If wishes were horses

[KnowItAll]

there is a small part of me that wishes a murray pezim type would buy the lions and pay whatever it took to get mike riley back in the CFL

[Rammer]

there is a small part of me that wishes a murray pezim type would buy the lions and pay whatever it took to get mike riley back in the CFL

You must be thinking with your brain again.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

[TheLionKing]

You're assuming that Mike Riley wants to come back.

[Toppy Vann]

You're assuming that Mike Riley wants to come back.

That would be one problem. Some of these top tier US college coaches and assistants make the big dollars or it has a huge appeal such as to Kent Austin who i knocked when Tillman hired him but admittedly he did a super job although it was not a very long term.

The slide of this franchise into the tank came when Murray Pezim took this on. It was a circus. Wasn't Joe Paopao having to put team expenses on his personal credit card?

The last thing you need is an owner interfering or running the place into the ground as it is run by a wheeler dealer.

The Lions and fans are lucky to have a non interfering owner in David Braley. We don't want to go back to the crazy days.

In the boom of the dot com days and when software firms went from nothing to making a lot of millionaires it is too bad the Lions didn't luck into a Greg Kerfoot of the Whitecaps letting David Braley go and save the Argos sooner.

If there is one guy who deserves another shot at coaching it is Matt Dunigan who probably had too many roles in Calgary which is a downfall when success is not instant. Who knows if he wants it but he did a pretty good job when he was there. I doubt Dunigan would be an assistant as he seems to have a good gig at TSN. I always wondered if Damon Allen would want to coach. He looks like he could be a good HC if he wanted it and the chance was there. Not sure he'd do an assistant's job as these guys get lousy pay and he likely doesn't much need to worry too much about money given his career.

[Lions4ever]

Mike Riley's contract with Oregon State runs through the 2019 season. He wouldn't be available till 2020 and I think that's when he probably plans to retire. He's currently making $1.1 million US. You'll never see him here. Never.

[ziggy]

I'm not so sure its a new Head coach we need, in fact I'm pretty sure it isn't. But assuming we did go out and buy another one,how much difference would it make? Historically fans call for a coaching change and are rewarded with a couple of good games (maybe) then its back to the old ways. Coaching is part of the equation, not the answer.

[beachboy]

Would LOVE to have Dunigan as our coach...His knowledge of offence is impeccable. But I also would have loved to have Dickenson as coach but Buono rejected his offer to come two years ago. Most likely due to Buono's 'back of his mind' idea that Printers may come back. I also believe that due to his passion, knowledge, and work ethic, Benevides will be a good head coach.

[KnowItAll]

You're assuming that Mike Riley wants to come back.

thats why I said, pay what ever it takes, as in 2 mil , 3, 4, whatever.

and as for pezim, I dont care about all the negatives, without him, we probably would never have seen Flutie in the CFL. Lions survived, it was well worth the difficulties and whatever other negatives.

but seriously, too bad Riley is locked up for so long. Too bad it would take more than any team can afford to get him here at anytime. Was good to see him at he WPG game the other day.

[Blue In BC]

Pezim is dead.

[TheZeppo]

The slide of this franchise into the tank came when Murray Pezim took this on. It was a circus. Wasn't Joe Paopao having to put team expenses on his personal credit card?

No, the credit card incident happened in 1996. The team was in receivership at the time.

And I disagree with your description of the Pezim era. No question that he was a bit of a nut, and didn't know a thing about football. But he had deep pockets (at least initially)
and the Lions did very well at the turnstyles in 1990 and 1991.

IMO the darkest days of the franchise occured during the above mentioned 1996 season.
PaoPao was head coach, Mike McCarthy was G.M, Andre Ware gave way to Damon Allen
at quarterback, and Nelson Skalbania and his pals walked away from the team at the end of August. I still blame Bill Comrie for allowing this fiasco to develop. He had been an excellent owner, but wanted out so badly that he was willing to sell the team to
anybody who expressed the slightest interest. That's how the franchise ended up in the
hands of that scumbag, Skalbania. By the end of the 1996 season, David Braley had
saved the Lions from quite possibly going out of business. But it still took many years for the franchise to make it back to financial health.

[Lion Guy]

Pezim is dead.

Still?

[sj-roc]

The slide of this franchise into the tank came when Murray Pezim took this on. It was a circus. Wasn't Joe Paopao having to put team expenses on his personal credit card?

No, the credit card incident happened in 1996. The team was in receivership at the time.

And I disagree with your description of the Pezim era. No question that he was a bit of a nut, and didn't know a thing about football. But he had deep pockets (at least initially)
and the Lions did very well at the turnstyles in 1990 and 1991.

IMO the darkest days of the franchise occured during the above mentioned 1996 season.
PaoPao was head coach, Mike McCarthy was G.M, Andre Ware gave way to Damon Allen
at quarterback, and Nelson Skalbania and his pals walked away from the team at the end of August. I still blame Bill Comrie for allowing this fiasco to develop. He had been an excellent owner, but wanted out so badly that he was willing to sell the team to
anybody who expressed the slightest interest. That's how the franchise ended up in the
hands of that scumbag, Skalbania. By the end of the 1996 season, David Braley had
saved the Lions from quite possibly going out of business. But it still took many years for the franchise to make it back to financial health.

1996 was a total joke. 15k crowds were the norm. I remember one game night heading down Robson with every intention of buying a ticket at the gate, but before I had the chance, some random person (a fan, not team personnel) actually GAVE me their ticket. After having observed the fairly competitive Dave Ritchie era from Victoria the previous three seasons, it was frustrating for me to move to Vancouver just in time for such a gong show.

I don't remember if this quote came from Braley himself, but heading into the 1997 season, someone from the team offered this succinct characterisation of the forgettable 1996 campaign: "We started out with a rookie owner, a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback, and in the end we got a rookie result."

[Rammer]

Pezim is dead.

Still?

Very still.

[Hawkballer 14]

thats why I said, pay what ever it takes, as in 2 mil , 3, 4, whatever.

Yeah, pay the head coach the same amount as the entire 53 man roster.

And as for Dunigan returning to coaching, that's a pipe dream. Dude has an amazing sweet gig at TSN, he makes way more money and works a fraction of the time compared to football coach.

[TheLionKing]

thats why I said, pay what ever it takes, as in 2 mil , 3, 4, whatever.

Yeah, pay the head coach the same amount as the entire 53 man roster.

And as for Dunigan returning to coaching, that's a pipe dream. Dude has an amazing sweet gig at TSN, he makes way more money and works a fraction of the time compared to football coach.

But he'll be great at tailgates