Family comes first for outgoing Jamieson
Esks VP of communications had been with team for 14 years
As word got out Thursday afternoon of Dave Jamieson’s departure from the Edmonton Eskimos, the wheels immediately began to spin for Kavis Reed.
Reed is beginning his second year as head coach of the Canadian Football League team and is having trouble picturing it without Jamieson at his side. Jamieson left his post as vicepresident of communications and broadcast Thursday. He’ll stick with the team through its July 9 road game against the Saskatchewan Roughriders and will move on from there. Unless Reed can change his mind.
“I’m going to say that if it happens the organization is missing a very important person woven in the fabric of this culture,” Reed said of Jamieson, who has worked for the Eskimos for the last 14 years, handling media requests and acting as a spokesperson for the team throughout his career.
“Dave represented everything that the Eskimos are about and I’m still shocked and I’m hoping that, in all honesty, we have the opportunity to convince him otherwise.”
Jamieson cited a need to spend more time with his family as the key reason for his departure. He was with the team when Reed was playing with the Eskimos in the late 1990s, so the coach has a longstanding relationship with his media conduit.
“I hope something can happen that it doesn’t happen,” Reed said.
“If it does, we understand his commitment to his family, his commitment to being a good husband and a great father. Dave has always had the right perspective when it comes to family and his career and I applaud his decision, but at the same time, we have to be a little bit selfish and hope he can reverse his decision.”
Jamieson said Reed’s efforts were flattering, but that it’s time to move forward.
“I really loved working with Kavis, and Eric (Tillman) has been amazing,” Jamieson said. “As flattering as all of that is, I think I need to chart a new course for myself and try some new things.
“If Kavis wanted me to fill water bottles one night when they were short a guy, I’d be happy to. I would do that,” Jamieson said, laughing. “I would certainly be open to come and help them in some way if they needed a one-off, but I’ve got to get on with things. I’m just really blessed to have had some great times and made some wonderful friends.”
Eskimos equipment manager Dwayne Mandrusiak — the longest tenured member of the organization — said that Jamieson leaves the team as an Eskimo.
“He’s like a veteran, you can’t replace those guys,” he said. “That’s the one thing, he is an Eskimo. He’d help us (pack) bags and he would help us pick up jerseys at the end of the day.
“That’s what it was with J-Mo. You’ve got … just his friendship. Any time you lose anybody; you lose a trainer here and I feel bad. You’re with them 18 hours a day, you know about their families, their kids. It’s a big loss to my staff. He respected the ball boys as much as he respected the players and that’s all I can ask.”
A radio and TV man before joining the Eskimos, Jamieson said he was honoured to have been a part of the organization.
“Some of the greatest players in the league have worn our jersey and that means for me on a personal level, to be associated with, to have worked alongside Hugh Campbell, to have worked alongside Ricky Ray, to have met Jackie Parker; for a Canadian kid, this is our sporting royalty so that was really cool for me,” Jamieson said.
“It was a big pill to swallow,” Reed said of getting the news on Thursday. “But we all understand and we all respect Dave for his decision.”
Eskimos president and CEO Len Rhodes will head the search for Jamieson’s replacement.