A LAMORIELLO FOR THE ARGOS?
Toronto’s CFL team steals a good idea from their Maple Leaf neighbours in hiring Popp
There is a lot of the Lou Lamoriello story in Jim Popp’s hiring with the Toronto Argonauts.
Lamoriello had built something of a dynasty with the New Jersey Devils, ran out of time and success, and in some people’s minds he became yesterday’s man.
Popp had built something of a dynasty with the Montreal Alouettes, all those Grey Cup wins and Grey Cup appearances with Anthony Calvillo. They did things the right way. His was considered a model franchise, Popp as architect.
Lamoriello was not so politely shuffled out of the general manager’s job with the Devils.
It was more sudden for Popp in Montreal: Like Lamoriello, he seemed to lose his way. When goalie Martin Brodeur was no longer great, neither were the Devils. When Calvillo was no longer quarterback, the Alouettes fell hard and fast.
So here came the old man, Lamoriello, to the Toronto Maple Leafs to work in concert with Brendan Shanahan, his one-time pupil.
And here comes Popp to the rather desperate Argos, to work with the almost commissioner Michael Copeland: The football operation is his. He’s not here to sell tickets. He’s not here for promotional purposes. Like Lamoriello, he’s not here to be anyone’s friend. The only reason he’s here, after the Argos stumbled and fumbled their way through summer, fall and winter, is to win.
Lamoriello stopped winning in New Jersey. Popp stopped winning in Montreal. And now each was given the opportunity to write their story anew.
Lamoriello’s impact has been significant in two seasons with the Leafs. He is no longer behind the times, resting on laurels, if Lou is in any way capable of rest.
Now Popp becomes the latest boss to work for Larry Tanenbaum. The bosses Tim Leiweke left behind at Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment — Masai Ujiri, Brendan Shanahan, Tim Bezbatchenko — are doing more than fine. The bar is high for Popp. He welcomes the challenge, believing it was time to leave the Alouettes, time to start over.
“There’s a lot of things I’m never going to discuss, things that just happened (in Montreal),” Popp said. “Maybe when you’ve been somewhere for so long, people hear you, but how well do they listen? I had a great run in Montreal and I have no regrets.”
The last years were rather messy. Popp ended up coaching the Alouettes on four different occasions and says all four of those situations were not his idea. After Trestman left Montreal for the NFL’s Chicago Bears, the Als stopped winning. Dan Hawkins was hired as head coach and lasted five games. Tom Higgins was hired as head coach and the story was he was never Popp’s choice. After winning 66 per cent of their games with Marc Trestman as coach, the Als won just 42 per cent without him.
“I never ever asked to be the coach,” Popp said. “People have this misconception. Any time I stepped in, I was asked to be the coach.”
Now Popp begins as the Argonauts’ general manager after almost a quarter-century in Montreal, back together with Trestman, the head coach. The hirings seem perfect even if the timing may not be.
“I know what it takes to win,” Popp said. “I’ve never lost my way. “I adjust to the times. There’s no one to blame. There’s no one to point fingers at. … Listen, I had great years in Montreal, period. Sometimes things don’t work out the way you want them to.”
There is no Anthony Calvillo with the Argos. There is an old and slow Ricky Ray. He had been anointed as starting quarterback even though new coach Trestman has not seen him play since he left the CFL after the 2012 season.
Trestman, something of a quarterback savant himself, knows what the game is all about. When you have Calvillo, you win. When you have Jay Cutler in Chicago, you don’t. Bo Levi Mitchell played against Henry Burris in the Grey Cup. Tom Brady played against Matt Ryan in the Super Bowl. It’s a quarterback’s world and we just live in it.
The Argos have Ray, Drew Willy and Jeff Mathews as quarterbacks. Ray might have something left: It was hard to tell the last few seasons because he was rarely healthy enough to play, and when he was, he had no time to throw and no one to throw to.
It’s one thing for the Argos to solve the Rubik’s Cube of so few season ticket holders and a terminal lack of interest in the community. It’s another to get better as a football team.
Popp and Trestman are here to make the football team better. The assumption, which has been historically incorrect, is that the better the team is, the bigger the crowds will be.
Popp said the most encouraging aspect of Argo football in Toronto as a business are the decent television ratings.
Trestman needs to hire a coaching staff. Popp needs to find football players and fast.
It has worked out nicely for Lou Lamoriello, no longer the man behind the times. Jim Popp, the one-time dynasty builder, has that challenge and more with the Argonauts.
I know what it takes to win … I’ve never lost my way. I adjust to the times. There’s no one to blame. There’s no one to point fingers at.