Review of 2013, Coaching and Personnel, Changes

[WestCoastJoe]

Review of 2013, Coaching and Personnel

Wait until after the Grey Cup? Nah … For me, do this now, and then done for the year.

Wally has the most wins in CFL history as a Head Coach. Builds a strong, stable organization. Continuity. Loyalty to his coaches. And that last might be a problem. Loyalty and continuity is great for the organization. But you have to win. Staleness is always a risk. Adaptations can be slow.

Last year we were 13 and 5 and lost in the Western Final. This year we were 11 and 7, without a home playoff game, and lost in the WSF.

Our defensive stats look good. But ... Trouble stopping strong running attacks at times (Cornish, Sheets). Trouble stopping QB draws and scrambles. Leaky prevent defence. Poor tackling at times. Down the list in QB sacks. Age on defence. Not an attack style defence it seems to me. More of a contain philosophy. And that can be vulnerable especially in the 4th quarter.

Offensively ... JC put a very nice game plan together vs the Riders. We pumped up the run game late in the year. We fixed the leaky pass protection in midseason. But many ask: why so late with these adaptations? Continuity with the coaches has brought lots of scrutiny over the years. Fans feel like they know the coaches as well as they know the players.
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The league has benefitted from some top level coaching additions since Kent Austin arrived in 2007. Then along came John Hufnagel. Marc Trestman. Scott Milanovich. Austin returned. It seems to this fan that these guys are top drawer. Xs and Os guys. Innovative. Motivators. They adapt. They lead. They inspire. Their teams progress. Not sure we can say that for our staff. As it happens all of the above named are ex pro quarterbacks. That might be an advantage in a QB driven league. Plus they all have experience in different leagues, with different programs.
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This will be a difficult off season for Wally. Change the coaching lineup? Dunno if that will happen. Change personnel? For sure.

D Line. It seems to me we have not dedicated enough attention to building a roster of NI D Linemen. Westerman is fine. Reid might be OK. But this is not a deep group. Imports? Aging. Aging. Aging. Got some tough decisions there. Few sacks. No Khalif style pocket collapser.

LBs. Start with Biggie and Solo. And then? No NI quality nor depth.

DBs. Age. Age. Age. Cord Parks, bright new star. And then some tough choices. Safety?

O Line. Imports? Bring back Archibald? Dunno. NIs? After 11 years of this regime, we have very little to show for the attempts to build quality and depth on the roster. Drafting? Developing? At times one wonders if the O Line coach, Dan Dorazio, and the OC, Jacques Chapdelaine, are on the same page. Run blocking? Pass protection? At times it is shocking to see the poor anti blitz pass protection and the lack of run game. And it seems to me it is not so much the personnel, even though we have failed miserably to build the depth of this NI roster in 11 years. Certainly Norman and Fabien show promise. And I personally, as a fan, appreciate the play of Kabongo and Valli, guys who might not have been considered starters in TC, but have shown well, especially in the last few games, with the scheme changes.

Receivers. Capable of being absolute top drawer IMO. Imports and Non Imports.

Running backs. IMO Andrew Harris is the guy we saw in 2011, 2012 and most of 2013. Right up there with Cornish IMO. Logan is a great change of pace. Hard to defend the jitterbugging joystick when you can’t see him, and even when you see him, you can’t catch him. The mix between the the two was superb today. Mostly to Andrew. Change of pace to Stefan. IMO …

QBs. As good as it gets in this league, IMO.

STs. We have bigger problems.
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So … personnel moves?

Improve the NI drafting and development for the D Line, the O Line , Safety and LB.

Imports? Get younger in the O Line, D Line and with the DBs.
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End of year, regular season …

BC had the fourth most points scored.

We had the fourth fewest points allowed.

Our away record was fifth best in the league.

Sounds like we should be about a fourth place team, just where we finished, behind Calgary, Toronto and slightly behind Saskatchewan IMO.

Home record tied for best in the league. Veteran pride.
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What is the potential for us to be more successful next year?

It seems to me that the league has caught up to Wally in areas where he had an advantage for years, coaching of the Xs and Os and personnel.

Coaching. The assistants provide the Xs and Os. I would suggest that for years, going back to his days in Calgary Wally had an advantage in this area. I would suggest that that is no longer the case. Our team may be somewhat behind the leaders in this department.

Personnel. In personnel, we no longer have an advantage. We can be competitive, if we get top flight coaching, and upgrade some areas of our personnel. As noted earlier in the year, welcome to league parity. And one could make a case that we have fallen behind the leaders here as well at some positions.
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Final four teams. Calgary, Toronto and Hamilton have absolute top Head Coaches IMO. Xs and Os guys. Ex quarterbacks of vast experience. Chamblin seems like a pretty calm, effective HC in Regina, and they have Cortez as OC, who has a pretty good resume himself. Will these guys all look like world beaters in the next two weeks? Not necessarily. But from what I have seen from them over their careers, I do not expect to change my view of them. Unless of course one of them goes berserk, punches out a player, and forgets all of his Xs and Os. LOL Some pretty good DCs around the league too. And a guy in Calgary, ex pro QB Dickenson, who will no doubt be a HC soon enough. And I am not suggesting anything for us. Those decisions are up to Wally.
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We seem to be middle of the pack IMO. We have great experience on D. But too much age? Too much contain and prevent defence? On offence we have fits and starts; it comes and goes. We have had stretches where we get blitzed to death. We have stretches where we can’t run the ball.

Solutions? They are all up to Wally. He is a survivor. He will not be content to be middle of the pack. But he has that loyalty and continuity approach. 2012 was ultimately a disappointment. This year we thought we could improve over last year. Nope. We slid backwards. Will Wally wait one more year, hoping for a better result? Or might we slip down to 9 and 9? Was this year a disappointment? Yes. Preseason predictions had us at the top. Our vulnerability showed in game one. And vulnerabilities showed throughout the year.

Personally, I am not asking for coaching changes. These guys bust their butts. But do I hope and expect a different outcome next year? Not necessarily. I will go with what Wally decides. And I do hope we try our best to adapt constantly, even ahead of the curve. Play to win. Do not play to protect a lead.

MLF, I love your passion, and your love for the Lions. I support your view. Well said. Insightful. Passionate. My view will be more subdued, possibly due to my age. LOL ... After all these years, I have some acceptance of outcomes and hard to stomach realities. For years after I stopped coaching any sport, I could not watch my favourite teams play live (It was always less stressful to watch the tape later). Way too emotionally involved. Thankfully, I am pretty much able to watch now.

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Not looking for debate or argument. These are opinions. Differing views will be there of course, even welcomed. But for me, my intention is to not debate them. Changes nothing. Nobody wins a debate or argument. It polarizes, and positions harden. Someone sees it differently? Fine.

Have a good off season, Everyone.

[MexicoLionFan]

Great diagnosis Joe...I think you have covered every area that needs to be dealt with, short of safety...but for me, the Lions are stale on offence and need a change...with Travis Lulay, Andrew Harris, Stefan Logan, and our receiver core, we should be at the top of almost every offensive category, but we are not...

Stubler is a top defensive mind, but he is no longer "head and shoulders above the crowd"...he needed to be more flexible today and aggressive, but he wasn't and it cost us...certainly Rich doesn't need to go, but he needs to revamp that DLine...I don't care what anyone says, trading Mitchell without a legitimate replacement was a dangerous move by Buono and it back fired...this defence simply wasn't ever going to win a championship this year with that DLine and LaRose at safety, and that's all on Wally's door IMO.

Finally, McCallum is done...yes, he might have one more of this kind of season left, but its simply not good enough to win a Cup with...there are times during the year when your FG kicker HAS TO make those 47 yarders, and ours simply can't...our offence punts enough as it is...which is another problem for Paul...

Those saying that Fabien will be back 100% this coming season, simply don't understand the extent of his injury and subsequent surgery...Fabien may never be able to regain his full movement and strength again...hopefully it works out as Kirby was having a great season, but unless Wally addresses some issues on this line this year, these problems will continue...

Thanks again for all of your comments and passion this season Joe...like Blitz and so many others here, they were invaluable...you have a powerful understanding of the game!

MLF

[Sir Purrcival]

Pretty much agree with every sentiment expressed here but my one exception is that MB as a head coach needs to move this team away from being a WB team. I feel like the last two seasons have been more or less a somewhat dilluted version of a Wally team. Same coaches, same approaches and this is in part what needs to change. This team is stale in many areas, it is aged in many areas and the cycle of renewal needs to take the front seat now. Unfortunately, the spectre of an expansion year is only going to make this job tougher as we now have another team vying for the services of a limited talent pool of Canadian players and coaches with a good knowledge of the CFL game.

[B.C.FAN]

Thanks, WCJ. Calm, reasonable and balanced.

This season brought a lot of change to the Lions: 2 new starting DBs (not counting LaRose), the failed Julius Williams experiment on the D-line, 2 new starters on the O-line and 3 new starting receivers. Then Lulay missed 6 games to injury and Wally brought in Logan and Wilson.

I expect more changes next year. The defence has to continue to get younger. The expansion draft will allow for some changes if Ottawa selects any of our aging veterans. If not, Wally may have to do the dirty work. The Lions have a great core of players yet they seemed to lack veteran leadership at times this year. Inexperience means growing pains and costly mistakes. Wally will have to walk a fine line to keep enough veteran leaders in a Grey Cup hosting year. It will be an interesting offseason.

[DanoT]

Pretty much agree with every sentiment expressed here but my one exception is that MB as a head coach needs to move this team away from being a WB team. I feel like the last two seasons have been more or less a somewhat dilluted version of a Wally team. Same coaches, same approaches and this is in part what needs to change. This team is stale in many areas, it is aged in many areas and the cycle of renewal needs to take the front seat now. Unfortunately, the spectre of an expansion year is only going to make this job tougher as we now have another team vying for the services of a limited talent pool of Canadian players and coaches with a good knowledge of the CFL game.

Nice post. Benevides needs to put his stamp on this team and it starts with some often discussed assistant coaching changes.

[pennw]

Stubler is a top defensive mind, but he is no longer "head and shoulders above the crowd"...he needed to be more flexible today and aggressive, but he wasn't and it cost us...certainly Rich doesn't need to go,

He should be the first one fired .

[zark]

Yup! Lions were definitely outcoached this year and yesterday. Not making any changes anywhere would mean being outmanaged.

[MexicoLionFan]

Yup! Lions were definitely outcoached this year and yesterday. Not making any changes anywhere would mean being outmanaged.

I agree...

[cromartie]

This was about as much as I expected this roster and coaching staff to accomplish this year, so I can't say I'm disappointed.

I'll second the comments of others. MB needs to take ownership of this coaching staff and make some changes to it. With four opportunities in the league this offseason, it's entirely likely that the Peter Principle will claim one of our favorite whipping boys.

The defensive line is lacking in the interior, and MLF is correct, it's the failure to address this aggressively that did this team in.

The overhaul on the offensive line needs to continue. It's probably time to get younger in the secondary as well. This may mean this team, which should have been 13-5 had they behaved like a professional team against Toronto and Montreal, is likely to have an 11-7 ceiling next season with the same result as well, unless there's some magic "mortgage the future" type of spending spree that gets us to host a Grey Cup (which never works, incidentally).

My conclusion on DeMarco is that we need a better backup. I'm not a fan.

This is probably it for Archibold as well. It's been yeoman's work but whether it's health or age, his performance has slipped considerably this year.

This should probably be it for McCallum.

I'd let Ianuzzi go in the expansion draft. There are better players on this roster filling both the receiving role and the left outside protector role on punt protection. Haidera is a more important NI to keep.

I'd like to keep Nick Moore (who I think has played out his option), obviously.

[Spud387]

I am not a big football know how. I am a huge fan and follow the team. I cannot pick up the nuances that a player does that makes him better than someone else like I can pick up when reviewing goaltenders (b/c I am one myself) so my thoughts, as a fan:

Coaching:
I prefer the X's & O's kinda guys more than the rah rah that MB seems to be, but MB is a new coach and while we have had 2 disappointing seasons, I am ok giving MB another season.

I think Chap should. For every great game plan he comes up with, we have a few where the offence is inept and not adjusting appropriately. He has been here long enough and I feel that a lot fo the successful we have had on offence is from the player's talent rather than the schemes and plans making the players better.

Offence:
QB's
Lulay, we love the guy. I hope that shoulder is better b/c all season his accuracy on the long ball has been bad... really bad.
I am really not sold on DeMarco, bring him back to TC, but I jsut don;t see him having the toosl needed to one day be a starter.
Buck, I love the guy, but I don't know where or how he'd fit in our plans next year.

OLine, I thought they played great yesterday, but they need to get better. I attribute a lot of Harris' issues to the OLine not generating holes and when they did Harris was hesitating b/c so often he wasn't getting the hole he needed.

Running Backs, Harris & Logan is a deadly combo, Harris will be back, but do we protect Logan?

Receivers, I let our receiving core, they are young and this was their first season with the reigns.

Defence:
DLine, I stated before, we are no where near the sack leaders we once were... gotta get more pressure

Linebackers, Still good with Biggie & Solo. Anton getting slow, doubt he will be back.

DBs, still some of the best, but getting old. Glad to see some young blood coming in with Bell & Parks. I bet we lose at least one of the big 3 in phillips/banks & marsh to the draft.

safety, LeRose had one amazing game. unfortunately we play a lot mroe than one game in a season. Need an improvement there.

[Rammer]

I am as frustrated as anyone with JC's offensive game planning, yet I thought that today's game planning was another indication that he can make change for the better. What is really annoying is the execution comments, as to me now they are more of an indication of his belief in his own play calling. When it isn't working one way or another change has to happen, the easiest way is for the OC to find plays that the team can execute effectively and guess what, that isn't the same plays vs all the teams, you have to prepare for each team.

For MB, I am going to say, don't fall into WB's conservative O once the lead has been established, that is playing not to lose, vs playing to win. It did WB in several times in the past playoffs, just think of all the superior teams he has had with Calgary and BC, yet his GC list is barely above statistical average. In the playoffs the other teams will play balls to the wall for the W, especially if you let them get on O. The best way to prevent that is to hold onto the rock, and yes not giving turnovers is great, but extending drives is double effective, as it takes the heart away from the D, and it limits the high risk O from producing momentum on the opposition.

PLayoffs are all about playing to win, the teams that are in it generally have enough talent to win on any given Sunday, don't let them think that when you have them in check.

[notahomer]

Review of 2013, Coaching and Personnel

Wait until after the Grey Cup? Nah … For me, do this now, and then done for the year.

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Have a good off season, Everyone.

Great read WCJ, have a great off-season. I personally want to hear your when the expansion draft is about to happen and its fallout afterwards......

[South Pender]

Too early to consider major changes. The devastation of yesterday's close loss is too recent. There may be things we don't know about some of the coaching decisions--like unreported injuries (some perhaps minor) and other factors--that we need to know to see things clearly. No problem for us on Lionbackers to jump right in, but I think the Lions brain trust will first decompress, then take a look at a lot of statistics and film. I wonder whether the Kübler-Ross five stages of grief apply here. If so, we're presently in denial!

[sj-roc]

Too early to consider major changes. The devastation of yesterday's close loss is too recent. There may be things we don't know about some of the coaching decisions--like unreported injuries (some perhaps minor) and other factors--that we need to know to see things clearly. No problem for us on Lionbackers to jump right in, but I think the Lions brain trust will first decompress, then take a look at a lot of statistics and film. I wonder whether the Kübler-Ross five stages of grief apply here. If so, we're presently in denial!

I would have diagnosed prolonged anger stage among many at this point.

[South Pender]

Too early to consider major changes. The devastation of yesterday's close loss is too recent. There may be things we don't know about some of the coaching decisions--like unreported injuries (some perhaps minor) and other factors--that we need to know to see things clearly. No problem for us on Lionbackers to jump right in, but I think the Lions brain trust will first decompress, then take a look at a lot of statistics and film. I wonder whether the Kübler-Ross five stages of grief apply here. If so, we're presently in denial!

I would have diagnosed prolonged anger stage among many at this point.

That's Stage 2. Are we there already?