BC Lions Coaching Changes

[don corleone]

Nice update from Farhan. He is confident McElvoy is safe with the only potential impact on him being a tweaking of his official title.

What do you guys think about McEvoy coming back? He hasn't been talked about much on here. Hits and misses.

Hits: signing FA Betts, picking up guys like Rene off the scrap heap (don't think we have seen his best yet), trade for VA, drafting Rourke, Hladik, Varga. FA pickups like McInnis, Stanback.

Misses: chronically unable to meaningfully upgrade the O and D lines, FA signings like Pete Robertson, questionable recent high draft picks like Cherry, Bemiy, Una. Letting Sayles go in a season where he was needed. Also, I don't mind losing Doman's cash for going over the SMS, but will be pissed if we lose a draft pick. Swung for the fences on Rourke and Betts for the Grey Cup hosting season and missed.


DH

Teflon Neil McEvoy as he survives another purge is a red flag for me.

Bumping Rigmaiden to GM is like moving the blue chairs back to where they were before the red chairs replaced them on the deck of the cruise ship. Ice berg is still in plain view.

Bottom line for me is McEvoy does not have the football contacts to pick from so it's always next man up. Now the rumour is Rigmaiden. Will they bump Phillips or Maksymyk to HC?

[SammyGreene]

Nice update from Farhan. He is confident McElvoy is safe with the only potential impact on him being a tweaking of his official title.

What do you guys think about McEvoy coming back? He hasn't been talked about much on here. Hits and misses.

Hits: signing FA Betts, picking up guys like Rene off the scrap heap (don't think we have seen his best yet), trade for VA, drafting Rourke, Hladik, Varga. FA pickups like McInnis, Stanback.

Misses: chronically unable to meaningfully upgrade the O and D lines, FA signings like Pete Robertson, questionable recent high draft picks like Cherry, Bemiy, Una. Letting Sayles go in a season where he was needed. Also, I don't mind losing Doman's cash for going over the SMS, but will be pissed if we lose a draft pick. Swung for the fences on Rourke and Betts for the Grey Cup hosting season and missed.


DH

CFLPA must be a big fan of McElvoy and his efforts to drive up player value.

2022: $250,000 offer sheet to Kenny Lawler. $200,000 Betts contract after a quiet two years in Edmonton. At least this worked out.

2024: $750,000 3-year offer to Oliveira. $223,000 (plus bonuses) to Alex Hollins (5th highest paid receiver in league) based on his one full season as a starter on last year of his rookie deal.
Rourke contract $749,200 (2025) & $809,000 (2026). Collaros league's top paid player in 2024 at $600,00.

Up until Betts returned on $150,000 deal in August, Bo Lokombo was the Lions highest paid defensive player at $144,000 in a back-up role. Not sure what the justification was in keeping him back in June when Ryder Varga was capable of backing up Hladik on a rookie deal. Yet cutting a starter in Sayles on the $137,000 deal he had just signed in February.

[Belize City Lion]

I think BC is waiting for Edmonton to announce Hervey will be their new GM. Then as soon as they get assurance that Hervey wants Campbell, the Lions will “release” him from his contract so he can become the Elks HC. Rigmaiden becomes GM and Geroy Simon returns to BC as either assistant GM or player/personnel director.

The Lions will take a swing at Buck Pierce for HC. Not sure if Buck will leave the Peg. He’s set there and will become the HC of the Bombers sooner or later. But it would be a tempting situation to start your HC career with a deep pocket owner, a very talented roster, and Nathan Rourke. Compare that to taking over the Bomber in a season or two during an inevitable rebuild.

I think Maksymic survives the purge. He was considered the best OC in 2022 and 2023. Rourke loves him. VA has praised him. I think he just needs a better HC to collaborate with. I love Ryan Philips as a Lion, but he seems to have reached his peak as DC. I’d be OK with someone like Noel Thorpe replacing him if that was possible.

[cromartie]

Not that anyone is asking, and assuming there is something to the rumour I toss the ball to Chris Jones and ask him to try again. No one works harder and he is passionate about the game. He also knows personnel as witnessed by Nick Anderson winning rookie of the year.

Could also bump VA to HC as he has those kind of qualities. He can't be OC but he could be HC.

If that fails I have an uncle who is pretty smart.

You have to sober up before posting ideas like this.

[cromartie]

I think BC is waiting for Edmonton to announce Hervey will be their new GM. Then as soon as they get assurance that Hervey wants Campbell, the Lions will “release” him from his contract so he can become the Elks HC. Rigmaiden becomes GM and Geroy Simon returns to BC as either assistant GM or player/personnel director.

The Lions will take a swing at Buck Pierce for HC. Not sure if Buck will leave the Peg. He’s set there and will become the HC of the Bombers sooner or later. But it would be a tempting situation to start your HC career with a deep pocket owner, a very talented roster, and Nathan Rourke. Compare that to taking over the Bomber in a season or two during an inevitable rebuild.

I think Maksymic survives the purge. He was considered the best OC in 2022 and 2023. Rourke loves him. VA has praised him. I think he just needs a better HC to collaborate with. I love Ryan Philips as a Lion, but he seems to have reached his peak as DC. I’d be OK with someone like Noel Thorpe replacing him if that was possible.

We are an attractive job, thanks to the ownership group and the intangibles. But I don't think Thorpe is leaving for a lateral move, and both Thorpe and Maksymic suffer from an inability to make any in game adjustments whatsoever, so the blue chair red chair analogy above applies.

[Toppy Vann]

It's hard to see a place for Rick Campbell if a new GM is Rigmaiden.

I suspect Amar Doman this past week or so is the like the guy who hates his wife but won't divorce her as he doesn't to lose 50% but hopes that one of his well off friends will take her off his hands (Rick to Edmonton).

The Lions to inspire fans will need something of substance to happen with the team but a mere HC coach without the right philosophy won't get us any better than 2nd or 3rd and a loss in the WDF.

I'd be happy to see no changes IF the Lions committed to putting a more exciting team on the field and a DEF that doesn't play soft.
You can brag about your RB getting 1175 yards this past year but how many times was that punching the ball over the goal line?

I talk to other fans like myself just don't see this team as exciting as the days of old despite having a great QB in VA. It just can't be big plays. You have to be able to run and there are so many models of run schemes I just don't grasp why BC won't open their minds to these.

All OCs and play callers get into ruts such as Argos running Carey straight into the Bombers D-line for not enough yards. The one time to Janarion grant wasn't set up right and big loss. Buck wasn't getting run calls in.

If I have one criticism of Rick Campbell as HC he's just not an innovative, risk taking at the right time HC.

[don corleone]

Not that anyone is asking, and assuming there is something to the rumour I toss the ball to Chris Jones and ask him to try again. No one works harder and he is passionate about the game. He also knows personnel as witnessed by Nick Anderson winning rookie of the year.

Could also bump VA to HC as he has those kind of qualities. He can't be OC but he could be HC.

If that fails I have an uncle who is pretty smart.

You have to sober up before posting ideas like this.

Probably a lesson for me somewhere there as I generally consider you to be an astute observer. I admit Jones can be a little rough around the edges and hard to take for everyone. It looks like he is going to get a chance in Hamilton so we'll see how that goes.

One thing though is Louchiez Purifoy was a well liked Lion before Rick Campbell came along and now he is an All-Star safety with Edmonton while the Lions struggle at the position. I like a guy that has an eye for talent and plays him over someone who has a personal bias. One is doing what he thinks is best for the team and the other is not.

[maxlion]

One thing though is Louchiez Purifoy was a well liked Lion before Rick Campbell came along and now he is an All-Star safety with Edmonton while the Lions struggle at the position. I like a guy that has an eye for talent and plays him over someone who has a personal bias. One is doing what he thinks is best for the team and the other is not.

Purifoy was signed for his second go round with the Lions while Campbell was coach and co-gm. He played all 18 games and was an all star. He was released in the off season before a bonus was due. The reason the Lions struggled at the position this year was that his replacement had a season ending injury at the start of the year.

[maxlion]

It's hard to see a place for Rick Campbell if a new GM is Rigmaiden.

It depends. Removing his co-gm responsibilities would essentially be a constructive dismissal. Presumably they would want to pay him less too. But maybe Rigmaiden just slides into McEvoy’s spot and Campbell stays as co-gm. Or maybe Campbell is fine with just coaching.

I agree though that he seems to be on thin ice at the moment.

[Toppy Vann]

It's hard to see a place for Rick Campbell if a new GM is Rigmaiden.

It depends. Removing his co-gm responsibilities would essentially be a constructive dismissal. Presumably they would want to pay him less too. But maybe Rigmaiden just slides into McEvoy’s spot and Campbell stays as co-gm. Or maybe Campbell is fine with just coaching.

I agree though that he seems to be on thin ice at the moment.

You raise a good point about that as to whether it in law would be a successful court action if such as change were forced onto a GM/HC like this guy where he's told to take HC or take GM (one or the other) or get fired.

BUT forgetting that for a moment, you're really raising a very important point I neglected IF the owner said be GM or HC but not both.


The reality of those situations MOST OFTEN is that if the guy takes it, his heart is not fully in it AND has an eye out for their next role.

Bottom line (in my belief system) it's better if you're doing that to just fire the guy and pay out that year.

[Toppy Vann]

Jim Barker on Rod Pedersen at 12:30 of his pre-finals interviews.

Q: What would you do if you were the BC Lions?



When Jim Barker speaks, I listen.

He's a must listen to former coach, GM, Exec

[Hambone]

It's hard to see a place for Rick Campbell if a new GM is Rigmaiden.

It depends. Removing his co-gm responsibilities would essentially be a constructive dismissal. Presumably they would want to pay him less too. But maybe Rigmaiden just slides into McEvoy’s spot and Campbell stays as co-gm. Or maybe Campbell is fine with just coaching.

I agree though that he seems to be on thin ice at the moment.

You raise a good point about that as to whether it in law would be a successful court action if such as change were forced onto a GM/HC like this guy where he's told to take HC or take GM (one or the other) or get fired.

BUT forgetting that for a moment, you're really raising a very important point I neglected IF the owner said be GM or HC but not both.


The reality of those situations MOST OFTEN is that if the guy takes it, his heart is not fully in it AND has an eye out for their next role.

Bottom line (in my belief system) it's better if you're doing that to just fire the guy and pay out that year.

Never been a labour expert but seems to me that removal of the AGM part of Campbell's portfolio can be taken by Rick to be a demotion and that he'd have every right to claim it as effectively a dismissal with the expectation he be paid out as though it was. With that BC's options might be to either fire him with compensation as per whatever his contract might call for or try to "red circle" his salary and pay him fully as though his os still AGM-HC even if holding a lesser role. Or they could sumply mutually agree to part ways and negotiate a settlement.

[Hambone]

I'm contemplating dumping my season tickets not because of the team and season but strictly due to the travel and accommodation costs that come with living 800km away from BC Place. Bringing Jones in would make dumping them a no-brainer.

If half the stories flying around this week are true you won't have to worry about Chris Jones in BC.

Seeing done deal with Ed Hervey to Edmonton and consideration being given to Orlando Steinhauer as HC. Some form of Milanovich and Jones would seem to be the obvious succession plan for the Ti-Cats.

I'm curious if Rick Campbell is involved with Lion activities this week with all the rumours of him going to Edmonton. Sounds like his days in the land of the setting sun will be coming to an end. Also don't see him working well with Hervey so we'll see how that ends up.

Strangest rumour so far is Jake Maier to the Riders but it seems a little early for that.

Things in those suggestions don't quite add up.

In Hervey and Steinauer you have two guys who likely would both only consider coming over for the GM job. For Hervey that would be a parallel move but he might be OK with familiar turf. For Steinauer even the GM job would be a demotion given he's currently the President of Football Ops with Hamilton and Hervey's boss. Would he really give all that up to go back to being just a HC, UNDER Hervey? Also it would be a major life change. He came to the CFL with Ottawa back in 1996 before joining the Ticats in 1997. He's been in the Golden Horseshoe for the past 28 years save for his one year at Fresno State in 2017. Is he going to pull up stakes for EE voluntarily? Maybe if the Caretaker and Scott Mitchell fire him he will have to consider options.

Similarly Jones and Milanovich would come across as being unlikely to co-exist in a new structure unless one surrenders power. What they have now works because Milanovich ias already the HC with Jones as DC. That's not the first time for that structure as they worked together in the same capacity in Toronto 2012-13. They also worked together in 2007 when Jones was DC and Milanovich QBC in Montreal. Jones comes across as a guy who wants control as in he would want to have both the GM and HC job which happens to be Milanovich's. I don't see Milanovich settling for anything less than continuing as HC and I don't see Jones taking the GM job without being HC. No idea if Milanovich has any front office aspirations.

[don corleone]

Purifoy was signed for his second go round with the Lions while Campbell was coach and co-gm. He played all 18 games and was an all star. He was released in the off season before a bonus was due. The reason the Lions struggled at the position this year was that his replacement had a season ending injury at the start of the year.

Appreciate the time line. I was looking at that one from more of a Chris jones recognizing talent perspective. I'll put that to rest for now.

I believe Purifoy and Campbell had history going back to Ottawa. It did not surprise me he was released despite being an all star and still don't think he is a highly paid player.

Could be the Co - Gm arrangement was not an ideal match. Looking back I can see where a guy like Lucky was likely recruited / signed by Rigmaiden as he was in Winnipeg and then sabotaged by Campbell when he played Terry Williams. Shawn Lemon?

It's all going to be straightened out soon. Apparently Moj is saying Buck, Lapo, and Orlando are the top candidates. All good guys.

[don corleone]

Things in those suggestions don't quite add up.

In Hervey and Steinauer you have two guys who likely would both only consider coming over for the GM job. For Hervey that would be a parallel move but he might be OK with familiar turf. For Steinauer even the GM job would be a demotion given he's currently the President of Football Ops with Hamilton and Hervey's boss. Would he really give all that up to go back to being just a HC, UNDER Hervey? Also it would be a major life change. He came to the CFL with Ottawa back in 1996 before joining the Ticats in 1997. He's been in the Golden Horseshoe for the past 28 years save for his one year at Fresno State in 2017. Is he going to pull up stakes for EE voluntarily? Maybe if the Caretaker and Scott Mitchell fire him he will have to consider options.

Similarly Jones and Milanovich would come across as being unlikely to co-exist in a new structure unless one surrenders power. What they have now works because Milanovich ias already the HC with Jones as DC. That's not the first time for that structure as they worked together in the same capacity in Toronto 2012-13. They also worked together in 2007 when Jones was DC and Milanovich QBC in Montreal. Jones comes across as a guy who wants control as in he would want to have both the GM and HC job which happens to be Milanovich's. I don't see Milanovich settling for anything less than continuing as HC and I don't see Jones taking the GM job without being HC. No idea if Milanovich has any front office aspirations.

I was surprised to hear Steinhauers name come up. Now it has come up twice. Could be coaching is what he wants to do. He wouldn't be a bad choice.

As for Hamilton I don't think titles are as important as the opportunity to avoid micro management from above. If Hervey leaves they probably elevate Milanovich but I think Chris Jones will be well paid and have plenty of say regarding his area of concern. Recruitment is one of his strengths imo.