The ravenous
mob that Sunday’s game created in Rider Nation got the blood they were seeking
as the Riders have fired both Corey Chamblin and Brendan Taman (and Tino
Sunseri! Wooooooo!!!!). Though to be fair, many are probably still wondering
when we are going to fire that Chamberlain fellow. It’s quite the rapid fall
from grace from a duo that just 2 years ago engineered a Grey Cup Championship
team on home turf (an iconic moment in franchise history).
Since I feel
compelled to say something about such a huge occurrence with the team I follow... and
since stats show a giant upswing in readership coinciding with bad occurrences
in Riderville that I would love to capitalize on, I decided to discuss how each
man managed to engineer his how demise.
I’ll start with
Corey Chamblin… mainly because the reasons he’s current unemployed (very well
paid but unemployed) are fairly obvious to even casual followers. While the
story of his free fall really begin following the 2013 Grey Cup, there were
aspects that were there all along. For one he always preferred playing vets to developing young players. That’s why 2013 suited him perfectly because
he had a roster full of talented vets. As the core of that Cup team dwindled
and got old, Corey’s aversion to young guys eventually started to bite him in
the ass and led to us bringing in guys like Tisdale because he had failed to
develop a competent alternative in house. He also went through assistant
coaches like they were disposable plates. In his 3.5 years
as coach, he changed offensive coordinator twice, defensive coordinator once and
special teams coordinator once. Not one of these changes were because the
coordinators left for better things… all were a Chamblin decision.
The steady
decline of his coaching decisions starting 2014 was really what dug his grave
(dig up stupid) . There was his refusal to employ a QB coach after Khari Jones;
the “you fumble and you’re benched policy” for his running backs; the decision
to take over as defensive coordinator (a move that highlighted the fact that he
isn’t really a good DC and spread his focus too thin to be an effective HC);
the poor clock management; the lack of preparedness; the lack of discipline;
the benching of Anthony Allen again (Chamblin must really not like him); the
inability to adapt or improve; most importantly the inability to win… 2 wins
since last Labour Day just don’t cut it. The asinine handling of Brett Smith on
Sunday was merely just the straw that broke the camel’s back. It made clear to
the team that Chamblin was not going to turn things around… no matter how much
time he was given. His ego will define his fall from most beloved man in the
province to most hated.
As for Taman.
Regular readers will know I never liked him from the beginning. In the press
conference, Craig Reynolds alluded to a lack of leadership in the GM role as the
main reason to fire Taman. Many are taking this to mean that Taman’s inability
to reign in Chamblin and his opting to tacitly go along with his coach’s whims
despite the downward trajectory of the team was why he was fired. This is
certainly a major factor but it can’t be the only one. If it were purely
because he couldn’t/wouldn’t control his coach then they would likely have just
fired Chamblin and had Taman hire a new coach that he could actually control.
Most GM’s do get at least a couple coaching decisions before they are turfed.
Clearly there
was more than just coaching which led to Taman finally having an employment
status that suits his looks (that’s a hobo joke people. It’s in poor taste but
if you wanted good taste you wouldn’t be here). The issue is that Taman wasn’t
managing the roster well. Our Canadian talent went from the envy of the league
to barely being able to find enough to fill our roster. Our recruiting pipeline
(particularly for receivers, linebackers and d ends) was far behind the top
teams in the league (I will admit that Chamblin's aversion to young players had
a role in this but still you can’t deny that other teams are recruiting more
and better talent than we are). Taman does not have a forward thinking bone in
his body. His strength is mortgaging the future to plug holes today. It worked
perfectly in 2013 as he inherited a solid core roster and made some tweaks
(mainly with veteran talent). But as the talent began to erode year over year
and the pipeline was not there to replenish them what we are left with was a
team whose best players are all over 30 and there is no shining stars ready to
take their place.
He constantly
traded away our draft picks, leaving us with one high pick and bunch of late
round scraps. The result is a team with some solid special team players (Steinhauer,
Moore, Regimbald, Webster) but very few starting calibre players. Making
matters worse was our inability to retain the Canadian talent we had. In just 2
shorts years we lost Shologan, Evans, Butler, Newman, Heenan, Hurl, Pierzchalski
(i.e. every top end Cdn player not named Watman or Ainsworth… neither of which
are starters).
In all honesty
we should have fired him immediately the second someone got wind that he made
Chris Getzlaf the highest paid receiver in the league. That is gross
incompetence at its finest. If you honestly believe that
Getzlaf’s market value exceeds that of any receiver then not only should you
not be in charge of player personnel for a pro franchise, you should also likely
be committed to a mental institution.
I like many will
be quick to acknowledge and thank both Taman and Chamblin for their role in
bringing us the 2013 Cup. That said the only thing that makes me happier than
seeing both of them leave the team at this point is Tino Sunseri being released. Woooooooooo!!!!!!!
I did not realize that Getlaf is the highest paid receiver in the league. OMG that is unbelievable ! Yep - Taman had to go too .
ReplyDeleteNot much to say except about the firings, but I think O'Day would be a fabulous choice as our next long-term GM. My understanding of football is pretty simple: The best defense is an explosive, unrelenting offense that scores points and chews up the clock at will. This kind of dominating offense only comes from the assembly of a premiere offensive line and a coaching staff that understands you can't win unless you FEED THE HOGS! The coaches have to understand the mindset and efforts required in the battle of the trenches, and how the mental and physical aggressiveness of the running game is a vital part of tuning an offensive lineman. Endless pass protection makes for passiveness and technical complications that often leads to mental fatigue and penalties. At least we know O'Day understands this.
ReplyDeleteI like O'Day as the permanent GM if that's what ends up happening and I think it will.
ReplyDelete