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.

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.

Most Hated Tiger-Cats: #3

#3: Mike O'Shea
The original turncoat. Mike O'Shea is the first player I can remember who left the Black & Gold for the Double Blue. That alone makes him eligible for this list. In fact, that's the only reason he makes this list.

He played for the Cats for 3 years, from 1993 to 1995. He signed with the Argos in 1996 and became public enemy #1 in Steeltown. That in and of itself secures him a place on this list.

What's worse still, is that he was traded back to Hamilton in 2000...and then went back to Toronto when he became a free agent after the season! Not only was O'Shea a turncoat, but he was a double turncoat! I guess that's apropos seeing as he left the Tabbies for the Double Blue Blew.

Mike O'Shea belongs on this list, and up until recently he would have been #1, but he has since been surpassed by two other players. For now he resides at #3.

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