The Replacements

Smiles no more: both George Cortez (left) and Bob O'Billovich (left) were relieved of their duties yesterday.

Now that George Cortez and Bob O'Billovich have been relieved of their duties, it's time to look at some people that might be the next head coach and/or general manager of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

For coaches, we have the usual suspects/leftovers from last year's coaching search in Kent Austin and Greg Marshall, and new candidates such as Toronto defensive coordinator Chris Jones and deposed Blue Bomber head coach Paul LaPolice.

As for general manager, Austin could become the GM/head coach and, of course, Eric Tillman. Duane Forde's name has been thrown out there as well.

I'm going eschew making a prediction as to who I think it will be. I am never right about these things (Last year, I called Cortez a "dark-horse candidate"), so I only set myself up to look foolish. That said, I think the team would bring in Kent Austin if he is willing to leave Big Red (Cornell University) to come back to the CFL.

If Austin passes, I'd stay in-house and name Joe Womack the new general manager. Womack is being courted by Ottawa to run their football operations and I think he would be a tremendous choice for the Ti-Cats. I would also give serious consideration to bringing Duane Forde in. That guy is going to run a team someday and the team that gets him will be getting a guy as knowledgeable about the CFL, especially when it comes to Canadian players, as anyone. Even if he is not offered the GM role, I would recommend highly that the team find a way to bring Forde in for some job.

So if Austin decides he doesn't want the dual role or says he doesn't want to solely be the head coach, I'd make Marshall my head coach and bring in LaPolice as the offensive coordinator. I'd then hire Orlondo Steinauer away from the Argos to be the defensive coordinator, while retaining Jim Daley as special teams coordinator (no need to make a change there). Marshall was given a raw deal in Saskatchewan and LaPolice could do some pretty good things with the offensive talent this team has. I have mentioned Steinauer as a possible defensive coordinator before and I still think he's as good a candidate as anyone else out there.

Remember, these aren't predictions, this is just what I would do. I think the team will go hard after Austin, so if there is any prediction anywhere, that is the one. But if Austin were to pass, my decision would be to go with the Womack-Marshall tandem.

Adios Casey Creehan

And now we can say it is official. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are in the market for a new defensive coordinator as Casey Creehan is off to Winnipeg.

When the rumours started to swirl back in November, I touched on some of the guys I thought would be candidates for the job. The list included Greg Marshall, Gary Etcheverry, Mike O'Shea, Orlondo Steinauer and Chip Garber. We can now add Jeff Reinebold to the list as well.

I won't go into detail on each of them, but I will say that Marshall, Etcheverry, O'Shea and Steinauer would be fine candidates. All of them have coordinating experience and that is something I would like to see in the next defensive coordinator. The last two hires the team has made, Casey Creehan and Corey Chamblin, cut their coordinating teeth with the Ti-Cats and neither had much success. I would pass entirely on Reinebold and Garber. They may have experience, but they haven't had success.

And if Dee Webb has his way, Orlondo Steinauer will be the guy. Webb took to Twitter earlier today to stump for the Argos defensive backs coach.

"Bring Orlondo Steinauer back to the jungle," Webb tweeted out at 9:35 this morning.

Of all the possible replacements I've named, Steinauer has the least amount of experience. He was the Argos defensive coordinator in the second half of the 2011 season after the Argos fired Chip Garber and moved back to DB coach when the Argos hired Chris Jones. I think Steinauer would make a great defensive coordinator and would support his hiring fully. He may lack the experience of the other potential candidates, but if you look at the work he did with Toronto's secondary this season, you can't help but be impressed.

Another name to remember is Tim Tibesar. He was named the defensive coordinator in Montreal last year before abruptly leaving that position to take up the same one at Purdue University. But with the firing of Purdue head coach Danny Hope, Tibesar is free. He might be a long shot, but he has CFL experience, so keep his name in the back of your mind.

Unlike last year's head coaching search, I don't expect this coaching search to last almost six weeks. The Ti-Cats will do their due diligence, but they probably won't drag this out. I don't know when a new defensive coordinator will be named, but I'd be surprised if we didn't know who he was before Santa comes down the chimney.

The Next DC

It is looking more and more like Hamilton will have a fourth different defensive coordinator in as many seasons. If the rumours are to be believed it is a fait accompli that defensive coordinator Casey Creehan will head back to Winnipeg to take up the same position on Tim Burke's staff. With the Bombers firing de facto defensive coordinator Chip Garber, it looks more and more likely that Creehan will head west sooner rather than later. That goes against what I said when Burke was retained as Winnipeg's head coach – and in my defense, I was looking at it from Hamilton's perspective, not Winnipeg's – which means it is highly likely that the Ti-Cats will be in the market for a new defensive coordinator once again.

So we might as well start speculating now on who that could be.

There are a number of qualified candidates and one popular among the Tiger-Cat faithful is former defensive coordinator Greg Marshall. Many wanted Marshall to take over for Creehan at the midway point of the season. It was a ridiculous notion at the time – Marshall is still getting paid handsomely to not coach the Roughriders – so him jumping into the fray at midseason never made sense to me. But that changes now, not only with the off-season here – which means Marshall would have all the time he would need to find the right players for his defense – but also because Marshall has expressed a desire to return to coaching. Marshall is probably at the top of the wish list for many, but whether he would want to return to Hamilton, however, is another matter entirely. But Marshall is hardly the only qualified candidate.

What about Gary Etcheverry? He flamed out as the head coach at the Univeristy of Ottawa, but the guy is still one heckuva defensive coordinator and was the man in charge of the Rider defense that went to two consecutive Grey Cups. Etcheverry is a bit unorthodox, but that might be just what this team needs.

Some other possible candidates are Mike O'Shea and Orlondo Steinauer, both currently coaching with the Toronto Argonauts. O'Shea is still public enemy No. 1 in Hamilton, but he has grown in his three years as special teams coordinator in Toronto and could be in line for promotion. Steinauer was defensive coordinator with the Argos for the last half of the 2011 season when the team fired Chip Garber and went back to being the team's defensive back coach when the Argos hired Chris Jones from Calgary.

And perhaps Garber himself could find his way to Hamilton to replace the man that many believe will be replacing him.

One thing I think is near certain is that Hamilton will hire an experienced coordinator for 2013. The days of experimenting with unproven talent is over (I don't consider O'Shea or Steinauer unproven talent seeing as they have both been coordinators); there will be no hot shot young coordinator coming in. I think the team will want a relatively old hand, one that is capable of getting the most out of the players on the roster. Believe it or not, there is talent on the defense, it just has to be harnessed correctly. That will be job No. 1 for whoever the team hires should, as believed, Creehan bolts back to Winnipeg.

Greg Marshall Ain't Walking Through the Door

There has been a lot of talk the last week about the Tiger-Cat defense, and rightly so. After seven games, the defense ranks last in many defensive categories and has held opposing teams to under 30 points just twice. Fans have been debating just what the problem is, with most placing the blame squarely on defensive coordinator Casey Creehan. Many have even called for Creehan's job. The popular name for a replacement is former defensive coordinator Greg Marshall.

Well, I hate to break it to all those clamouring for Marshall's return, but he ain't walking through the door. Marshall was fired as head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders last August and they will be paying him for this season and next not to coach. He gets his full salary from Saskatchewan and gets to spend time with his family. This also means he can be very picky when it comes to accepting another job. He can wait for the job he wants (a position in Ottawa, perhaps) as opposed to taking a job he needs. Since he's getting paid, he doesn't need to work. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see Marshall return – I never wanted to see him leave – but the chances of him returning, especially at mid-season, are pegged at slim to none in my books.

I understand why people are frustrated with the state of the defense right now, but fans need to be realistic in how the team will improve in that area. It won't be by hiring a new coordinator at mid-season. How often does that truly make a difference? Desperate teams, ones like Saskatchewan and Toronto last year, make changes at key coaching position at mid-season and they rarely pay off in anything substantial. Saskatchewan saw a little bump after they fired Greg Marshall as head coach last year, but that fizzled and the team finished 5-13 and missed the playoffs. The same sort of thing happened to the Argos after they fired defensive coordinator Chip Garber. The Argos didn't turn it around and finished 6-12 and missed the playoffs for the third time in four years. Making coaching changes at mid-season is not the way to turn an underperforming team around.

Fans calling for Creehan's head and Marshall's return need to understand that those two things are very unlikely to happen. For better or worse, Creehan will probably be the defensive coordinator all season. Fans should probably accept this and put any idea that Greg Marshall will return to Hamilton to rest.

The Tiger-Cats Coaching Candidates

With Wednesday's firing of Marcel Bellefeuille, the Tiger-Cats now have an opening at Head Coach. There are a lot of qualified candidates out there that, and with the team interviewing candidates starting today, now is the perfect time to look at some of the names being tossed around.

Kent Austin
Austin has been covered ad nauseum since Rod Pedersen erroneously stated that he had interviewed for the job, so I won't retread too much.

Austin would be a great choice to replace Marcel Bellefeuille. He has all the attributes the team should be looking for. He is a proven winner with a wealth of CFL experience as both a player and Head Coach. He's ideal, if not perfect, for the job.

But, he has a nice gig at Cornell and the Ti-Cats would have to offer something pretty enticing to get him to return to the CFL.

Austin is a dream choice, but that dream will probably remain just that.

Mike Benevides
With Wally Buono stepping down, he's likely to take over the Lions. It only makes sense for him to stay, so he can pretty much be ruled out.

Tim Burke
I won't hide it, Burke is my number-one choice. I know it is hypocritical to say that considering I think hiring a first-time coach is a negative, but Burke is the exception.

Not only does Burke have one heckuva résumé -- he has been the the Defensive Coordinator for the past four Grey Cup participants from the East Division -- but hiring him would also wound a team Hamilton is in direct competition with, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Hiring Burke just because he is a coach for the Bombers would be a bad idea, but he is also a great coach who could get Hamilton where they need to be.

Corey Chamblin
He seems to be the favourite to land the gig, but his one year of Coordinator's experience seems too little to judge whether he is ready.

Also, it is not like the Tiger-Cats were a fantastic Defense in 2011. The Cats had great games, but struggled for the vast majority of 2011 to find the right combination of players. The Cats were not an elite Defense in 2011, and I don't think anyone would argue that they were.

Some seem to think hiring Chamblin just so he doesn't get hired by the Roughriders is why the team would hire him. That's silly. Chamblin should only get the job if he is the best choice.

That said, he's the leader before anyone has taken a tee shot.

Jacques Chapdelaine
Chapdelaine is in many ways the same as Marcel Bellefeuille was before he was hired. A decently successful Offensive Coordinator, but one that wasn't head and shoulders above everyone else. Chapdelaine did great with elite-level offensive talent in BC, but before that, he was the object of much derision and scorn.

Chapdelaine's future is tied directly to what happens in BC. He could stay in his role as Offensive Coordinator if Mike Benevides becomes Head Coach; however, he could also be shown the door just as easily.

But regardless of what happens in BC, I think Chapdelaine is a long shot at best.

George Cortez
Cortez currently serves as the Buffalo Bills Quarterbacks Coach, but he spent almost two decades in the CFL, most of them with the Calgary Stampeders, which means he has a plethora of CFL experience. He was a member of the Stampeders during four Grey Cup championships, including their most-recent win in 2008.

With the exception of not having been a Head Coach before, Cortez has a lot of the qualities the Cats should be looking for in a Head Coach. Maybe he's a dark-horse candidate, but if he's given a serious shot to get the job, he might be the right guy for it.

Dave Dickenson
It has been confirmed by TSN that the Cats have asked permission to talk to Dickenson, so he is clearly a candidate. He will probably be a very good one... in about two or three years.

Dickenson has the makeup of a great Head Coach, one day. That day, however, is not today. He has three years of coaching experience and only one as a high-level assistant (2011, as Calgary's Offensive Coordinator).

If the Cats decide to go with a newer Coordinator (I don't count Burke), then they could do worse than Dickenson.

Greg Marshall
Marshall was the Defensive Coordinator for the Cats for two years, and he is well though of around the league. Most seem to agree that the problems in Saskatchewan had little to do with him and more to do with the power structure.

But would Marshall want to return to Hamilton? I think after how things went, he might be better off taking the Rich Stubler approach and becoming an assistant again.

Mike O'Shea
On second thought, forget this.

It is probably Chamblin's job to lose, but Dave Dickenson is probably not far behind, with Geroge Cortez not far behind Dickenson. Tim Burke has not been mentioned, but hopefully he gets a call as well. The wild card in all this is Kent Austin. If he expresses interest, all bets are off.

The Cats won't make a decision hastily, but this also won't be a prolonged search either. I believe the team had an idea of who they wanted before they pulled the trigger on Bellefeuille. Before the calendar flips to a new year, the Cats will have their new Head Coach.

Fire Sale: Everyone Must Go!

The Ti-Cats lost this weekend, so you know what that means: time to bench Kevin Glenn and fire Marcel Bellefeuille.

It's becoming a bit of a joke. Every time the team loses, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the loss, there is a vocal section of the fan base that calls for both Glenn and Bellefeuille's heads. Personally, I'm getting a little sick of hearing it because nothing new ever gets brought up. It's the same arguments over and over again and, frankly, it's a little tiresome.

With Glenn, the issue is he's not a winner. His regular-season record – which is an unimpressive 57-58-1 – gets brought up, as does the "can't win the big one" card. I can't defend Glenn's regular-season win-loss totals. But I also don't have access to all 116 games he's started, so I don't know in how many games his play was the main reason, or one of the main reasons, his team lost. I do know that this past week's loss was not his fault. Yes, he threw an interception that was taken back for a touchdown. He also threw two TDs of his own and passed for over 350 yards. There was also a plethora of mistakes made by his teammates, which Glenn is not responsible for. To say that the Cats lost this past week because of how Kevin Glenn performed is moronic.

But the one that really bugs me, and I just about tune out at this point, is the idea that he "can't win the big one." I've heard that about a lot of Quarterbacks over the years, but none more so in the CFL than Henry Burris. Burris was dogged for years by the same label that is now affixed to Glenn. Burris played great football in the regular season in 2005, 2006 and 2007, but was knocked out of the first round of the playoffs each year. (Sound familiar?) Then, finally, it all came together and Burris led the Stampeders to a Grey Cup championship in 2008. But prior to that, fans and media said that Burris didn't have it in him to lead a team to a championship. Then he did, and you don't hear people say Burris can't win, because he's won. In the NFL, the same was said of Steve Young and Peyton Manning (who was the poster boy for "can't win the big one" going back to his days at the University of Tennessee)... until they won. You only can't win the big one until you win the big one. Once Glenn wins a Grey Cup, this talk goes away. (I'd also make the argument about the 2007 Grey Cup, and how had he played he could have easily led the Bombers to a championship, but I've already made that point so often in the past that I'd begin to sound like the broken record.)

After Glenn (actually, more like "in tandem with Glenn"), fans call for the firing of Marcel Bellefeuille. Bellefeuille is 22-22 as the Ti-Cats Head Coach since taking over on a permanent basis, which is admittedly mediocre. But what needs to be taken into account is the dismal records of the coaches that preceded him (minus Ron Lancaster's interim stint in 2006). Charlie Taaffe was 5-23 in his one-and-a-half playoffless seasons with the Cats in 2007 and 2008, and Greg Marshall was 14-25-1 with one playoff appearance (an East Division Semi-Final loss in 2004 to the Argonauts) in his two-plus seasons at the helm. That playoff loss in 2004 was the high-water mark of the Bob Young era until Bellefeuille was named coach. Since then, the Ti-Cats have made two straight playoff appearances in 2009 and 2010 (and hosted both games), the first time the Cats have made the playoffs in back-to-back years since 2000 and 2001. And even if the Cats finish at 9-9 again this season, they are likely headed back to the playoffs for a third consecutive season.

However, this is where I might be convinced to join the group calling for Bellefeuille's head. Now I don't think he should be fired during the season – in my opinion, that is never a good idea – but if the Cats stumble to another .500 finish and first-round playoff exit, it might be time to make a coaching change. Sometimes a coach helps to get a team on track, but can't be the one to take them over the hump. Once again, I look to Calgary from 2005-2007 and then in 2008. For three seasons, Tom Higgins was the head man for the Stamps, and as talented as that team was, he couldn't get them out of the first round of the playoffs. So Higgins gets fired and is replaced by John Hufnagel. In Hufnagel's first season, he takes pretty much the same team Higgins had to the Grey Cup and wins it. A new voice in the locker room got the same group of players where they needed to be in order to take home the most coveted prize in their sport. The story of Tony Dungy and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is pretty similar. While Dungy is a great coach (and would win a Super Bowl with the previously mentioned former poster boy for "can't win the big one" Peyton Manning in Indianapolis), the Bucs needed a new voice to motivate them to excellence. Enter Jon Gruden and a Super Bowl victory.

Perhaps this is the same scenario that needs to play out for the Ti-Cats. Perhaps Bellefeuille has taken them as far as he can. Perhaps a new voice is needed. Perhaps.

Are Glenn and Bellefeuille the men to lead the Cats back to the top of the mountain? I don't know. But I do know that I'm not ready to give up on them yet. Unlike the louder members of the fan base, I don't believe it is time for a fire sale. Everyone doesn't have to go, especially the starting Quarterback and Head Coach.

The Week in Review

The past week was a very busy one for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

We had the long-anticipated announcement of Khari Jones as Offensive Coordinator. Anyone who has read me before knows that I am 100% behind this appointment. As far back as mid-November I said that Jones should be the next OC.

I'm not trying to pat myself on the back. I am well aware that I miss way more than I hit (an example of that is coming shortly), but I nailed this one almost two months ago. Score one for me.

But when talking about all-time whiffs, this one ranks right up there. I said that I would be stunned if Richie Hall was not the Defensive Coordinator of the Tiger-Cats should he not get the top job in Saskatchewan. Well he didn't – Greg Marshall did – and yet Hall will still not be joining the Hamilton coaching staff. He's headed back to Saskatchewan to be the Defensive Coordinator under Marshall. "Welcome to Tigertown, Coach Hall" might just be my "Dewey Beats Truman." Score one for real writers.

The question now remains: who does Hamilton hire? With Marshall being named the Head Coach in Saskatchewan and Hall following him, that leaves two names that I keep reading and hearing about to fill the void: Gary Etcheverry and Brad Miller. Etcheverry was the DC in Riderland last year, and Miller is currently the Secondary coach with the Cats. I think Miller has the inside track based on Head Coach Marcel Bellefeuille always preaching continuity, but I wouldn't mind seeing what Etcheverry could do with the talent the Cats have on Defense. I'm sure we'll find out before too long.

There is the whole stadium fiasco, but I've already wasted too much time covering that. Wake me when a decision is made on February 1st.

Lastly, I have touched on it, but Greg Marshall is, finally, a CFL Head Coach. He has been the bridesmaid so many times that it felt like he'd never get the chance. Now he inherits the two-time CFL West champions with a good chance to be successful right away. Should be interesting to see those two Hamilton-Saskatchewan matchups in 2011.