bearpants

I have issues in all 3 defensive assistants we have since they agrees with Etch in (1) having no playbook and (2) playing players out of their natural position. That statement doesn't really make any sense. You don't know what their personal views on either of those issues were and in the case of a guy like Nelson Martin as an example, all of our defensive backs were experienced defensive backs. This whole "playing players out of their natural position" thing was so overblown while Etch was here. Truly. The only two players we had playing a position they weren't traditionally suited for or experienced at were Mike Cornell and Ian Wild. So one rotational guy and one full time starter. Our front 7 especially at lber was undersized. Etch never accounted for all the inside gaps. He didn't play a sound basic defense where every gap was accounted for defensively. It was predicated on stopping the pass & virtually ignoring the run. We were pushed back constantly. When teams started running on us we had no answer & wilted defensively. It was an unsound system doomed to failure. Every defensive coordinator I ever coached with had gap contain in their defensive playbook. It is sound, basic football 101. As far as the other assistants go? Etch was their immediate boss. They did what they were told to do as assistants. They did know going in what the philosophy on defense was going to be & agreed with it. Having said that, it doesn't mean that can't coach under Ritchie Hall & be successful. I thought the undersized rumour was quashed a while back?.... especially in the front 4... I recall someone compared the size of our D-line vs Sask's D-line and it was essentially the same... LBs are a different story though

I have issues in all 3 defensive assistants we have since they agrees with Etch in (1) having no playbook and (2) playing players out of their natural position. You have no idea if they agreed with everything Etch wanted to do... they are coaches who want to work in football and this was an opportunity... they were likely just listening to the boss...

Aaaand we can all exhale...

I saw a joke similar to this on twitter yesterday... It was something to the effect of "makes sense, he's already won Mtl a Grey Cup as a ST Coordinator"... pretty funny... only cuz it's at the expense of the Riders...

in that little interview someone posted he says he's loyal... that's a nice trait to have if he ends up being a keeper...

I'm not sure ten minutes is enough...

If I asked my friend (who is a fellow 12-year season ticket holder with me) who our DC is... he would likely say "no idea".... If I asked him who the DC was last year, again, he would probably have no idea... I agree the percentage of Bomber fans that actually really care about this announcement is somewhere along the lines of about 1-2%...

Let's face it folks... as all movies have predicted... we're not that far away from wearing all-silver jumpsuits!

I agree with this idea.. if we can get two "sure things" (yes, I know that doesn't really exist) in the first or second round and we give up a couple projects in the third or fourth... I think it's worth it...

I agree... and I expect Hall to be the DC... it's just hard not to get a little antsy...

I'm not normally in the impatient group... but with Benevides stepping out of the ring... and Quick signing on in Regina... I can't help but think, what's taking so long?

Nothing ground-breaking here... but I agree with the thread title.... interesting tidbits indeed...

Yes, but how about a DC with a chip on his shoulder... especially with the added motivation to beat the Riders and Lions...

Is that a real Disney movie?

I was already curious about this... it's the first I've heard that is was LaPo advocating for Jade... also seems to go against the popular notion that Mack listened to no one...

I feel like getting Zach Anderson back in a Ritchie Hall defense (assuming he signs) will be like adding a dominant D-lineman in FA... He has potential to be one of the best DTs in the league...

I like how he has Holmes signing in Ottawa a foregone conclusion... This is a fantastic quote... "Muamba was such an immense talent coming out of St. Francis Xavier that not even Joe Mack could screw up the first overall selection of the 2011 CFL draft."

Walters basically committed to Picard as our starting centre this season at today's presser.Banks was our SAM too.All of this is how I feel. I tweeted this morning that the whole thing reminds me of Banks last year, and I got shouted down by a few people. I'll believe the Picard hype when I see it in the summer.Situations aren't similar at all. Banks was released because his GM thought he was washed up. His GM was right. Picard was released for cap reasons, the season after winning his teams top OL award. And Riders tried to bring him back on a restructured contract. If the award was an accurate one... which I'm obviously not convinced of, then you would obviously find someone else to release to relieve your cap stress. Not your supposed "best" offensive lineman, who also happens to be your Center. Not necessarily true at all... even IF Picard was their "best" O-lineman last year... ahead of Labatte and Heenan... the latter two are still more valuable based on age and potential... Picard, meanwhile, is on the downside of his career...

i guess with all the Bomber news happening today George Cortez signing as BC's new OC kinda got swpet under the rug around these parts... interested to see what happens to Khari...

C'mon now, it's not like you're new here

I don't think anyone is suggesting he's completely irreplaceable... just that he's a very good player and we would prefer to see him in blue and gold... best of luck to him in the NFL...

interesting story about Picard...I don't know if this was sour grapes or simply the truth but I met Matt Sheridan at a trade show shortly after the 2007 Grey Cup and we spoke about the Glenn injury in the TO game... Sheridan made no bones about who's fault that play was... didn't hesitate to say Picard screwed up... I think he even called him "Frenchie"... IMO it sounds like there may have been a personal issue between those two... anyways, still think this can be a good signing...

Sick of all the obnoxious priders??

Nothing that Kyle Walters has done in his first 1.5 years at the post leads me to believe he will be satisfied with the status quo...

It helps too that the Bombers aren't paying out the contracts on several past coaches and GM's anymore - everyone now should be done right? Lapo, Mack, Crowton, Burke etc. That was all done before the 2014 season