New head coach, familiar result for Colts
There’s a new man at the helm of the Calgary Colts, but steering this listing ship through rough waters would be a massive task for anyone.
The Colts, piloted by former CFL assistant Tim Kearse, experienced a familiar outcome despite the new coach, dropping their fourth Prairie Football Conference game in five starts, this one by virtue of a 41-9 decision to the 4-1 Saskatoon Hilltops.
It was a sad ending to a week filled with drama for the Colts.
On Monday, head coach Matt (Snoop) Blokker tendered his resignation, leaving the team to scramble in preparation for their game against the always-dangerous Hilltops. Blokker cited personal reasons for his departure.
The Colts turned to assistant coach Kearse to assume the head duties on an interim basis.
“It caught everybody off guard — players, coaches,” said Kearse, a former NFL and CFL player. “It was a work-in-progress-type week, dealing with kids from a sports psychologist standpoint. We’re trying to get their mental game back because it was very emotional and you’re talking about 18-, 19-, 20-year-old kids. For some of them, it was the most dramatic week.”
When the Colts turned to him, the 57-year-old didn’t hesitate.
“Happy to do it, because I felt I needed to do that for these kids,” Kearse said. “Adults had something that was an issue, not the kids, so let’s not punish the kids.”
With three games left on the PFC schedule, Kearse knows making the playoffs would be a tall order, but it isn’t anything that hasn’t been done before.
“What I’m expecting is our guys coming to work with the same passion that they did this week,” he said. “It would have been very easy for 40 kids to walk away this week after what happened. We’ll go back to work and work hard to get aW …
“There’s three more games. We have to run the table, just like we did before.”
Next up on the Colts’ do-or-die agenda is the London Beefeaters next week.