By Greg Urbanoski

Riderville

The C after L Starts Its Off-Season Musical Chairs

Dec 3, 2024 | 8:47 AM

“The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of Pattison Media and this site.”

The CFL has an under-used and marketed off-season but teams are trying to make it as interesting as their NFL counterparts.

The BC Lions got underway with releasing Head Coach Rick Campbell after what could be charitably described as a botched job handling starting quarterbacks in Vernon Adams Jr. and Nathan Rourke. Campbell was unable to bring Rourke up to speed on the Lions offence and the manner in which Adams was supplanted by Rourke even though Rourke had not really played in over a year, resulted in a divided locker room and BC falling from contending for first place to falling to third place and getting eliminated by the Riders in the western semi-final.

The Lions are looking at candidates like their offensive coordinator Jordan Maksymiac who did wonders with Adams at the start of the year before he got injured, and also did well with Rourke two years ago when he was the outstanding Canadian player, but did not manage to recreate that magic when Rourke returned from the NFL. The Lions will also be talking to Winnipeg offensive coordinator Buck Pierce who has the pedigree of being a former BC Lion quarterback before he led the Bomber offence to three consecutive Grey Cup losses. The Lions were probably expecting Campbell to get hired by Edmonton, who went with former Stampeder assistant coach Mark Killiam, which would have helped reduce their payments to Campbell for the remainder of his contract.

Pierce has gone through the interview with BC and BC may be looking at trying to keep Maksymiac either as head coach or as offensive coordinator, but Maksymiac may be tempted to move on to Edmonton where he got his start.

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Another dark horse in the race is Mike Benevedes, the former BC head coach who has experience and would allow the offensive coordinator work directly with Rourke instead of being responsible for the whole team and trying to work with Rourke as well. BC is looking for a leader at head coach, who can presumably bridge the divide that emerged between those players who supported Adams and those who were supportive of Rourke.

While there has been a lot of talk about getting Rourke ready, there is an undercurrent in BC that if Rourke gets another chance to jump to the NFL, he will take it, making his commitment to the Lions somewhat dubious to fans. Edmonton’s decision to go with Killiam will make Calgary and Edmonton games very interesting this season. Killiam has been a finalist for a number of head coaching openings the last few years and his release by Calgary was apparently how GM and Head Coach Dave Dickenson handled his team not making the playoffs for the first time in 20 years.

Edmonton had made it clear they were looking for someone to bring back the “Eskimo Way” and there was an emphasis on having someone with ties to the community, or at least be living in Edmonton, unlike former GM/Head Coach Chris Jones who lived out of a hotel room.

Where Killiam will be judged will be on who he brings in as assistants since as a special teams coach, Killiam worked with players on offence and defence not just limited to one side or another. Rider fans should be aware that Rider linebacker coach JC Sherritt will likely be interviewed for the Edmonton defensive coordinator job, and apparently he was also interviewed for Calgary following their release of Brent Monson as defensive coordinator in addition to Ottawa who is also looking for a defensive coordinator.

The Elk will also have to decide on their starting quarterback and it sounds like Tre Ford will at least have the first opportunity to take the wheel. Ford as a Canadian quarterback has looked good in his few starts and demonstrates the usual ups and downs of an inexperienced quarterback, which might be enough to entice Maksymiac, who was once offensive coordinator in Edmonton, to return home.

The Riders have not just Sherritt being interviewed for defensive coordinator positions, but also defensive backfield coach Josh Bell who was interviewed by Ottawa for their vacant defensive coordinator position. There was a bit of nervousness with Rider assistant Gm Kyle Carson being interviewed for the vacant Hamilton Tiger-Cat GM post, but apparently it looks like the job will come down to former Edmonton GM Geroy Simon or Bomber assistant GM Ted Goveia and I would think Goveia brings more to the table than Simon.

The Toronto Argonauts hired Brent Monson as their new DC, which throws the future of co-defensive defensive coordinators Kevin Eiben and William Fields into some doubt. The Riders may have an opening or two if Sherritt and Bell move on and these guys have worked with Mace when he was the defensive coordinator of the Argonauts.

The Riders may also be looking at Juwan Simpson, the former linebacker coach of the Stampeders who was also made a scapegoat and let go. Simpson also has a link to Mace, and the Riders will be looking to somehow stop their defense from either giving up major yardage as they did in the western final, but this may hinge on the Riders bolstering their pass rush to make things easier on the defensive secondary.

The Riders have been signing players, including offensive lineman Nick Jones who started six games last year and got valuable experience, Canadian kicker Ben Hadley and receiver D’Sean Mimbs. Hadley is expected to push and perhaps back up kicker Brent Lauther who after an abysmal Montreal game turned his season around and was nearly perfect in the last half. Mimbs was a draft pick from the University of Regina who went back to school and helped the Rams gets to the Mitchell Bowl.

Mimbs did get injured in training camp, but hopefully he has learned from the experience and will show his stuff next season. The trade of Adams to Calgary has raised some questions about the status of Jake Maier, who has been the starter in Calgary for the last two seasons but whether due to an injured receiving corps two years ago or whatever went on in Calgary last season, has appeared to be little more than a dink and dunk quarterback who seemed more comfortable with short passes.

The Riders are looking to buttress their quarterbacking spot, especially if they are going to offer Trevor Harris a one-year contract. Harris was an all star last year, but he missed six games this season and 13 games the season before.

Harris is 39 and you have to think the incidence of injury will go up as he gets older. While Shea Patterson stepped in for Harris and won two games, he did not exactly inspire confidence in a deep game and the Riders short yardage game with him was definitely under whelming. If Patterson adds some weight to be able to make short yardage plays and have some velocity on his passes, that would probably work, but consider that Maier and offensive coordinator Marc Mueller already worked together in Calgary, bringing Maier in might ensure there is not a significant drop off if Harris goes down again to injury.

There is an interesting development where former Argo and Elk defensive lineman Shawn Oakman has taken a job as an assistant GM with an Arena Football League team, perhaps as a prelude to a post playing career and possibly the result of the low value of the Canadian dollar against the American dollar, a factor which may come into play for players considering coming up to Canada. Expect to see a new BC coach named shortly and teams dealing with the salary cap

The Riders apparently are pushing against the cap due to the number of injuries they had of the one to two game variety as opposed to the six-week injury list where the player salaries do not count against the cap. The Riders may be looking at some of their free agent signings who spent most of the season injured and pondering whether they can do better elsewhere.

I wouldn’t expect to see Anthony Lanier back at defensive end due to his injury history and his salary and the fact the Riders defensive line was ok, but not really putting pressure on the opposing quarterback. But that is an issue for February when free agency returns.

For now, the activity is focused on coaches and assistant coaches and the Riders are discovering that when you do well, people are interested in your staff. It’s call the price of winning.