GM DESJARDINS MAKING MOST OF SECOND CHANCE
OTTAWA The world of professional sports can be cruel and unforgiving. While the NHL’s renowned for its old boys’ network, often retreading management personnel — no matter their success or failures — the tony CFL is quite different, with only nine teams in existence.
It’s not often someone gets a second chance to make a first impression.
Marcel Desjardins spent a decade with the Alouettes — two separate stints — as Jim Popp’s right- hand man, the loyal foot soldier and understudy as the assistant to the only general manager Montreal has known since returning to the CFL in 1996. Then Desjardins got to run his own team in Hamilton over two seasons as GM of the Tiger- Cats — not so successfully history will remember, for a variety of reasons.
When the league decided to expand in 2014, returning to Ottawa following a 10- year hiatus, Desjardins applied to become GM, but didn’t believe he’d get the job; there was just something about the vibe he got from Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group president Jeff Hunt during their first meeting. Instead, the Redblacks hired him in 2013, one year before they hit the field, signing Desjardins for four years, offering security while delivering a clear message he would be given time to construct a team.
To say Desjardins is grateful and thankful would be understating the point. To say he fretted over whether another door would open would be wildly inaccurate.
“In terms of having that opportunity, I certainly feel I deserved another one,” Desjardins said this week during an interview at TD Place. “The circumstances of where I was before were less than ideal, to say the least. It’s not like it was something that was consuming me. Put it this way, it had to be under the right circumstances versus the last time, which was kind of going back home.
“I didn’t do enough homework, to be honest with you. But I’ve moved on. It doesn’t factor into anything I do. Things happen for a reason. I’m probably not here today if that doesn’t happen.”
Following a 2- 16 season, a year in which they lost some close games and times when they simply weren’t competitive, the Redblacks have already displayed vast improvement. Desjardins didn’t overhaul the team, but made additions at receiver and the offensive line, also making changes to head coach Rick Campbell’s staff. While it’s still early, heading into Friday’s game against the Alouettes, Ottawa had won three of five games, including the season opener against the Als at Molson Stadium.
With new facilities, solid ownership and a rabid fan base, Ottawa has become a CFL destination players have on their radar, knowing the franchise eventually will become competitive. Desjardins, 49, can only hope he’s still around to enjoy the fruits of his labour down the road; Campbell, too, for that matter.
But no matter what, Desjardins is determined to do it his way, with grace, class, professionalism and dignity. There are different kinds of general managers, but many are lying, conniving and cutthroat. Some just reach their goals in a more delicate manner. B. C.’ s Wally Buono, for example, regularly tells his players he’s looking to replace them with someone younger, cheaper and better.
And then there’s Desjardins, a guy who majored in sports administration at Sudbury’s Laurentian University, figured he might work in amateur sports, and spent a year in the CFL’s communications department before being pro- moted to football operations. He used to tell Popp, on a somewhat regular basis, he was late filing his paperwork; that Popp should hire an assistant. The rest, you know. “At the end of the day, it’s a business and you have to treat it like a business. You have to make difficult decisions,” Desjardins explained. “The people who hired us have trust in us to make those decisions. It’s always difficult when you’re dealing with people’s careers and their lives. But you don’t have to do it in a sneaky, underhanded, manipulative way. Just be upfront all the time. That’s what I try to do, and it hasn’t really turned on me. “Go about your business the way you’d want people to treat you. Nine times out of 10 — if not 9 ½ — it’ll work out.”
In another life, it might have in Hamilton. And what a Cinderella story that would have been for Desjardins, a native of Burlington, Ont. But the Ticats had been backed into a corner, the team mired with salary- cap issues Desjardins had inherited from interim GM Rob Katz, the team’s former president. Forced to jettison players for financial reasons, the team went 4- 14 in 2006, winning one fewer game the following season. Ten minutes before the team’s final home game — and with Desjardins’s family in the stands — he was advised of his firing.
Desjardins actually watched the opening half before departing. Virtually within 24 hours, Popp rehired him.
If Desjardins has learned anything at the feet of Popp — and he undoubtedly has — it would be creating the right atmosphere and hiring the right people, display- ing loyalty to that staff. From a personnel standpoint, it would be never make assumptions, an old journalism rule. Look under every rock, make every phone call and ask every question, because you never know.
The Als, arguably, never have recovered from his departure.
Of course, there’s no steadfast rule when it comes to finding and signing players. The ratio must be paramount in all considerations. It’s one thing to seek out the best and most- talented players, but they can’t all be imports.
“What are the best players? Ones that have the skill- set and mental fortitude ... guys that are difference- makers,” Desjardins said. “You want to have as many difference- makers as you can. And speed kills, as they say.”
One of his first moves was signing veteran free- agent quarterback Henry Burris, now 40, to a three- year deal because Desjardins wanted some certainty; a face that was recognizable, someone who could lead a young team. Besides, the options were limited. “He’s such a great guy to work with, such a professional,” Burris said. “He knows what it takes to build a winner. When he first contacted me ... the way he delivered the message, with such confidence, poise and composure. He’s what a true leader is.”
What are the best players? Ones that have the skill- set and mental fortitude ... guys that are differencemakers.