Wholesale Shipwreck

[CatsEyes]

Too many guys play like they do not know where they are supposed to be on Defence, and each of the last 4 weeks, the opponent comes out and basically snags a 2 TD lead in the first Qtr, ie, they know what is coming on Defence.

Until that changes, we just are not going to win very often, all of the speeches in the world won't make up for that basic lack of preparation.

I'm not talking speeches, I'm talking motivation and leadership amongst the players, because there isn't any right now.

[Toppy Vann]

Do you know what this team needs that it doesn't seem to have? At least not that this humble know-nothing fan has seen, anyway. They need the fire of a Carl Kidd and a Barrin Simpson. I haven't noticed a motivator-not a coach, but a player who can get them motivated and fired up. They need to maybe have the players only meetings that they used to have. The players coalition needs to be dissolved, and for there to be cohesion and unity, not division and blame. That may not solve all of their woes, but it might be a good start.

Too many guys play like they do not know where they are supposed to be on Defence, and each of the last 4 weeks, the opponent comes out and basically snags a 2 TD lead in the first Qtr, ie, they know what is coming on Defence.

Until that changes, we just are not going to win very often, all of the speeches in the world won't make up for that basic lack of preparation.

This is certainly looking like an issue. If they are not prepared (given a lot of changes too this week) then motivation is going to be affected big time.

Not sure where the leadership is in this D right now.

Getting coaches and players on the same page with the Lions seems to be the biggest issue of all right now.

[So Cal Lion]

I don't know why there is this perception that Dunigan didn't do well in Calgary, given the circumstances that he was under, he did very well IMO. Remember that was the F-troop era with the owners son (combination of Joe Montana and Steve Young if you asked his dad) getting reps as a QB. Combine that with Dunigan's many caps and he did well and even brought in some legitimate talent that the Stamps still utilize today.

4-14 with the CFL's worst offence and the West's worst defence seems clear enough to me.
What I remember most about Coach Dunigan was the onside punt he tried, it worked, however the officials had no clue what they did and called it no yards. Dunigan went ballastic. Innovative yes, but it's one of those "one in every 10 years play" that rarely works.

Dunigan did have an eye for talent as you mentioned Rammer...Nik Lewis, John Grace and Joffrey Reynolds are 3 of his finds....not to mention discovering the leagues best name ever, Charles Assman.





Nik Lewis was scouted, worked out and signed by Richard Wade/John Jenkins in Calgary 2004. Not Matt Dunigan as per your post.

Check out richard wade cfl via google for the story. Lewis was his first CFL Most Outstanding Rookie while working for Calgary in 2004.

That's the same scout who identified several other CFL rookies of the year and runner ups.

Matt was the head coach and GM, he didn't have anything to do with import personnel as John Jenkins and Richard Wade were responsible for the US based scouting and discovered Nik Lewis at their Houston Texas workout. Nik attended that workout and the Dallas -Fort Worth workout the following day being signed there.

Hopefully your posts in the future reflect this fact.

by the way, Matt would have been a stellar QB coach, he was ill suited to coach pro football and certainly was not head coach or GM material. 4-14 the record reflects and it was a train wreck.

[Toppy Vann]

Not advocating HC or GM changes now. I do think Dunigan could be another Ron Lancaster who fails bad to start but comes back as a very good coach!


Socal Lion - while quick to dismiss Matt Dunigan as having any coach or GM talents this is hard to take from a guy who posts here that Walt Disney created ice hockey. How you come to that conclusion is as surprising as totally dissing Dunigan as a coach.

Most CFLers who watched Calgary under Dunigan agree on three things:

1. He was holding too many jobs! He was too naive to start but that does not detract from the job he did as a coach. When his successor Tom Higgins was fired they had this to say: "As for Matt Dunigan, well, he only did two things right; discovering Joffrey Reynolds, and getting the team to play good defence. "
http://www.mopsquad.com/artman2/publish ... tinues.htm

2. The Feterik regime had to go and when he went so did the club President and Dunigan.

3. Dunigan had the ear marks of a good coach if given the time left on his contract to turn it around. Just like Ron Lancaster who had a very bad start as a coach and went to CBC and then back to be a very, very good coach.

Socal you must miss a lot of good talent.

I would not disagree that he made some poor decisions made regarding coaches etc and seeming to be dumping on the former regime but I attribute that more to lack of experience more than anything else. He didn't assemble the right coaching staff and they didn't have the QB to pull the trigger like is needed if you want to win in the CFL. It seems that Matt took over thinking like a player and not a coach. That takes time for a player to do and unless he transitions he will still be thinking from a player mindset. I think that Matt thought he could just correct his QB's mechanics as he knew how to pay QB himself. Not a good thought process as a team is not just tinkering.

Socal we can forgive you for your 'Walt Disney created ice hockey' comments but for a football coach get your football facts right. It was not "an onside punt" and the officials did have a clue. They were told in advance of the play and without replay and reviews as we have them Calgary lost the game directly due to his blown call.
=====

VANCOUVER -- Matt Dunigan believes his Calgary Stampeders were robbed. In a wild finish on the West Coast last night, the Red and White found themselves down 19-17 to the B.C. Lions with time left for one offensive play.

Quarterback Khari Jones completed a pass to slotback Mike Juhasz, who then punted the ball downfield.

Stamps receiver Sulecio Sanford recovered and ran the ball into the endzone for what would have been the winning points.

If the flags didn't fly.

Sanford was called for no-yards and the game ended 19-17.


The Stamps protested, insisting Sanford was behind Juhasz when he kicked and hence eligible to grab the ball.

Dunigan, the Stamps coach-GM, said he told the officials before kickoff his team might try the on-side kick. The advance warning didn't help his cause.

"It's not like it's a new, creative, ingenious play," said Dunigan, claiming one official called a TD while another overruled him.

"He (Sanford) was on side," said Dunigan.

The Stamps plan to protest the call to CFL commissioner Tom Wright.

"We practised that play and it's plain as day," said Sanford. "I saw Juhasz. He looked at me and I stopped. He kicked it and I shot off. Any highlight you look at will show I was onside. It was a great kick. Everybody went toward Juhasz. He kicked it toward me and it bounced right into my hands."

Lions quarterback Dave Dickenson admitted he didn't see the play but agreed it's another argument for instant replay in the CFL.

"I'm not a huge instant replay guy but that certainly would have been a time and place for it," said Dickenson. "I don't know whether he was on-side or not. It was a well thought out play. We'll take the win."

[So Cal Lion]

Toppy Van ,

The onside kick was a legal play and was ruled inccorect although I never made any comment on that in my post. My post simply stated who was responsible for working out Nikolas Lewis which was incorrectly atrribuited to Matt.

"Miss a lot of talent"

Maybe you missed the last game notably Chris Williams and the pelthora of talent stocking that sideline. Didn't seem to have missed much talent there my friend ?

Having actually coached with Matt Dunigan I probably know him a slight bit better and more than you. I just feel he better as a TV broadcast guy than general manager.
That's my opinion. Which is validated with seven years since that time and MD not taking another CFL role.

Throwing out a snide Disney Hockey comment ; which was a joke my friend is a weak and lame , considering I've got possibly a litle more time in this sport than you and it's been slightly closer to the action. Of course maybe you do have more Grey Cup rings than I do, ...but I doubt that as well.

[West Coast Blue Fan]

Toppy,

If you read the entire post you would have noticed that I posted the comments about Dunigan and the "onside punt" and for a group of officials that were told in advance as you like to point out, they still obviously had no clue as they completely botched the call.

So Cal Lion, as mentioned in my PM...Thanks for the info regarding Richard Wade and John Jenkins, I was only going on what I could remember myself from 2004.

[Toppy Vann]

Toppy,

If you read the entire post you would have noticed that I posted the comments about Dunigan and the "onside punt" and for a group of officials that were told in advance as you like to point out, they still obviously had no clue as they completely botched the call.

So Cal Lion, as mentioned in my PM...Thanks for the info regarding Richard Wade and John Jenkins, I was only going on what I could remember myself from 2004.

The way he posted it looked like socal lion. I now figured that out that that part of the post was away from his comments. Ok, got that wrong.

BTW, Dave Ritchie was coaching in Zurich Renegades in Switzerland this year.

[Toppy Vann]

Toppy Van ,

The onside kick was a legal play and was ruled inccorect although I never made any comment on that in my post. My post simply stated who was responsible for working out Nikolas Lewis which was incorrectly atrribuited to Matt.

"Miss a lot of talent"

Maybe you missed the last game notably Chris Williams and the pelthora of talent stocking that sideline. Didn't seem to have missed much talent there my friend ?

Having actually coached with Matt Dunigan I probably know him a slight bit better and more than you. I just feel he better as a TV broadcast guy than general manager.
That's my opinion. Which is validated with seven years since that time and MD not taking another CFL role.

Throwing out a snide Disney Hockey comment ; which was a joke my friend is a weak and lame , considering I've got possibly a litle more time in this sport than you and it's been slightly closer to the action. Of course maybe you do have more Grey Cup rings than I do, ...but I doubt that as well.

Sorry the way you post and make jokes it seems makes it unclear.

You could be right that Dunigan is a better TV guy than a football guy- I don't know the guy as you claim you do. You obviously didn't major in logic. I am not sure his not being picked for another role in a team validates your conclusion at all. They said the same things about Ron Lancaster who failed badly as a first time coach then went to the broadcast and back to coaching. Now they say the opposite.

You could be a great HC in the CFL too but unless someone picks you you end up coaching high school or working as an assistant at a college for a life time. Hey it might be even be a personal choice to not go down the coaching path due to job security issues. I know several former pro coaches who think like that. They wont move their family and they hate the pressure. Doesn't mean you could not have done a more senior job. There are many reasons for not being picked. Having the talent or for that matter, not having the talent or potential is not always a factor. There are many failed HC's who were great assistants. In Matt's case he should not have taken on all those roles. Not picking top assistants was a sign of failure on his part but he could learn.

It is not about how many Grey Cup rings you have. That would be like me telling my staff they have nothing to add as I am CEO and only the board can tell me what to do. Not a good business strategy for my growing company. The GC ring argument is how Wally Buono talks. In football as in business and life there is no immaculate perception. Opinions are like a..holes. We all have one.

As to the Lions being a shipwreck - no it is not... It is more like a ship at sea adrift at the moment with the weather foggy and not showing signs of clearing. The navigation equipment is working in part then malfunctioning so they are not getting closer to their far off destination. They are not rudderless, the ship has working engines and they know where they want to get to but right now there is no clear way forward. The Captain is unhappy as throwing a seaman overboard has always worked in the past but with injury and recent experience, it is looking this might not be a smart thing to do. Some of the crew are calling out the others for failing to fix their part but no unit on this ship is functioning fully and never together for quite some time. There is no sign of mutiny among the crew or the Captain letting his first mate take over.