CFL: Coach lined up for Alouettes
MONTREAL— The Montreal Alouettes have called a news conference on Wednesday at which they are expected to introduce a new head coach.
General manager Kavis Reed, who took over coaching duties after firing Jacques Chapdelaine in September, was not interested in keeping the coaching job and planned to have a new one in place by mid-December.
Several former head coaches and co-ordinators have reportedly been interviewed.
Reed’s tenure as coach was a disaster as the Alouettes ended the season 3-15 and missed the playoffs for a third year in a row.
The club also announced Tuesday that Catherine Raîche, the only woman assistant general manager in the Canadian Football League, has decided to leave after only 11 months on the job.
Raîche, 28, will leave Dec. 31. The Montreal native was promoted to assistant GM of football operations on Jan. 25 on the same day Reed named Joe Mack assistant GM of player personnel.
The former lawyer joined the team in 2015 as co-ordinator of football administration after serving as an unpaid intern. She said her reasons were leaving were personal and for "professional development."
Raîche hopes to find another job in football but could also go back to her previous work as a lawyer.
She managed the team’s salary cap and worked on contracts among other duties.
GOT DRESSLER ’PEGGED: There was never a doubt in Weston Dressler’s mind if, or where, he wanted to continue playing football.
The 32-year-old slotback signed a one-year extension Tuesday with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Dressler was scheduled to become a free agent in February but decided quickly after the 2017 season he wanted to return for an 11th CFL campaign and third in Manitoba.
“Once the season is over you kind of take a minute to regroup and think about things,” Dressler said during a conference call. “To continue playing was something I definitely wanted to do and to continue playing in Winnipeg was a top priority.”
The five-foot-seven, 168-pound slotback had 51 catches for 691 yards and three touchdowns in 11 games this year.
“Weston Dressler brings so much to our organization in addition to his productivity on the field," Winnipeg general manager Kyle Walters said in a statement. "Every week he is out on the field, he is a threat in so many facets of the game and brings invaluable experience and leadership to our locker room."
BACK IN B.C.: Jeff Reinebold is back for a third stint with the B.C. Lions.
The Lions hired Reinebold as their special-teams co-ordinator Tuesday. Reinebold spent the last five seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, serving as the club’s defensive co-ordinator last year before being fired following the club’s 0-6 start.
Reinebold also served as a Lions coach from 1991-93 and again in ’96.
“He had a number of offers available to him, but his desire to come to the B.C. Lions I believe says a lot about the team and staff that Ed (GM Ed Hervey) and I are building for next season,” Lions head coach Wally Buono said in a statement.