Dan Hawkins, Head Coach of the Alouettes ...

[Toppy Vann]

Hawkins brought an American-sized coaching staff with him, appointing 11 assistants. That's the biggest staff of any CFL team. The Lions have 8 assistants.

Impressive media release detailing the entire staff's credentials! Not aware of that being done to that extent before. No wonder the word leaked long before the delay which was likely due to the research work to get that polished up!

You have to wonder about the size of the coaching staff. OC with NO CFL experience and you got AC near the end. Will they keep the Trestman O? New guys like their stamp on it but will AC want to change it up? Interesting times.

Nice to see Ryan Dinwiddie back in the CFL.

I believe there are times to bring in outside eyes such as when your team is in downward cycle and the offense say is not working and someone advises on tweaking it or does a bit of a review and gives some advice to the HC to get it back on track.

Not sure of the Doug Berry role here but he has experience despite not making it as a HC - he had success as an assistant until Durant tossed him under the bus or so it seems.

[WestCoastJoe]

CFL coaches do not break the budget.

On the other hand, IMO the standard number of CFL coaches is sufficient. You get too many guys, and it is just detailed overkill IMO. I recall the days of three coaches per team. Skrien. Champion. Johnson. That is obviously too few with the complexity of today's game, but somewhere around 7-8-9 seems to fit nowadays.

1 HC
OC plus one of the below
2 O Line
3 Receivers OC?
4 RBs, sometimes combined with STs
5 QBs OC?
DC plus one of the position spots below
6 D Line
7 LBs
8 DBs
9 STs oftentimes by a position coach

[Toppy Vann]

I am with you on the fear of too many coaches and over coaching. I look at hockey and how they have added these other coaches and some times these coaches doing their jobs when you put it all together - it becomes too many cooks spoiling the broth- and they get lousy results.

That the Als had the entire 11 coaches at the media release is either good PR or a honest commitment from their new HC to be a strong team leader and coach of coaches - not a one man band.

If communications win football games, this guy has it all. It doesn't but he is very good!! Smooth. Maybe for some long winded but he didn't miss a touchstone. He does not give the impression he is bringing US football thinking north which hasn't worked.

AC was there too and his comments about coaching suggest they acknowledge he is key to their near term success.

Hawkins says they will use AC's terms and they will learn the language and play book used by the Als.

He even invoked Ben Cahoon and his advice about the 4 and 1/2 hour rule!

Bottom line: I think I heard that he knew Popp for 20 years - last season a guest - ergo - the new Als HC.
So we look to see who the Als guest coaches are in future.

The videos aren't short but interesting.

[WestCoastJoe]

Well the videos were interesting, Toppy.

However, I find his communication style to be over the top, and that can be ineffective. If everything is life and death, people start to tune it out. I would suggest that he is something of a blowhard. In sales, that can turn people off as well. Diametrically opposite to Trestman's laid back, humble style.

I am having some doubts about him.

So he offered his volunteer his services to Trestman and the offer was not accepted. Hmmmm ...

Being a blowhard is not an automatic disqualification as a Head Coach, however. I liked Jimmy Johnson a great deal as a coach, and I would suggest that many people considered him a blowhard.

Hank Stram was a blowhard, but he was very successful as a coach, and later he was a very astute TV analyst, oftentimes calling the play before it was run.

[notahomer]

Hawkins brought an American-sized coaching staff with him, appointing 11 assistants. That's the biggest staff of any CFL team. The Lions have 8 assistants.

Wow, great point, BC Fan. That is a huge slate of coaches..... Some interesting names/resumes in that pile too. A surprising number with some CIS and/or CFL experience. Ryan Dinwiddie? Quality control? Maybe he'll do great, it was just surprising to see him on the slate of coaches.

[TheLionKing]

Hawkins brought an American-sized coaching staff with him, appointing 11 assistants. That's the biggest staff of any CFL team. The Lions have 8 assistants.

Some of the coaches have impressive credentials (at least on paper) Nice that the coaching staff included people with CFL experience which will certainly help the rest in catching up to the Canadian game.

[TheLionKing]

In the introduction Popp mentioned he considered over 50 candidates before settling on Hawkins. Don't know whether it's a fact or a smoke screen.

[Toppy Vann]

In the introduction Popp mentioned he considered over 50 candidates before settling on Hawkins. Don't know whether it's a fact or a smoke screen.

I doubt he interviewed close to that. It is like someone saying we had 500 to look based on resumes and not speaking to folks.

You are right on the over the top communication style. I was thinking about that later how I have seen a new outsider take a senior role and talk brilliantly about what needs to be done and it is all good stuff - only to find out that they were all talk and didn't back it up with the work or they were just plain lazy.

Bart Andrus and a few others come to mind anytime they go outside the CFL to get a HC. There is a fine line.

[WestCoastJoe]

Popp goes out of the box to find Hawkins

Posted: February 19, 2013 05:38 PM

THE CANADIAN PRESS

MONTREAL -- Once again, general manager Jim Popp went outside the box to find a head coach for the Montreal Alouettes.

On Tuesday, the CFL club hired Dan Hawkins to replace Marc Trestman who was named the Chicago Bears head coach last month. Hawkins, 52, arrives in Montreal with no previous Canadian football coaching experience.

» Mike Miller, Assistant Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, QBs Coach
» Noel Thorpe, Defensive Coordinator
» Ray Rychleski, Special Teams Coordinator
» Doug Berry, Senior Advisor to the Head Coach
» Jean-Marc Edmé, Defensive Assistant/Football Operations Assistant
» Frank Verducci, Offensive Line Coach
» Mark Speckman, Running Backs Coach
» Erik Campbell, Wide Receivers Coach
» Keith Willis, Defensive Line Coach
» Mark Nelson, Linebackers Coach
» Ryan Dinwiddie, Offensive Quality Control Coach

But back in 2008, Popp raised eyebrows when he hired Trestman, who came to the Alouettes with no previous CFL coaching experience as well as having never been a head coach. Over five seasons, Trestman compiled a 59-31-0 record, won two Grey Cups and was named the league's coach of the year in 2009.

"It just came together that Dan was the right guy as we went through the process,'' said Popp. "We got some very high-profile people call on his behalf and there were probably two or three candidates that never said anything negative about somebody and he was one of them.

"And you don't get those type of people calling for you unless you're the real deal and he's proven he has been the real deal. He's a quality, quality head-coaching prospect and we're going to give him that opportunity.''

Hawkins wasted no time trying to fit into his new surrounding, giving his opening remarks in tortured but earnest French. But there was no denying Hawkins' enthusiasm for his first pro head-coaching job.

"You look at when you were a kid out in the yard playing football and you started making up these other rules that made the game more fun and more exciting, you've got a lot of that in the CFL,'' he said. "I mean, everybody's in motion.

"In the States, you've got one guy in motion. You've got a wider field so you've got more space. They're talking about widening the NFL field right now to kind of eliminate some of the collisions. All that's exciting.''

Hawkins takes over a Montreal team that finished atop the East Division with an 11-7 record last year. But the Alouettes lost 27-20 to the eventual Grey Cup-champion Toronto Argonauts in the Eastern Final.

Hawkins spent the last two seasons as a college football analyst for ESPN but served as the head coach at Boise State and Colorado. Hawkins was just 19-39 at Colorado but an impressive 53-11 at Boise State and has an overall record of 112-61-1.

"I've always been sort of an out-of-the-box guy,'' said Hawkins. "You can just be as creative as you really want to be and that's fun from a coach's standpoint.''

Popp spoke to over 50 coaching candidates during his search and involved veteran quarterback Anthony Calvillo in the process. Calvillo, who is entering his 20th CFL season and 16th with Montreal, spoke to all of the hopefuls.

"I had a great conversation with all of them and said, `There's not one that stands out over the other,' because this is not what I do,'' pro football's all-time passing leader said. "This is the first time I've been involved in terms of speaking to a potential head coach.

Calvillo didn't know about Hawkins' hiring until receiving a phone call from owner Robert Wetenhall on Sunday.

"We now have to buy into the philosophy of Dan Hawkins and that's going to be something I'm going to do this off-season,'' Calvillo said. "I've trusted Mr. Wetenhall and Jim Popp every time they brought in a new head coach and now it's our turn as players to buy into what Dan is going to bring to the table and try not to compare too much of what your last coach did.''

Mike Miller, who served last season as the Arizona Cardinals' offensive co-ordinator, joins Hawkins' staff as the assistant head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

"Our goal is to take it from Day 1 and go,'' said Miller, who interviewed for Montreal's head job. "I think you guys know in professional football there's really no grace period.

"We've already been working for a few days. We'll get some player input, obviously AC being one of them, and we're going to hit the ground running and we're looking forward to it.''

The remainder of Hawkins' staff will be Noel Thorpe (defensive co-ordinator), Ray Rychleski (special-teams co-ordinator), Doug Berry (senior advisor to head coach), Jean-Marc Edme (defensive assistant, football operations assistant), Frank Verducci (offensive line coach), Mark Speckman (running backs coach), Erik Campbell (receivers coach), Keith Willis (defensive line coach), Mark Nelson (linebackers coach) and Ryan Dinwiddie (offensive quality control coach).

Hawkins can't wait to get going.

"You're like a kid in a candy store,'' Hawkins said. "Now is there a lot to learn?

"Yeah, but that's where you've got Jim, you've got Doug, you've got Ryan, you've got Mark, you've got Noel, you have people that have boots on the ground and kind of get it.''

Berry, who served as Winnipeg's head coach from 2006-'08, has 12 years of CFL coaching experience - including as an assistant with Montreal from 1999 to '05.

"That was a given because I know so much about how Jim Popp operates, how the organization works,'' Berry said. "That was a very comfortable shoe for me to put back on again.''

Dinwiddie played six CFL seasons with Winnipeg (2006-'08) and Saskatchewan (2010-'11) but will be making his coaching debut with Montreal. Dinwiddie played for Hawkins at Boise State from 2001 to '03.

Dinwiddie was on Montreal's practice roster in '05 but didn't make his first CFL start until the '07 Grey Cup with Winnipeg, losing 23-19 to Saskatchewan at Rogers Centre. Dinwiddie also backed up Riders starter Darian Durant in the 2010 Grey Cup, which Montreal won.

"Obviously, we have big shoes to fill and we understand that but he (Hawkins) doesn't have to be Marc Trestman,'' Dinwiddie said. "He needs to be Dan Hawkins.

"He hired Mike Miller to be Marc Trestman . . . Hawk will have his hands in on it but he's going to be the head coach. He'll make sure this thing's running right, make sure the coaches are doing the things they need to do handling and motivating the players. He's ready for it.''

Hawkins: "Ummm, which coach are you? Oh yeah, STs." "Good job, good job."