jones fired were great , but surely they weren't that bad . IMO the big mess was in the drastic changes he made all at once . And yet many had picked the Riders to move way up the rankings because of Jones coming on board there .
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CardiacKid
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DanoT wrote:
maxlion wrote:Labour Day weekend, rivalries renewed, the start of the "real" season...but what are the Globe and Mail, National Post, CBC, CFL fan forums across the country and even TSN talking about? Ah yes, the Riders' new Muslim and Jew-hating practice roster player. Then again, they say that there is no such thing as bad publicity...



Jones has created the most talked about, most entertaining (for non Rider fans) 1- 8 football team in the history of the CFL and possibly all of sport.

The gutting of the roster, the 1000's of players worked out during the off season, the during a game ratio cheating, paying and housing the illegal pre practice roster, illegally practicing guys on the 6 game IR, illegally having guys under contract practicing with guys who aren't under contract, illegally holding practices for longer than allowed, signing a washed up known racist and hate promoter. :shock: The list is so long I almost forgot one of my favourites: the least classiest guy in the CFL (Jones) telling the classiest guy in the CFL (Dave Dickenson ) to learn how to win with class. lol :dizzy:

In the past I had a lot of respect for Jones' success as a coach but now he seems to not just want to be the Bill Belichek of the CFL (minus the wins) but he wants to out cheat Belichek and instead have people think of Bill Belichek as the Chris Jones of the NFL.
Don't forget the attempted signing of Greg Hardy, known perpetrator of domestic violence and utterer of death threats while armed with a weapon.
Last edited by CardiacKid on Sun Sep 04, 2016 5:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Dusty
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Say what you will about Jones, but the latest Rider loss was very close game indeed. Missing the convert which would have given the Riders the lead with less than 50 seconds on the clock was not on Jones, but perhaps the Winnipeg runback could be laid at the feet of Jones. If you look at the game stats, there was not much to choose between the teams. You might even say that the Riders are rounding into a team..... so long as Durant stays healthy. By the time the Lions play them in week 19 and 20, they will be a very difficult team to beat indeed, no matter who is on the PR or active roster at DT.
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CardiacKid
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DanoT wrote:
maxlion wrote:Labour Day weekend, rivalries renewed, the start of the "real" season...but what are the Globe and Mail, National Post, CBC, CFL fan forums across the country and even TSN talking about? Ah yes, the Riders' new Muslim and Jew-hating practice roster player. Then again, they say that there is no such thing as bad publicity...



Jones has created the most talked about, most entertaining (for non Rider fans) 1- 8 football team in the history of the CFL and possibly all of sport.

The gutting of the roster, the 1000's of players worked out during the off season, the during a game ratio cheating, paying and housing the illegal pre practice roster, illegally practicing guys on the 6 game IR, illegally having guys under contract practicing with guys who aren't under contract, illegally holding practices for longer than allowed, signing a washed up known racist and hate promoter. :shock: The list is so long I almost forgot one of my favourites: the least classiest guy in the CFL (Jones) telling the classiest guy in the CFL (Dave Dickenson ) to learn how to win with class. lol :dizzy:

In the past I had a lot of respect for Jones' success as a coach but now he seems to not just want to be the Bill Belichek of the CFL (minus the wins) but he wants to out cheat Belichek and instead have people think of Bill Belichek as the Chris Jones of the NFL.
Don't forget the attempted signing of Greg Hardy, known perpetrator of domestic violence and uttered of death threats while armed with a weapon.
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KnowItAll
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Sir Purrcival wrote:Ok, lets start with the position that particular circumstances and an individuals ability to control impulses should weigh in when deciding how much or how little tolerance we should have of negative behaviour (I think we can all agree that his behaviours are a negative).

If we go by this criteria, how do we assess ability to control impulses? The man has ADD. That makes a lack of impulse control almost a given. Should we factor in upbringing? I don't know what his particular circumstances are but suppose for the sake of argument that he grew up being taught some of the crap he spews. It isn't that long ago that Jim Keegstra was teaching in public school in Alberta that the Holocaust never happened so that is not really that far fetched. He certainly did grow up in a country that has some serious issues with racial intolerance and bigotry. Yes, he is an adult and he does bear some responsibility for his actions but he is also hampered by a condition that can profoundly affect a person's ability to learn and grow. In short he is special needs. He has challenges that many of us don't necessarily have or readily understand. He looks like a fully developed adult that doesn't want to learn and continually says abusive and vile things.

Don't misinterpret me. His views are contemptible but in his case there is at least some possibility that he may not be able to control some of what he does. Having worked with ADD sufferers, I can tell you first hand that some of what he exhibits is textbook. Spouting out whatever comes into his mind at a given moment, challenges in reasoning or learning from past behaviours. Difficulty in navigating and understanding social situations often resulting in frustration and outbursts both physical and verbal. It doesn't mean he gets a free pass but he may indeed get a little longer rope than some might and perhaps needs a close handler. Whether that is practical for the Riders or not, I don't know. What I do know is that somehow this guy is going to struggle for his entire life but because he doesn't look obviously different from anybody else, he is going to get little in the way of understanding and/or compassion. Maybe he won't deserve much of a chance, but a chance he will get and even if that turns out to be an unmitigated disaster, there won't be any doubt that got his shot and that if he crashes and burns, it wasn't because the league didn't at least give him an opportunity.
aww hell, I have suffered from adhd and acute bpd all my life and as much as I have screwed up in many ways, I would never have done the crap he has done. I don't use it as an excuse and it should not be used as such for him.
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DanpT wrote:Rod Pederson has been blogging that the CFL is out to get Jones and he may be right, but if there is a target on Jones' back it is because he painted it there himself.
Rod Pedersen's blogging on the subject of Mitchell has a perspective that is somewhat troubling; of course I am sure he is quite happy to stir the pot and play the troll. From the football standpoint, he is very excited by Mitchell's presence on the team. He has ignored the fact that Mitchell's second term with the Lions was not a good one from a footballing standpoint and his last effective season was 2013.

He also conveniently ignores the level of vitriol in Mitchell's recent tweets. The fact the Riders locked down KM's Twitter account means in his words "that won't be an issue now"; past transgressions are erased and have no bearing on this.

What I find the most frustrating with Pedersen's perspective is his apparent delight in how the Mitchell signing is going to screw with Orridge and his supposed dislike of the Riders. As Persersen states in his blog, the Riders are "pushing back".

What a ridiculous way to make a point. More to the point, pushing back against what?!?!

No insight into the football value of this signing. Even worse, a complete disregard of Mitchell's odious views. The only thing that matters is making the CFL and Orridge look ridiculous. Pedersen is a snake oil salesman; peddling his own version of vitriol in the hopes he can induce Orridge Derangment Syndrome amongst Riderville.

Truly a sycophant if there was one.
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Sir Purrcival
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Can't we just all agree that Pedersen is a tool? Yes, I'm sure that the CFL Commissioner hates Sask. :dizzy:

I mean, that is the sure path to longevity or perhaps Orridge simply doesn't like his job and is trying to appear biased against the Riders so he can be fired. There is one person in this league that has courted more controversy in the last 4 years then anyone and guess what, he is the HC, VP, DC, manager of TP and is grea...sy. And Jonesy is his nameo.

Whether he is jumping ship for another team, cheating with his player personnel or his practice roster, signing a controversial player, it all flows back to exactly one person. If Pederesen had an ounce of intelligence, he would keep his mouth shut on the matter because every time he opens it, he "Trumps" up the airwaves. It is too bad that a media personality can't serve his subscribers better. Cheating is cheating and if the Riders truly were to see the KM thing as a way of punishing the league, then the fans of that province have far more to worry about than the current losing record. They should be worried about the sanity of the management of the team.
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DanoT
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So, the Riders are pushing back against the Commissioner by using a muzzled known Holocaust denier, anti-Semite, Neo-Nazi supporter. Way to champion a loser Rod and the Riders, I guess it is a good fit. :wag:

BTW the Riders have some sort of ceremony coming up, I think to open or dedicate the new stadium and they have told Commissioner Orridge to stay home.

Thankfully we don't have to be concerned about the Riders and their obnoxious fanboy play by play guy and his followers showing up at a Grey Cup any time soon. A big thank you goes out to the Riders 1-9 GM/HC/DC/VP of Everything for being so incompetent in everything.
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CardiacKid
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DanoT wrote: BTW the Riders have some sort of ceremony coming up, I think to open or dedicate the new stadium and they have told Commissioner Orridge to stay home.
Wow....that is chintzy to say the least. Also crass, asinine, cheap, bush, graceless, tacky, yadda yadda yadda....

But I guess that is in keeping with what Chris Jones deems "classy"....
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Sir Purrcival
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Somehow, I don't think it was the Riders Organization that wouldn't have been classy but I think there was some genuine concern that if Orridge did appear, the toxic environment that has been created by some of those surrounding the Riders would have overshadowed the event which I believe is to honour a couple of former players including Matt Domingez among other things. No one wants that so I believe that by mutual agreement both parties thought it might be better if the Comish stayed away. Probably a wise choice but again it does reflect badly on Saskatchewan football. Imagine, having such a negative environment that you can't have the Commissioner of the league attend an event to honour former player greats. Guess it is a good thing that the Riders aren't hosting the Grey Cup this year.

I guess we have to remember that this is the beer tin throwing, manure slinging fan base still and that with all the strain of the losing, the loss of respectability etc. that it was going to get ugly. I can't say that I can remember any sport having such a circumstance in this country where league officials were actually asked to stay away. I don't like Bettman for example but I would never expect him to not attend league events or be asked to stay away presumably because at some level, officials are worried about safety and general behaviour of fans or the media. I'm sure some in that province are thinking that they are putting the league in its place but in reality what they are doing is creating the image that Saskatchewan is not a friendly place, that their sports fans are graceless and in general that is isn't a good place to go. Not laurels I would want for my province or city or team.
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SSure
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SO happy that Wonderful Jones landed in Regina and not BC. I believe he signed Mitchell because the two of them see eye to eye. "Football is totally about ME !"
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