CLAYBROOKS POISED TO TAKE OVER LIONS
Stamps’ popular defensive co-ordinator played key role in team’s Grey Cup success
Where have we seen this before?
The B.C. Lions are turning to a familiar source to find success in the post-Wally Buono era.
They’re leaning once again on the Calgary Stampeders to lead them into the future.
As was the case 15 years ago, when Buono left the Stamps to join the Lions as head coach, it appears Stampeders defensive co-ordinator DeVone Claybrooks is set to leave Calgary to become the new sideline boss in Vancouver.
Reports say Claybrooks has been offered a three-year deal to replace Buono as commander of the Lions. Expect a news conference announcing his acceptance of the offer to follow in the next day or two.
Around these parts, it’s called paying the price for success.
The Stampeders defence put together a brilliant season in anchoring a Grey Cup run. Maybe too brilliant, considering the fallout. Because the undisputed leader of the league’s top defence is leaving Calgary to take the reins of his own team.
It was bound to happen, though.
Especially after piloting the Stamps defence to such a sparkling campaign.
The Red & White were ranked tops in nearly all defensive categories during the 2018 CFL season, including allowing the fewest amount of points (363). The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were next at 419.
They also allowed the fewest touchdowns at 27. The Bombers were next at 35.
The bend-but-don’t-break style of the defence held the Stamps in good stead all season. The unit delivered spectacular performances in both the Western Final and the Grey Cup title fight.
In the 22-14 Western Final victory over the Bombers, the Stamps didn’t allow a TD, and in the 27-16 Grey Cup win, the defence forced six turnovers while surrendering just one major.
But there’s more. In the three seasons that Claybrooks was the Stamps’ DC, the team gave up the fewest points in the league.
So it’s time to share the wealth.
The Stampeders granted permission two weeks ago to both the Lions and the Toronto Argonauts to talk with Claybrooks about their vacant head coaching positions.
The Argos apparently talked with Claybrooks in the days following the Stamps’ Grey Cup capture, while the Lions reportedly met with Claybrooks last week.
With Claybrooks leaning toward taking the gig in B.C., Corey Chamblin, ex of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and an assistant with Toronto during their Grey Cup campaign in 2017, was named sideline boss of the Argos on Monday.
But what does all this mean for the Stamps moving forward?
Claybrooks has ardent supporters among his players. Don’t be surprised to see an exodus of Stamps on the defensive side of the ball, with players following Claybrooks to the West Coast. And that figures to give the Lions a boost in coming seasons.
CFL all-stars Alex Singleton and Micah Johnson head the list of potential free agents when the league window opens on Feb. 12. So, too, do fellow Grey Cup champs and front-seven stars Jameer Thurman, Junior Turner and Ja’Gared Davis, as well as defensive backs Emanuel Davis and Ciante Evans. All have been key cogs in Claybrooks’ defence in Calgary.
The Stamps weren’t kidding when they continually preached during the season this team likely wouldn’t be together beyond the Grey Cup.
“We talked about it a lot, not just tonight but the entire year,” Stamps QB Bo Levi Mitchell told reporters moments after the Grey Cup. “Our pre-game speech had a part of that in there. Just talking to guys, we knew this locker-room wasn’t going to look the same next year.
“Not only is there the NFL for some guys, there are two other leagues coming out that pay American money (the Alliance of American Football in February and a reboot of the XFL in 2020), and that’s tough. It’s just the truth and the reality of it. We’ll see what happens. I know a lot of guys want to be back here and they want to build on this.”
But some won’t return. It’s the nature of football.
And so it begins with Claybrooks’ exit as the start — a big start — of a significant off-season.
The dominoes are starting to fall.
Yeah, that’s the price of success, all right.
We talked about it a lot . ... Just talking to guys, we knew this locker-room wasn’t going to look the same next year.