It’s not the same old grind anymore
CFL rule change reinforces modern approach to practice, away from contact
Somewhere in the States, possibly around his hometown of Elkins, W. Va., a now 87-year-old Joe Moss, in his unique slow drawl, must be questioning the CFL’s latest move toward player safety.
The former head coach of the Ottawa Rough Riders (198789) and even the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees before that, liked nothing better than seeing the D-line knock the crap out of the O-line, or vice-versa, and it didn’t matter if it was training camp in June in Peterborough, or mid-season in September at Lansdowne Park.
So the news that the CFL has eliminated full-contact practice and in-pads practices during the regular season, effective immediately, is something Moss, or many other coaches of his era, might never have adjusted to.
Ottawa Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell has been around long enough to have heard all the old horror stories and he likes the way attitudes toward practice have evolved.
“There’s not that mentality of beating people up anymore,” Campbell said Thursday as his team prepped for Sunday’s meeting in Montreal with the Alouettes. “Practices are not about showing your physical courage.
“I’m just guessing how it was in some cases ... I could see it 10, 15, maybe 20 years ago ... coaches weren’t going to give (players) water or something,” as a way of motivating.
“But you don’t see it in this era. The coaches all know it’s a long season. Eighteen games is a grind. In a season, we were down to maybe five practices with shoulder pads anyways.”
Still, Campbell acknowledges it’s going to be tougher for newcomers along either line to impress their coaches.
The lines can do all the drills but until a line coach, or more importantly a head coach, sees a youngster continually win oneon-one battles with a veteran, how do they assess the players?
How does the player gain the confidence of the coach to force roster changes?
“I am all for player safety,” said Campbell. “Where I have mixed feelings is when it comes to the practice roster guys and the guys we bring in.
“We have to get them work and basically all we can go on is film. They can still do all the things they can do athletically. But it’s going to be tough for the offensive and defensive lineman.”
Where Campbell can find no fault, is the league’s decision to extend the regular season by a week and up the number of bye weeks from two to three.
And all he had to do was look at the schedule his Redblacks are faced with this season.
It starts with having to play three games in 10 days in July.
It ends with the Redblacks having a bye in Week 18, their final game Oct. 27, then nothing in Week 20.
All of which means finishing first in the East would leave the Redblacks sitting for 23 days between the regular season finale and an East final.
That’s not to mention, more than three weeks without contact as per the new rules.
“The extra week and bye will allow for the league to come up with a better schedule,” said Campbell. “So it won’t happen where we get something like we got this year.
“The players will like the extra week. And the coaches will, too.”
As for a second head coach in the East losing his job after Montreal fired Jacques Chapdelaine and inserted GM Kavis Reed on the bench, Campbell isn’t even bothering with what’s going on in Montreal.
“I’ve seen it all happen before,” said the head coach. “I’m not going to worry about their business. We’ll just handle our own business.”