A coaching change won't help Riders

Corey Chamblin has had a rocky season as Roughriders head coach.

    For now, the Corey Chamblin deathwatch is on hold in Rider Nation.

    The voices calling for the head of the head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders will only stay somewhat muted until the next sign of trouble. If the Roughriders totally lay an egg in their clash against the Argonauts in Toronto on Saturday, the deathwatch will be on again.

    People will be asking, “Will Chamblin be fired today? How about tomorrow? The day after?”

You will also likely see the odd story appear in a mainstream media outlet saying Chamblin will be axed and another person is about to be brought in as head coach. That could possibly result in Roughriders general manager Brendan Taman holding another media conference to say Chamblin is safe like the one that was held earlier this week.

    Welcome to the daily life of players, coaches and management of the Roughriders, who constantly live in a fishbowl and forces outside the organization can turn things into a soap opera. When the team starts 0-6 for the time since 1979, the fishbowl becomes that much smaller. The 1979 club lots its first 12 in a row and finished with a 2-14 mark.

    Whenever the voices rally again calling for Chamblin to be dumped, it has to be noted that type of change likely won’t help the Roughriders, but it has a high probability of making things worse.

    In the modern era of professional football or even football at the university level be it Canada or the United States, a mid-season coaching change has less of a chance to provide a temporary spark or shake up compared to any other sport. When you dump a head coach, you basically dump the system that head coach brought in.

    The team will likely have a week, or even two weeks to try and learn a new system for the next game. In all reality, the mid-season replacement head coach would be smart to keep using the system his predecessor had in.

    The preparation a team puts in during a week has a huge classroom component, which most in the general public likely don’t have an appreciation for. For every hour a player spends on the practice field, it is likely he spends at least three hours studying video.

    The coaches go through more video than the players. At the professional and university levels, it is also common for the head coach to sleep four hours a night in his office at various times in the preparation week.

    During a meeting, it is possible to go through just one play for 15 minutes. The days when quarterbacks called their own game and squads only ran like 30 different offensive plays are long gone. Playbooks these days are thick.

    Due to all the preparation that needs to be done during a football work week, teams are basically saddled up with the current coaching staff for the duration of the season. If a coaching change is made, it is easier to do it in the off-season. Hench in the NFL, that is why every Monday after the regular season ends you usually see a large amount of coach firings.

    No other sport undergoes this type of preparation work. It is common to come across hockey coaches that say they don’t put in the hours their counterparts do in football.

    In the current CFL season, the biggest turning point for the Roughriders came in Week 3, when they led the B.C. Lions in Vancouver 29-18 with 2:21 to play and fell 35-32 in overtime. Holding a 29-26 edge, the Roughriders faced a third and one at their own 48. If the Roughriders gambled to get a first down, they would be able to end the game with kneel downs.

The Argonauts and Roughriders face each other on Saturday in Toronto.

    The visitors elected for the gamble and quarterback Brett Smith was stuffed on a sneak play. The Lions kicked a field goal to force overtime, and the rest is history.

    Immediately after that game on social media, Roughriders fans expressed their displeasure and took shots first at new defensive coordinator Greg Quick. The anger quickly moved to Chamblin, who in the off-season replaced Roughriders great Ritchie Hall as defensive coordinator with Quick.

    From that time, Chamblin’s work has been dissected in almost every way imaginable good and bad, especially when it comes to his influence on the defence. It seems no one remembers that Chamblin was the Roughriders head coach when they posted an 11-7 regular season record in 2013 and moved on to win the Grey Cup on home turf in a 45-23 romp over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

    Chamblin has earned the right to have a bad season and should be given the chance to turn things around. It also must be noted that might not be possible in Saskatchewan.

    When the Roughriders won the Grey Cup in 1989, then head coach John Gregory could have run for premier of the province after his team’s 43-40 victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in Toronto. Gregory was still very much loved two years later, when he was dumped as Roughriders head coach after the green and white started the 1991 season at 1-6. Saskatchewan finished with a 6-12 regular season mark to miss the playoffs.

    Chamblin was never as popular as Gregory was even during good times.

    On top of that, the Riders are starting Smith, who is in his full rookie season, at quarterback due to injuries to standouts Darian Durant and Kevin Glenn. Saskatchewan is also mired in a host of other injuries as well.

    At the moment, a new head coach would likely have a harder time cracking the win column than Chamblin does now.

Old guys whoop it up at Hilltops Alumni Game

David Stevens scores the winning touchdown for the "Has Beens."

    Looking upon the post-game scene at Saskatchewan Minor Football Field on Thursday night, you would have thought the “Has Beens” won the Super Bowl.

    The Canadian Junior Football League’s Saskatoon Hilltops’ annual alumni game came down to the wire, where the team’s current roster clashed with a squad made up of former Hilltops players. The alumni team was also stocked with a few players who graduated from various post-secondary clubs, where the majority of that representation came from the Canadian Interuniversity Sport ranks.

    On the final play of the game, tailback David Stevens ran a major in from a yard out to give the alumni squad a 16-14 victory over the current Hilltops. Following the score, the alumni team, which went by the moniker the “Has Beens,” stormed off their bench to mob Stevens in celebration and whoop up the victory in the end zone.

    The old players showed they still have game and gave the Hilltops, who returned most of their CJFL title winning team from a season ago, a stiff test.

    Stevens, who was a star carrying the rock out of the backfield for the University of Saskatchewan Huskies, was still as fast and elusive as ever. Watching Stevens play, you wouldn’t believe his final season with the Huskies came back in 2006. If he still had eligibility to play, he might still be one of the top three running backs in the CIS.

    Receiver Kit Hillis, who just wrapped up his CIS career with the Huskies as their all-time leader in receptions last season, also made a number of huge plays. On the series before the alumni team secured the win, Hillis, who is also a former Hilltops pass catcher, dropped a potential winning TD reception on a third down gamble.

    On the game-winning drive, he hauled in an intermediate route and turned it into a gain of about 50 yards to set up the alumni team in the red zone.

    The current Hilltops, who went by the moniker the “Will Be’s,” played inspired, as they ensured their whole roster saw action. Unfortunately, they racked up too many penalties.

The "Has Beens" celebrate victory at the Hilltops Alumni Game.

    Most of the flags came from illegal procedure, off-side, illegal substitution, too many men and illegal formation calls, which was surprising to see from a veteran club. They had a number of instances where players weren’t aware if they should be on the field or not.

    On one play, an official chuckled he didn’t have to throw a too many men flag, because the Hilltops offence ran a play with 11 players.

    Head coach Tom Sargeant and his staff accumulated a lot of video that can be used to illustrate what mistakes need to be fixed.

    The Hilltops do have time to iron out the errors. They open the regular season on Aug. 16, when they travel to Calgary to take on the Colts.

    If you have comments about this blog post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Penalties drag CFL down

Three officials get together to discuss a penalty call.

    The CFL officials deserve a thumbs up.

    The men in the black and white striped shirts have been totally consistent calling the league’s new standard in flagging pass interference and illegal contact on a receiver penalties. Do to that consistency, everyone that watches the CFL has a pretty accurate painting of what the game looks with the strict enforcement of these fouls with four weeks of the season in the books.

    Now, everyone has to decide whether they like how the game looks now or not.

It seems routine now for both teams to record over 100 yards in penalties in each contest and for quarterbacks to complete 80 per cent of their passes.

    You also have to wonder if games now are weighted too much against the defence.

    A signature play to show how much the defence is hampered came from the B.C. Lions 27-24 victory over the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Friday at Mosaic Stadium. Near the end of the third quarter with the Lions on the Roughriders 29 holding a 20-11 lead, B.C. quarterback Travis Lulay threw a deep pass into the end zone to receiver Shawn Gore, who ran a wheel route on Riders defensive back Michael Carter. Carter was flagged for pass interference, which brought the ball to the Saskatchewan two.

    Saskatchewan head coach Corey Chamblin threw the challenge flag in hopes of reversing the penalty call. The call stood up after a review.

    Two plays later, the Lions opened the fourth quarter scoring a touchdown as Lulay connected with receiver A.C. Leonard to make the score 27-11. The Lions ultimately had strategic control of the game that stood up despite a late Roughriders rally.

    In dissecting the pass interference all that helped set up B.C.’s final major, it was clear that minor contact occurred between Gore and Carter halfway through the route. The two ended up hand fighting for a second before Lulay’s pass sailed way over the pair. Gore made a fruitless dive for the ball, but he had no chance of coming up with the pass.

    In Carter’s defence, you can argue there shouldn’t have been a penalty because both he and Gore participated in the hand fighting and the ball was not catchable.

    However, the officials have set the standard this season that any downfield contact on a receiver will be flagged, and the penalty call on Carter was consistent with what has already been called in the 2015 campaign. The referees and linesman grade out high for not swaying from that standard.

    The officials should continue to do what they are doing right through the end of the post-season. When the off-season rolls around, all those involved with league meetings have to decide if they want this standard of enforcement to be maintained. To make a change mid-season would be the biggest thing any league could do to damage its credibility.

An official stands beside Riders receiver Rob Bagg.

    Besides discussing the pass interference calls, the league has to examine how it is calling all infractions. At the start of the 2014 season, it was deemed the league need to call penalties more tightly. That resulted in numerous defensive battles, because the excessive penalty calls helped bring offences to a standstill.

    The highlight or lowlight of the season came in the 102^nd Grey Cup in Vancouver on Nov. 30 between the Calgary Stampeders and the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. With the Stampeders holding a 20-16 edge inside of the final minute of the fourth quarter, they had to punt the ball away to dangerous Tiger-Cats returner Brandon Banks. On an electrifying return, Banks ran the ball back 90 yards for the apparent winning score with 35 seconds to play.

    Hamilton linebacker Taylor Reed was flagged for an illegal block on Calgary linebacker Karl McCartney that erased the TD, and the Stamps held on for a 20-16 victory.

    Looking at the video, the call was close. There was an angle that made it look like the block was from the side and another angle where it looked like the block was a bit in the back area. The block also came in the fringe area, where it can be argued that McCartney might not have been able to make a tackle.

    If Bank’s major stood, the 102^nd Grey Cup would be vaulted into classic status. In the end, it was still a good game, but it could have enjoyed a loftier position in CFL history.

    In order to get offences rolling, the league’s brain trust in the off-season decided to get tougher on the interpretation of defensive pass interference and illegal contact on a receiver. In another weird twist, offensive yardage is up all over the place, but the 38-34 style offensive shootout common in the late 1980s and early 1990s hasn’t returned.

    It is safe to say it was hoped the rule changes would greatly increase scoring, but it hasn’t. There has only been two games where both teams have score more than 30 points.

    During that last clash between the Riders and Lions, Saskatchewan was flagged 14 times for 159 yards, while B.C. had 11 infractions for 93 yards. Those types of penalty numbers have been the norm.

    When you viewed Saturday’s battle between the Stampeders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers in Calgary, it can be argued teams can adjust to how penalties are being called. The Stamps slipped past the Bombers 26-25 in an outstanding game. Calgary was flagged 12 times for 92 yards, while Winnipeg had nine infractions for 61 yards.

Officials sort out a play in a game featuring the Roughriders and Argonauts.

    The Stamps penalty yardage spiked a bit due to procedure calls, because they had to work in a number of backups to replace injured starters.

    With all that said, it would be great to see officials to have the ability to make a no call, if it is deserved. If a pass is not catchable and both the receiver and defensive back are hand fighting for example, don’t throw a flag.

    If the casual fan decides to stay away due to how the game looks, that will likely force the CFL’s brain trust to make more chances in the off-season, which hopefully means calling penalties the way they did in 2013.

    If you have any comments about this blog post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Sting piles up for Rider Nation

The Roughriders defence has given up over 1,300 yards in three games.

    The Saskatchewan Roughriders love to torture their fans.

    In Canada, the only sports teams that arguably have more rabid fans than Rider Nation are the NHL’s Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs. While supporters of the green and white look forward to relishing in all the fun that comes along with cheering for the team, they also know it won’t be a joyride.

    If you cheer for the Riders, there will be days when you think, “Why did I decide to cheer for this team?”

    The Riders are also well known for winning games in a fashion that isn’t easy, and they are notorious for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

    The start of the 2015 CFL season has been one of those stretches that has Roughriders fans shaking their collective heads in disbelief. The team has dropped three straight games to open the campaign, and all three outings could have been won as easily as they have been lost.

    Friday night at B.C. Place in Vancouver proved to be one of the breaking points of frustration. The Riders assumed a 29-18 lead over the host B.C. Lions with 2:21 to play in the fourth quarter only to see the Lions rally back for a 35-32 overtime victory.

    Almost immediately after the game, social media, especially Twitter, exploded with Rider fans expressing their disgust over the outcome. Rider Nation was in a very cranky mood.

    The game’s turning point came when the Riders were trying to run out the clock after B.C. closed to within 29-26 on a 46-yard TD reception from former NFLer Austin Collie, who followed that with a catch for a two-point convert.

    Saskatchewan faced a third and one from its own 48 with exactly a minute to play. The Lions were out of timeouts, and a first down would all but assure a Rider victory. The visitors would be able to run out the clock by kneeling down on the ball.

    Unfortunately for the green and white, backup quarterback Brett Smith was stuffed on a sneak play by Lions linebacker Adam Bighill.

QB Brett Smith runs the Riders short yardage offence.

    The decision to gamble by the Riders was the correct one, because that was a key point where you had to make a play to win the game. The fact the Riders didn’t make the gamble opened the door for a boatload of criticism of the coaching staff for many other aspects of the setback.

    The Saskatchewan bench bosses almost received a reprieve, when Lions rookie kicker Richie Leone had to attempt a 56-yard field goal to force overtime. The Roswell, Georgia, product just slipped the lengthy pressure kick over top the crossbar to force a 29-29 tie with 15 seconds to play.

    The Riders scrimmaged from their own 35, but didn’t even try to move the ball into range for a winning field goal. They took a couple of knees to go to overtime.

    The visitors had the first possession in the shootout OT format and faced a third and one from the B.C. 26. Saskatchewan rejected the option to gamble and went for a 33-yard Paul McCallum field goal to go up 32-29.

    It took the Lions just three plays to move 35 yards on their OT possession, which culminated in a winning four-yard TD catch by receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux.

    On social media, a number of people in Rider Nation heaped criticism on the team electing not to gamble on third and one, when the Riders had their offensive possession in OT. At that point in time, electing to go for the field goal was the correct decision in order to have a score on the board.

    The fact the Riders didn’t try to move the ball in the final 15 seconds of the fourth quarter after the Lions tied things up was another story.

    Saskatchewan has assumed just criticism for its porous defence in the early going. The Rider offence has been going at full speed, but the defence has been soft, especially defending the two-minute drill situation.

    The Lions seemed to pick up yards at will on their final TD drive in regulation and the winning TD drive in overtime. In the Riders previous outing on July 5, they fell 42-40 in double overtime at home on the turf at Mosaic Stadium after the Toronto Argonauts completed a two-minute drill march at the end of the fourth quarter. That march resulted in a 16-yard TD catch by Chad Owens to force a 28-28 tie.

Disappointed Rider fans leave Mosaic Stadium on July 5.

    Saskatchewan opened the season on June 27 at Mosaic falling 30-26 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers giving up 470 yards in offence. The Riders proceeded to give up 367 yard in offence in the setback to the Argos and 480 yards of offence in the cough up to the Lions.

    In the off-season, the Riders let the personable Ritchie Hall, who has won one Grey Cup ring with the team as a player and two as defensive coordinator, leave for the Bombers, who are now 2-1. Head coach Corey Chamblin felt bringing Greg Quick as the new defensive coordinator was a shake up his club needed. Three weeks into the season, Quick is on the hot seat, Chamblin is getting thrashed for the decision to change DCs, and Rider fans are wishing Hall never left.

    The heat will keep coming until the Riders hit the win column. It will definitely be a long practice week at Mosaic leading up to the Roughriders next encounter, when they host the Lions (1-1) at 8 p.m. on Friday.

    If you have any comments about this blog post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

Rumblings are a plenty for Roughriders

Darian Durant is attended to by the Roughriders training staff on June 27.

    If you live in Saskatchewan, you know you can talk about the CFL’s Roughriders at any time, all the time and get heated dissecting every facet of the team.

    Since taking the field and falling in their regular season opener 30-26 to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on June 27 at Mosaic Stadium, there is no shortage of things to discuss surrounding the green and white in Rider Nation. Everything is not all good, but everything is not all bad.

    • The worst news revolves around starting quarterback Darian Durant, who ruptured his left Achilles tendon shortly before halftime in the season opener. Durant completed 13 of 18 passes for 165 yards, two touchdown passes and no interceptions before being carted off the field.

    Durant tore a tendon in his right elbow last season in a 30-24 win over the Blue Bombers on Sept. 7, 2014 in Winnipeg. That injury occurred when the officials didn’t blow a play dead at the snap with certainty in a loud Investors Group Field, which saw half the players stop and half continue on the play. Bombers defensive end Bryant Turner continued with the play and nailed Durant to cause the injury.

    The elbow injury was created by an unfortunate set of circumstances. The ruptured Achilles occurred due to bad luck. Durant dropped to the turf after following through on a pass, and he wasn’t even contacted on the play.

    The 32-year-old has already cemented his place as a Roughriders legend leading the team to a Grey Cup championship at home in 2013 and Grey Cup appearances as a starter in 2009 and 2010. He was also part of the Roughriders 2007 Grey Cup championship team as a third stringer.

    For anyone that has dealt with Durant for a number of years, you know he legitimately cares and enjoys being the starting quarterback of the Roughriders, and he has excelled in that role. That hasn’t always been the case for a club that endures arguably more scrutiny from its fan base than any other sports team outside of the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens.

    Here is hoping Durant’s luck changes on the injury front in 2016.

   
    • The Roughriders need to play tougher and more aggressive defence going forward in 2015, if they want to have any shot of challenging for the Grey Cup. Against the Bombers, the Roughriders defence gave up 28 first towns, 325 yards passing, 145 yards rushing and failed to force a turnover. Winnipeg running back Paris Cotton had 108 yards on the ground on just 13 carries.

    The Roughriders defence missed numerous tackles and was non-existent. The fact the Bombers were able to drive the ball at will was also disheartening. Safety Tyron Brackenridge is expected to return to the Roughriders defence for Sunday’s game against the 1-0 Toronto Argonauts (1:30 p.m., Mosaic Stadium), so that should help Saskatchewan’s defensive unit.

    • Offence wasn’t a problem for the Roughriders in their season opener. Under Durant or backup

Kevin Glenn (#5) calls out signals for the Roughriders.

Kevin Glenn, the offence looked good. The Roughriders put up 285 yards through the air and 212 yards on the ground without injured star receiver Weston Dressler, who is expect to return on Sunday.

    Glenn has put up Hall-of-Fame numbers in his 14 seasons in the CFL. With a full week of practice with the first-team offence, expect Glenn to be that much more efficient going forward.

    Life is also coming full circle with Glenn, who started his CFL career with the Roughriders before moving on to play with Winnipeg, Calgary, Hamilton and British Columbia. The 2003 West Final looked at one time to be Glenn’s last with the Roughriders. As a backup, he entered the contest with the Riders trailing the host Edmonton Eskimos 23-2 for an ineffective Nealon Greene.

    Glenn gave the Roughriders a chance to in that contest, who eventually fell 30-23. During that offseason, the Roughriders brass of general manager Roy Shivers and head coach Danny Barrett backed Greene, who had been erratic his whole Roughriders tenure, as the starter going into 2004.

    That decision led to Glenn’s departure from Rider Nation, as many felt he should have been elevated or given the chance to compete for starter status. Glenn resurfaced in 2004 with the Bombers after a couple of transactions.

    Now a cagey veteran, Glenn will have his chance to lead the Riders as the starter.

    • Kicker Paul McCallum also had a back to the future moment, when he resurfaced with the Roughriders this week. The 45-year-old last played for the Roughriders in 2005 before moving on to excel with the B.C. Lions.

    McCallum’s name was linked with one of the most infamous moments in the Riders’ history. After he missed a chip shot field goal in overtime of the 2004 West Final helping the host B.C. Lions pull out a 27-25 win, his home was vandalized, he was threatened and manure was dumped on his neighbour’s property.

    McCallum was brought back to add more consistency with the kicking game, which wasn’t there with Chris Milo. Milo, who is well-liked by the Roughriders organization, struggled last season hitting 71.4 per cent of his field goals, and he often hit the post. He was 1-for-2 in the team’s regular season opener, but it is obvious the Saskatchewan coaches still have big concerns.

    Since 2009, McCallum hasn’t had a campaign where he has made less than 84.6 per cent of his kicks. Last season, he made 38-of-42 field goals for a 90.5 per cent success rate.

Any one that has followed football for any length of time knows an accurate place kicker will always find work and age won’t be a barrier.

    Over the long term, the Roughriders would love for Milo to regain his form from 2013, when he made 46-of-52 field goals for an 88.5 per cent success rate.

    • As the Roughriders go forward, the coaches also have to step up their game.

Since becoming the Roughriders head coach in 2011, Corey Chamblin has done an excellent job overall. With that said, the coaches always have to get better too. Chamblin preaches that to his players and that also has to stick to himself and his staff.

    In the opener with the Roughriders down 30-26, they faced a third and three from midfield with under three minutes to play. Chamblin went with conventional wisdom, and the Roughriders punted hoping to get a defensive stop and one last possession.

    Coaches are responsible for putting their players in the best positions to win the game, and this looked like a smart move. Unfortunately, Chamblin didn’t do a good job in reading the flow of the play.

    The offensives on both sides were running the show. At that time in place, the Roughriders needed to get the go-ahead score, as time was running out.

    Chamblin needed to mirror Bill Belichick, who is the head coach of the NFL’s New England Patriots, and gamble at this point in time. With the way the Bombers were moving the ball, the chances were high the Roughriders would not get another possession, and Winnipeg did indeed ground out the clock.

    A good head coach knows that each game contains its own story and makes the best decisions to try and win with what is occurring. He can’t worry about making a decision to slight one side of the ball or the other, and he is able to get that message across to his players no matter what the outcome.

    Belichick always has the message that he always expects to make it when he gambles. Chamblin can say the same thing, if the gamble doesn’t work.

    At some point in time, the game hits a critical juncture, where you have to go for it. Chamblin needed to gamble on that third and three.

    • Penalties. As far as penalties go, the officials should go back to calling things the way they did in 2013. The tweaks that have been made to calling penalties in 2014 and this season have helped grind the CFL game down. The way calls have been made in 2015 really hasn’t led to more scoring in the early going outside of the Hamilton Tigers-Cats bombing the Blue Bombers 52-26 on Thursday night in Winnipeg.

    The only other squad to score 30 or more points was when the Bombers beat the Roughriders on June 27 at Mosaic. Offence wasn’t really broke in 2013 and didn’t really need fixing.

    If you have any feedback about this blog post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.