Cats Make Front Office Moves

The Ticats made four hirings in their front office on Friday, naming Danny McManus the director of U.S. scouting, Drew Allemang the director of Canadian scouting, Shawn Burke as director of football administration and Eric Tillman as a consultant.

McManus, Allemang and Burke have all worked for the team previously, so the big news to come out of these hirings is bringing in Tillman.

To put it mildly, Eric Tillman is a polarizing figure. On the plus side, he has been a general manager for five different CFL teams over the course of his career and has won three Grey Cups in those stints. He is an astute football mind who has helped build winners almost everywhere he has been.

But a lot of opinions on Tillman changed two Decembers ago when he made perhaps the worst trade in pro sports history, sending future Hall of Fame quarterback Ricky Ray to the Toronto Argonauts. He has also had some troubles in his personal life. He plead guilty to sexual assault on a teenage girl in 2010 while general manager of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and was immediately dismissed as the team's GM.

But people shouldn't start worrying that Tillman will trade Henry Burris for a bag of shuttlecocks and $200 in pennies. Tillman is only a consultant and the final say on all matters still rests with Kent Austin. Austin will be the guy pulling the trigger, not Tillman.

And aside from the Ray deal, Tillman has shown he usually is right when dealing a player. The best example is when he shipped Kerry Joseph to Toronto in 2008. Many panned the move because Joseph had just led the Roughriders to their first Grey Cup win since 1989 and was named the league's Most Outstanding Player, but Tillman didn't believe Joseph was worth what he thought he was worth and sent him to Toronto. Joseph never recaptured his 2007 form and the Riders went to two Grey Cups with the team Tillman built (though he wasn't around for the second trip).

There really is no downside to bringing Tillman on as a consultant. He has a history of building teams into winners – say what you want about the Ray trade, but the Eskimos made the playoffs in both of Tillman's season as general manager – and has a good relationship with Austin, and can help the first-time GM navigate the waters in his first season at the helm of the Tiger-Cats.

Tillman brings invaluable experience and a history as a winner. He also has a chance to rehab his image with the Cats. This is a win-win from both sides, with little risk for Tillman and the team. All signs point to this being a successful marriage.

Tillman Out as Eskimo GM

The off-field moves continue as we head into the final couple of weeks of CFL action in 2012. First, the Blue Bombers announced the return of Tim Burke (and Joe Mack) for 2013 and now the Edmonton Eskimos, a week before they play the Toronto Argonauts in the East Division Semi-Final, have fired general manager Eric Tillman.

The timing seems a little odd, but this seemed like a move that was going to be made sooner rather than later. After the blunder that was the Ricky Ray trade, the clock was ticking on the Tillman era in Edmonton. He gambled and pretty much lost. The Argos may not have ripped up the league with Ray, and Edmonton did make the playoffs without him, but is their really any doubt who won that deal?

Now the speculation will start up as to where Tillman will land (because with his three Grey Cup rings as a general manager, he will land somewhere). Some say Ottawa and others say Toronto. Dave Naylor squashed the Ottawa part by saying the expansion Ottawa team will not want to look to the past – Tillman was the Renegade GM from 2002-2004 – for their general manager.

The Toronto rumour was slightly squashed by Naylor, but not entirely. he said he spoke to Argo president Chris Rudge and that they haven't had any discussion about hiring Tillman. That doesn't mean that aren't having those discussions right now, just that they hadn't when Naylor talked to Rudge. There are rumours that Jim Barker will not return as Toronto's GM, so Tillman would be an obvious replacement. But if Tillman somehow lands in Toronto, the Ray deal begins to look highly suspicious. I'm not one prone to believing conspiracy theories, but the optics of the Argos hiring Tillman just a year after he gift wrapped Ray to them wouldn't be good.

There is also another team, one near and dear to my heart, that is kind of in the market for a general manager: the Ti-Cats.

Tiger-Cat president Scott Mitchell said in Septmeber that Bob O'Billovich would be leaving his post as VP of Football Operations before the start of the 2014 season. Teh rumours of Obie retiring have come up the last couple of years, but a GM with the the success of Tillman could make the Ti-Cats move up their succession plan. Tillman's track record is impressive, three Grey Cup wins in 14 years as a GM with four different teams. Tillman does make some curious moves – such as trading Ray and, prior to that, trading reigning MOP Kerry Joseph in 2008 – but his Grey Cup rings speak for themselves. While I am not 100 per cent sold on Tillman being the guy to run the Ti-Cats, the team could do a lot worse than him in picking the man to replace Obie.

Wherever Tillman ends up, I don't expect him to be out of work for very long. We'll probably know sooner rather than later where Eric Tillman will cal his football home.