Milanovich walks away from Argos
Coach heads to NFL for position with Jaguars
Scott Milanovich hung on as long as he possibly could.
He survived through years of ownership turmoil, practice field issues, attendance woes and the general lack of interest that has surrounded the Toronto Argonauts for far too many years.
Once the uncertainty crept into the football operations department t his winter, Milanovich decided his time in Toronto was up.
Four days after general manager Jim Barker was fired and Milanovich was surprisingly kept on by president and CEO Michael Copeland, the 44- year- old decided to walk away on his own Friday, accepting the position of quarterbacks coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
“I would like to thank the Argonauts’ Ownership, President & CEO Michael Copeland, the staff, all the players and coaches, and most importantly, the wonderful city of Toronto and the loyal fans for the opportunity to serve as your head coach for the past five seasons,” Milanovich said in a statement released by the Jaguars. “This has been an amazing experience for my family and me, and we’re so appreciative of all the wonderful friends we’ve made and memories we’ve created in Toronto.”
Milanovich had a decision to make.
Wait around for the Argos to find a new general manager, one who may or may not have even been a supporter of his, or take a job that at least comes with a little bit of security — as much as you’re getting as an NFL position coach, anyway — and a chance to help prove his reputation as a quarterback whisperer by resurrecting the career of Blake Bortles in northern Florida.
After years of receiving job offers south of the border, Milanovich finally decided this was the right opportunity to make a move.
More importantly, he undoubtedly decided it was the right time.
“Scott Milanovich brings a variety of experience to our coaching staff, and we are eager for him to get started,” Jaguars executive vice-president of football operations Tom Coughlin said in a statement Friday evening. “Working closely with offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, we expect the quarterback position to deliver positive results under Scott’s direction and guidance.”
Planned or not, the Argos quickly announced former Hamilton Tiger- Cats offensive co- ordinator Tommy Condell, who surprisingly resigned that post after three seasons under curious circumstances prior to last year, is joining the club as special adviser and will handle player personnel matters alongside assistant GM Spencer Zimmerman.
“We support Scott’s decision to pursue his goals in the NFL and wish him all the best in his new role,” Copeland said in the release. “We’ve made significant progress in our search for the Argos’ next general manager. We hope to conclude the search process shortly. The first order of business for our next general manager will be to hire the team’s next head coach.”
Despite the addition of Condell — at least they have an offensive co-ordinator option in- house — the Argos have this whole off- season thing backwards. Coaching hires and fires? That’s what November and December is for.
You wanted to give Copeland the benefit of the doubt and believe his monk’s journey across the football landscape over the past three months would turn up the perfect GM candidate to pair with Milanovich inside BMO Field and all would be well in Argoland.
Who knows, maybe it will all work out.
Even though Milanovich had been contacting current Argos players about free agency plans as recently as three days ago, he didn’t feel that was going to happen. And rightfully so. Lame duck doesn’t even begin to describe the situation he was facing, sitting at home when Barker was fired and hearing your president and CEO say the soon-to-behired GM — a person you have no idea if you even have a relationship with — will be able to decide your fate at a time in the off- season when you’re supposed to be building a Grey Cup winner, not coming up with organizational philosophies from scratch.
Instead of being spared, Milanovich should have simply been let go alongside Barker, but that decision should have been made weeks ago.
After all, despite all of the outside challenges that got in his way and made his job more difficult than it already is, wins are wins and Milanovich/ Barker tandem had missed the playoffs in two out of past three seasons.
Milanovich finishes with a 43- 47 career record leading the Boatmen, winning the 2012 Grey Cup in his first season on the sideline, but crashing all the way to 5-13 in 2016.
Now, the Argos are 17 days away from the start of free agency without a general manager or a head coach, and there’s also a deadline looming at the end of the month that will restrict their ability to talk to potential coach or front office candidates employed by other CFL teams.
While there’s speculation the Argos will look south of the border for their next GM, it’s hard to imagine a new head coach being able to do anything other than put together a patchwork staff this late in the off-season.
We haven’t even mentioned the fact that Drew Willy, the “franchise” quarterback Milanovich and Barker traded the first- overall pick for and recently handed a contract extension, is now without his two biggest supporters.
Argos safety Jermaine Gabriel, a Toronto kid, summed things up in a tweet shortly after the Milanovich news was announced. “I need a sinking ship emoji.”