June Jones to return as Tiger-Cats head coach, wants to settle quarterback situation

HAMILTON June Jones values consistency, and wants to demonstrate faith in his players. That’s why one of his first tasks as Hamilton’s full-time head coach will be to settle the Tiger-Cats’ quarterbacking situation as quickly as possible.

The Tiger-Cats dropped the interim tag on Jones’s title on Monday as the two sides agreed to a three-year deal. Jones came on as a replacement head coach mid-season in 2017 and helped Hamilton go 6-4 after an 0-8 start.

One of the keys to Jones’s success after stepping in as head coach on Aug. 24 was installing Jeremiah Masoli as starting QB ahead of Zach Collaros, who had been under centre for Hamilton for most of its past four seasons.

Masoli is a free agent but has said he would return to the Ticats if Jones was the head coach, while Collaros has one year remaining on his deal, reportedly one of the most lucrative in the CFL.

“Obviously, we can’t keep both of them,” said Jones, who complimented the professionalism and playing ability of both quarterbacks. “We’ll make that decision in the next few weeks and we’re going to do what’s best for everybody involved. That’s a good problem to have.”

Complicating matters for the Tiger-Cats is that they have been in ongoing negotiations with Johnny Manziel, a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback who played for the NFL’s Cleveland Browns in 2014 and 2015 before being cut from the team for ongoing discipline and substance abuse issues. In January 2016, Manziel was charged after being accused of hitting and threatening a former girlfriend before reaching an agreement with prosecutors to dismiss the case.