NEW ALS COACH IS A WINNER
Chapdelaine makes splash in debut
On Jacques Chapdelaine’s first offensive play as a professional football head coach, Rakeem Cato connected with Kenny Stafford for a 48-yard gain.
On Chapdelaine’s second, Cato found Samuel Giguère at the back of the end zone for a touchdown against the Toronto Argonauts. The game was barely four minutes old.
We don’t know how long the Chapdelaine era will last. It could be the five remaining regular-season games. It could last beyond and be extended into the 2017 season. Or, in a perfect world, he’ll have an extended run — as did Marc Trestman and Don Matthews.
Chapdelaine could retire now and a statue would be erected in his honour following the Alouettes’ 38-11 dismantling of the Toronto Argonauts on a wet and dreary Sunday afternoon before a capacity Molson Stadium crowd.
But it’s only one game, folks. Legendary coaching careers aren’t built on one match — especially against a Toronto team that appears to be in worse shape than Montreal. Should the Als lose a week from Monday, when they entertain the Edmonton Eskimos, Chapdelaine will be declared a turkey. Or something more disparaging.
That’s the law of the jungle in pro sports. Chapdelaine, a welleducated man, understands. As do his players.
“The plays that were called today aren’t new plays. We’ve tweaked a few things. It’s just the execution that has changed,” said Giguère, who added a late touchdown on a one-yard sweep following a fumble recovery by Alan-Michael Cash. “When the players take ownership, everyone wants to contribute and are selfless, we see what can happen.
“There’s no doubt when there are changes, especially this late in the year with the situation we’re in, it creates a sense of urgency from the players. That’s the potential trap. We responded well to the change, but now we have to build on that.”
Chapdelaine, an experienced Canadian Football League offensive co-ordinator for four franchises, coached his first game at the pro level, having replaced general manager Jim Popp two weeks ago. And, although he started the year as the receivers coach, Chapdelaine wisely decided to remove play-calling duties from OC Anthony Calvillo, somewhat overwhelmed in his first full year in that capacity.
It resulted in Montreal scoring more than 20 points for only the fifth time this season. It wasn’t that the Als dominated the offensive statistics; on the contrary. Rakeem Cato passed for a modest 210 yards, albeit four touchdowns, while completing 18 of 23. And while seven different receivers were incorporated, nobody except Nik Lewis caught as many as five passes.
Instead, it was what the Als did with what they had. They went vertical, taking their shots downfield. Stafford, largely ignored until now, caught three passes for 60 yards. Tailback Tyrell Sutton, largely ignored until now, gained 83 yards on 10 carries before departing in the fourth quarter with an undisclosed injury. Even Cato scampered four times for 30 yards while not turning the ball over.
The Als displayed some variety and imagination for once.
“There’s a fine line between what we’re doing now and what we did before,” Lewis said. “At 4-9, I’ll never say one or two people were the problem. I will say Jacques has more experience and he’s able to handle the game a little bit differently.”
Indeed. For one week at least, Chapdelaine’s a hero.
“Now we’re on the right path. We’re taking a step forward,” Stafford said. “Now we’re in the hands of Jacques Chapdelaine. He’s a proven offensive co-ordinator and he knows what he’s doing. We have someone at the helm that we trust, that we’re moving forward with. There’s no me players right now. It’s a bunch of team players.”
The situation remains precarious for the Als, who are still last in the East Division and ended a four-game losing skid, winning for only the second time in eight contests. But they now trail the Argos (5-9) by only two points with a game in hand. And while it still appears only two teams from their side of the bracket will qualify for the playoffs, both Ottawa and Hamilton lost this weekend. Both remain stuck at six wins.
It’s daunting, but not impossible for Montreal.
The Als have been here before, let’s face it. They opened the season with a win at Winnipeg, and lost their next game. They produced 41 points against Saskatchewan — and lost their next game. And they looked like the greatest team on the planet when they walked into Ottawa on Aug. 19 and manufactured a seasonhigh 43 points.
They failed to win another game until Sunday. And of the five remaining on the Als’ schedule, two are against Calgary — the Stampeders merely 12-1-1.
“Every game’s a must-win for us from now on,” Giguère said. “Today was a good step in the right direction. We have to build on that. We’ve seen it this year. We come out, score a great deal of points one week and then didn’t show up the next game. That’s the trap we’re in now. We have to be aware of that and be responsible, disciplined and prepared.”
The elephant in the room, of course, is none of this was accomplished when Popp and Calvillo were calling the shots — or at least not within any degree of regularity. Players are loath to publicly throw anyone under the bus. Certainly not Popp, who remains their boss, or Calvillo, who retains the OC title.
“You can point fingers at Jim or A.C.,” Giguère said. “At the end of the day it’s the players on the field executing plays or not.”