Stubler out The Don in

[Bobbyp]

The Fan590 is reporting Stublers fired and Don Mathews is in on their homepage

[TheLionKing]

That would be Matthews' third go around with the Argos

[Toppy Vann]

Source: Stubler Out, Matthews In

The FAN 590 has learned that the Toronto Argonauts are planning on making a coaching change. The source states that Rich Stubler will be relieved of his coaching duties and Don Matthews will be named head coach at a news conference on Tuesday. The FAN will have more details as the story unfolds.

News conference at 8 am PST from Toronto Argos offices.


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We know that Burratto is a long time friend and confidante with Matthews unless something happened that I can't recall. That has to be good for Steve who must be going nuts under Stubler who sadly was the most talented DCs who rose beyond his level of competence (Peter Principle in play here).

I have no idea of Matthews has health issues or what happened for him to leave the Als but we know that he doesn't stay long anywhere. I'd have thought Ritchie would be good here or Hamilton.

Although I did not like how he treated Steve Burratto for whom I have a lot of respect, it is also a bit sad when a good person who has had success in his chosen business loses his way and then loses his job. It is too bad that he wasn't able to build a team of coaches first who could work together for the success of their team and their organization. However, he let his coaches down by his sidelines treatment of his OC earlier this year.


From a prereview of Doug Flutie's book check out his faith in Don M:
http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=nnK ... t#PPA99,M1

[sj-roc]

I wonder if the fact that Wally Buono was closing on him for top spot on the coaching win list had anything to do with Matthews' decision to re-enter the coaching ranks. Not that Wally was going to catch him this year (231 vs 220 I believe are the current numbers).

[Rammer]

That would be Matthews' third go around with the Argos

Third and long though this time, he has a half season to make KJ look like the 07 version and a D that has fallen apart to resemble themselves once again, without the architect that the
defensive vets have counted on to get them to that point. Matthews D schemes don't really work for an O'Shea who has lost a step, he counts on pressure and speed.

[crburrows]

The Fan590 is reporting Stublers fired and Don Mathews is in on their homepage

Great to have him back in the league -- better in the East than the West. T.O should have had him to tell that they were MORONS to buy Bills tickets.

OH .. .. WAIT .. .. Toronto football fans didn't BUY Bill's tickets -- they got them for FREE with their cable bills!!!!

[Honour Dewalt]

If you watch the press conference on TSN.ca, watch when he starts talking about Gil Fenerty. (he calls him Fenetty) I think he starts talking about him, but then he says later when Don returned to coach for T.O. that Fenerty was still there playing with Doug Flutie and how he switched him to more of a reciever to set an all-time yardage record which still stands to day. He asks Pinball if he got that right, and Pinball just says, "until Dorsey breaks it this year".
Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm pretty sure Fenerty was long gone by the time Flutie was there. Is he confused and actually talking about Pinball in the second part?

Did Matthews ever coach Fenerty? or was he talking about Pinball the whole time?

[DanoT]

Just watched that Matthews clip and he was talking about switching Pinball from RB/KR to pass receiver and doing it got Pinball on the field full time. Logan or Roberts are going to do the same thing if both are to be on the field at the same time when in single back formation.

BTW didn't Matthews look relaxed and happy to be back in the CFL. IMO he is not too old and neither is Dave Ritchie.

[Honour Dewalt]

Oh, my mistake. I just watched it again. I missed the part where he said they "cut" Fenerty because he wanted Pinball. Then he went on about Pinball, which I thought he was delusional talking about Fenerty.

[Bobbyp]

Matthews said today, the reason he left Montreal was he could no longer go onto the field due to anxiety. Apparently he had been suffering from anxiety for years and it got continually worse until he could work no longer work. He is now taking a new drug which has helped him overcome it and allowed him to return to coaching.

He should have come to BC for some of the worlds finest.

[Blitz]

Matthews said today, the reason he left Montreal was he could no longer go onto the field due to anxiety. Apparently he had been suffering from anxiety for years and it got continually worse until he could work no longer work. He is now taking a new drug which has helped him overcome it and allowed him to return to coaching.

You hit the nail right on the head John Henry. I discussed Don Matthews reason for leaving Montreal on the team captain's site at the end of that season but didn't feel I had the right to discuss it publically. However, I think it's a good thing that people now
understand the challenge he has faced for so long in his career and that he feels good enough to give it a go again.

As for the firing of Rich Stubler. It's an excellent decision by Toronto. Stubler was not ready to be a Head Coach, although he had been a successful defensive coordinator in Toronto. Embarrassing his assistant coaches, both on the sidelines during his games with his rants and publically with the press was not dignified, professional, or appropriate. His lack of success this year is a reflection of his leadership style. Watching him rant one minute and laugh the next was almost shocking. He needs to reflect on the kind of person he is before he ever leads others again.

In the meantime Toronto has signed a Head Coach with the most experience in the CFL and the best turnaround guy they could ever hope to find. Things are looking much more positive in the Big Smoke

[WestCoastJoe]

Matthews said today, the reason he left Montreal was he could no longer go onto the field due to anxiety. Apparently he had been suffering from anxiety for years and it got continually worse until he could work no longer work. He is now taking a new drug which has helped him overcome it and allowed him to return to coaching.

I expect this is a condition most Head Coaches have to deal with.

Even as a high school coach, the pressure to win and to perform well is enormous. Some of the pressure comes from outside. Some of it is the coach's own high standard.

For myself, after coaching over 600 games in a variety of sports, I would sometimes find it hard to even watch someone else's game, where I had too strong an interest in the result, not just watching for entertainment. If the game meant little or nothing to me, no problem, but otherwise, just too intense to be fun.

I'm glad Don Matthews has found a way to return to the game. He is one of the all-time greats. His teams play attacking football, on both sides of the ball. Welcome back, Don.

[Hambone]

Matthews said today, the reason he left Montreal was he could no longer go onto the field due to anxiety. Apparently he had been suffering from anxiety for years and it got continually worse until he could work no longer work. He is now taking a new drug which has helped him overcome it and allowed him to return to coaching.

I expect this is a condition most Head Coaches have to deal with.

Even as a high school coach, the pressure to win and to perform well is enormous. Some of the pressure comes from outside. Some of it is the coach's own high standard.

For myself, after coaching over 600 games in a variety of sports, I would sometimes find it hard to even watch someone else's game, where I had too strong an interest in the result, not just watching for entertainment. If the game meant little or nothing to me, no problem, but otherwise, just too intense to be fun.

I'm glad Don Matthews has found a way to return to the game. He is one of the all-time greats. His teams play attacking football, on both sides of the ball. Welcome back, Don.

I just caught the tail end of McCown's segment this afternoon when he was interviewing Matthews. McCown was reflecting on his own dealings with anxiety and how he struggles with being in crowds and the sense that everything is closing in on him. Bobcat says if he goes into a theatre he has to sit in an aisle seat. If he were to sit in the middle of a section the sense of being closed in would quickly start. After telling that Matthews said it really brought back an memory of winning a berth into the Grey Cup early in his career. He didn't say what team or year but said it was when the fans all poured onto the field in celebration that he may have experienced one of his earliest anxiety attacks. Of course he had no idea then what he was dealing with and by sounds of it didn't really know until the past few years. It sounded like it was those sorts of things that affected Matthews as much as the stress of winning and losing. At least that was the gist from the end of the interview.

[notahomer]

I just caught the tail end of McCown's segment this afternoon when he was interviewing Matthews.
...

Me too! I was flipping back/forth between Off the Record and McCown! Matthews had spots on both shows. He seems to think these Argos are a lot better than their record shows AND he feels his strength is getting more out of his players than was thought possible. If he's right, this seasons winddown/playoffs are going to be awesome. I'm kinda wishing we'd already played both our games against the ARGO's already.