Thorpe defends his record with Als
A day after being fired as the Alouettes’ defensive co-ordinator, Noel Thorpe remains adamant and stands by his record. He said he approached each day with a consistent effort level, a desire to improve and put players in position to have success.
The play of Montreal’s defence has been one of the few constants with this team since Thorpe returned to the Als for a second time in 2013. But they have struggled of late, prompting general manager Kavis Reed to state Wednesday, after Thorpe was fired, that the defence was good but not elite.
“I don’t know what the context of elite means, and I don’t want to go back and forth,” Thorpe told the Montreal Gazette by telephone on Thursday, a day after he and head coach Jacques Chapdelaine were dismissed. “What we wanted to establish was an identity, and I think we established one. We established consistency. We went out and competed. We were going to be a physical-style team that got after the quarterback and created turnover opportunities.”
It’s true the defence spent too much time on the field while the Als’ offence has struggled. Perhaps that’s why the defence has suddenly become porous, allowing more than 30 points every match during a four-game losing streak. Two teams, Winnipeg and B.C., have scored 41 points against Montreal.
The Als’ defence has surrendered points early and at critical junctures, when a stop was required.
“I don’t want to be a smartass. McDonald’s doesn’t make an elite hamburger, but they’ve sold over eight billion of them,” Thorpe explained. “People understand what they’re going to get when they go for that hamburger. They’re going to get a consistent product. I think that’s what we put on the field.”
Again following Thursday’s practice, the second one since he became interim head coach, Reed criticized the defence’s lack of consistency. He said a team’s defence must be ranked among the top three in the CFL for the club to legitimately have a shot at the playoffs.
The Als have allowed an average of 27.6 points per game — 26.2 directly by the defence. Montreal’s tied with B.C. for the fewest quarterback sacks (17) and has intercepted a league-low four passes. The opponents are averaging 389.4 yards of net offence per game, along with 62.6 offensive plays. So the defence is not getting off the field.
“You saw the decline. When you needed a stop, elite to very good defences are able to get off the field,” Reed said. “People write the offence isn’t sustaining drives. Flip that. The defence isn’t getting off the field. If we’re not top three, we’re average to mediocre.”
It would be easy for Thorpe to be bitter over his departure. He first joined the Als in 2002 as special teams co-ordinator. He also coached the defensive backs from 2003-07. He survived numerous coaching changes and, more than once, was overlooked when Montreal was seeking a head coach. He resigned in December 2015, with two years remaining on his contract, to join Edmonton as its defensive co-ordinator and assistant head coach. The league intervened and prevented the move, the Eskimos never having requested permission. Jim Popp, the Als’ general manager at the time, convinced Thorpe to eventually return.
“I don’t have any bitterness at all,” Thorpe said. “When you get into this profession, you know what you signed up for.”