...Lawless says Riders looking at Ottawa Asst GM and John Murphy as potential new GM. Have asked for permission to speak to both. Fwiw.

7 hours ago, blueandgoldguy said:

Given the dispute going on between Edmonton and Ottawa over the signing of Maas, I would like to know if Rick Campbell was still under contract as OC in Calgary when he became Head Coach in Ottawa for their inaugural season?

No he wasn't under contract as OC in Calgary when he was hired because he was the DC in Calgary.

16 hours ago, pigseye said:

If Durant stays healthy, they are a 10 win team for sure with a Jones defence.

LOL. There is a very real chance he won't even be a Rider once the dust settles this offseason. I'm not sure why there is all this Durant love,  people buying into the Rider propaganda that they were a QB away from the Grey Cup? I could barely type that, it was so silly to think about.

Get real. Durant was playing substandard football since the middle of 2013 when he was healthy and has missed most of 2 seasons with 2 of the hardest injuries to fully recover from. Couple that with a reported 550k salary this year and the decision to even keep him becomes very tough.

He played well in a couple playoff games for them where Sheets absolutely dominated and single handedly took the offence on his back but other than that he has performed at a low level since Labor Day 2013. In 2014 he played awful but the Riders rode a white hot defence and weak schedule to an 8-1 record. Look at his efficiency rating since mid 2013 and then look up his injuries and tell me again how he will be the difference maker to the Riders.

Marcel B has been hired by the Lions. Not sure in what capacity.

7 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

Marcel B has been hired by the Lions. Not sure in what capacity.

They were talking about this yesterday.  I believe he was being considered as a Receiver's position coach.

21 hours ago, pigseye said:

If Durant stays healthy, they are a 10 win team for sure with a Jones defence.

There is no guarantee that he is healthy going into the season, let alone staying healthy. His body is breaking down. I hate to call a spade a spade but when your tendons start popping on pretty insignificant plays you are not long for this league. Two torn tendons in two years, one of them from basically nothing. Ask any athletic therapist and he will tell you that more are coming.

Quote

Jaime Elizondo leaving gig as #Argos receiving coach to take OC job in Ottawa. #RedBlacks #CFL

I hope Toronto asks Ottawa for compensation...

@arashMadani

Per #CFL sources: George Cortez has *not* "retired," as the BC Lions had announced. He has told other coaches to keep him in mind for jobs.

8:38 AM - 24 Dec 2015

 

A bit odd that he's waited this long to make this known...

True, the only other team that is looking at this point is Edmonton.  Not sure what other options there are as an OC

Hire Cortez as receivers coach and then replace Lapo mid season ?

Did I miss Ottawa hiring someone?

And what about MTL? Dinwiddie is as stamp now right?

Just now, Bigblue204 said:

Did I miss Ottawa hiring someone?

You did. They hired former argos receiver coach... Elizondo or something. lol. 

I would take Cortez here as a positional coach in a heart beat.

56 minutes ago, Bigblue204 said:

And what about MTL? Dinwiddie is as stamp now right?

Calvillo is their OC

4 hours ago, bigg jay said:

I hope Toronto asks Ottawa for compensation...

Yeah **** Ottawa.

2 hours ago, holoman said:

Calvillo is their OC

And Dinwiddie is now in Calgary as the QB coach.

Penton

      WRs coach Markus Howell is joining #Roughriders coaching staff, and DB boss Barron Miles is off to #Eskimos. #Bombers

Concerning as Howell has worked for Lapo before, obviously not interested in doing so again.

4 minutes ago, Atomic said:

Concerning as Howell has worked for Lapo before, obviously not interested in doing so again.

Or they were paying him more or was not offered a job

16 minutes ago, Jpan85 said:

Or they were paying him more or was not offered a job

Both of which would be concerning to me as well.  Howell is a good coach.  I guess we will just have to wait and see who replaces him but its unlikely to be an experienced CFL coach.

Juwon Simpson has been released by the Stamps according to the site's twitter feed.

1 hour ago, Atomic said:

Both of which would be concerning to me as well.  Howell is a good coach.  I guess we will just have to wait and see who replaces him but its unlikely to be an experienced CFL coach.

He's a nice guy but I wouldn't say that he's a good coach.  While he was the receivers coach.  Did we ever have what I would call an elite receiving corps?  Did he have success in developing young receivers?   

 

There's nothing there to prove he was a good coach.    

Howell really did nothing as a receiverd coach to stand out. That being said, Walters gave him an injury prone Moore as his go to receiver. Then there was Clarence Denmark who was a solid 700-1000 yard receiver. There wasn't much else after that. 

Although I have a place in my Bomber heart for Howell, and I think he must be a decent coach, I was always concerned that our receivers never were good blockers, or more precisely, we're not in position to be good blockers. Talent? or simply instruction?

I would be interested to find out who initiated this change regarding Howell. Was he recruited? Did he apply on his own? Was there going to be a change in this position regardless? Enquiringly minds want to know.

Where are those intrepid reporters that cover the Bombers without fault? Aren't they supposed to dig up this kind of  information? Or does that require some actual effort?

We need an insider.

1 hour ago, B-F-F-C said:

He's a nice guy but I wouldn't say that he's a good coach.  While he was the receivers coach.  Did we ever have what I would call an elite receiving corps?  Did he have success in developing young receivers?   

 

There's nothing there to prove he was a good coach.    

If you say so.  I'm not going to judge him based on results when he wasn't given much to work with in regards to receivers, quarterbacks, and especially offensive coordinators.  From all accounts from players and fellow coaches, he is a good coach, and he is also a guy with 4 years of receiver coaching under his belt.  Good enough to be on Chris Jones' staff obviously, but what does he know?  I'm sure we'll be better off with whatever rookie coach Lapo digs up...