BITTERSWEET HOMECOMING FOR ALS LEGEND CALVILLO
He was predictably consistent as a player, so why would things be different for Anthony Calvillo as a coach?
On Tuesday evening, preparing for his return to Montreal as the Toronto Argonauts’ quarterbacks coach, Calvillo was more concerned about ensuring starting pivot McLeod Bethel-Thompson was prepared to face the Alouettes than his homecoming. After all, it’s a short week for the Argos, who played last Saturday.
“I knew when I signed to come here a couple of things would be different. Putting on the Argonauts’ logo. I adjusted to that,” Calvillo said by telephone. “I thought about coming back to Montreal, how different that’s going to be. Honestly, on this short week, I haven’t put too much thought into it. I think it’ll hit me more once I get back and we get closer to the game.”
The sting of seeing Calvillo in Toronto’s double blue should have worn off by now, his hiring as an assistant under Marc Trestman — the opening created only after Marcus Brady’s departure to the Indianapolis Colts — now five months old.
But it still hurts and, somehow, seems wrong. Calvillo spent 16 seasons playing quarterback for the Als, another three as a position coach who was promoted to offensive co-ordinator when he clearly wasn’t ready or prepared for the added responsibility and pressure.
So emotionally drained was he from that experience, along with the constant losing, Calvillo was burned out and planned on taking a year away from coaching until the unexpected opening was created in Toronto. And undoubtedly, he took that only because he would be reunited with Trestman, the Als’ head coach for five of Calvillo’s most productive seasons. And for the stability of working for the defending Grey Cup champions. And taking the necessary steps to learn how to coach from a guy who could actually teach him the fundamentals.
But didn’t everyone believe Calvillo, 46, would be an Alouette for life? Some even thought he was being groomed to become the team’s head coach.
Toronto, despite a two-game winning streak, took a 3-5 record into Friday night’s game at Molson Stadium, the Argos already down to their third quarterback following Ricky Ray’s serious neck injury and the benching of James Franklin. But there has been no sense of panic around the organization, contrary to the constant disarray that seems to follow the Als.
“This is the reason I came here, to learn from (Trestman), to see how other organizations do things,” Calvillo said. “Let’s not forget, we were 1-4 ... 1-5 and going through that process. But there’s a trust factor here with Marc because of his ability and the confidence the players have in him. The locker (room) remained strong. That comes with experience and trust in a coach.
“It’s amazing to be here and see how everything ’s put together ... the thought process.”
There’s no way of predicting what might have happened had Calvillo not been concussed that fateful day in August 2013 at Saskatchewan’s Mosaic Stadium, never to play again. There’s no doubt the Als have been in a virtual free fall — other than a 9-9 season and trip to the East Division final the following year — ever since, never having recovered from Calvillo’s retirement.
If the offence struggled to score points under Calvillo the past three seasons, after he was forced to replace Turk Schonert and Jacques Chapdelaine on two occasions, it has digressed further under Khari Jones. But Calvillo was always a loyal foot soldier and employee; he was always ready, if not prepared, to assume anything the organization requested. When this is repeated to him, Calvillo says nothing.
“I feel just as tired in Toronto as I did in Montreal. I’m just happy that I’m able to continue to grow as a coach,” he said. “It didn’t take anything out of me. It was more the pressure that comes with being an OC. When you’re losing on top of that, that’s hard to deal with.
“I was there for three of those years, trying to get going, trying to figure out how to move forward. It’s one of those strange, tough situations. You’re trying to find (a quarterback) and build an organization around them. It’s not easy finding that guy. They’re still in that process,” he added, making it clear he has turned the page while moving into the next chapter. “It’s just a matter of getting on a roll and getting some victories.”
In Toronto, the Argos use the same offensive system that Calvillo executed under Trestman in Montreal. He sits in on game-planning meetings and has input — just as he did in Montreal. But Calvillo can look to one side and see an experienced OC in Tommy Condell. He can look to the other side and see Jonathan Himebauch, an experienced offensive-line coach. And the calm Trestman steers the ship.
“Working with him has been awesome,” Trestman said. “He knows exactly what to do, how to do it and how to say it. He’s been a tremendous addition. He knows the offence, exactly as he learned it. That has lightened the load tremendously.
“He came in here energized. He knew exactly why he wanted to come here and what he wanted to do,” Trestman added. “I think the sky’s the limit with A.C. I really do. I saw that in Montreal.”