POPP WOULD RELISH RETURN AS ALS’ GM
It’s highly unlikely to happen. Some would even suggest it’s crazy to contemplate the notion. But in the Alouettes’ search for their next general manager, there would be worse choices than Jim Popp.
Yeah, their former GM, who’s unemployed after being fired by the Toronto Argonauts just before the conclusion of the 2019 regular season. And in two recent wide-ranging interviews with the Montreal Gazette, Popp admitted he’d welcome a return to Montreal.
“Listen, it’s interesting to me. Let’s just put it that way. I would love to return there and be the GM,” Popp said from his home in Moorseville, N.C. “I don’t think I should have ever left Montreal. I don’t think I ever should have been out of a job.
“There’s more to doing the job than winning and losing. There’s a lot of things to the job that I do right — working with people and giving them opportunities, getting people to perform,” he added. “If people want to have a chance to win a championship, I’m available.”
Popp, who turns 55 on Dec. 21, was the Als’ GM from 1996, when the team transferred from Baltimore and returned to Montreal following a nine-year hiatus, until November 2016 when Mark Weightman, the team’s former president, announced the organization was going in a different direction.
Popp was also Montreal’s head coach on four different occasions.
He has won five Grey Cups, including three with the Als, and his teams have reached the championship game 11 times, although the end of his tenures with both Montreal and the Argonauts weren’t prosperous. Nonetheless, the Als made eight Cup appearances over an 11-year span with three different head coaches.
“It was a remarkable run. Whether people want to admit it or not, it was a dynasty,” Popp said. “We did some great things that are abnormal.”
While Popp wants to work and, as the father of six children (all born in Montreal) needs to, he hasn’t heard from Als president Patrick Boivin, whom he doesn’t know well. On the other hand, Popp’s infinitely familiar with Wally Buono, the former head coach and GM of the B.C. Lions, who was retained by the Als as an adviser.
Boivin, Buono and head coach Khari Jones, who lives in Surrey, B.C., conducted interviews last week in Vancouver with three known candidates: Danny McManus, Winnipeg ’s assistant GM and director of U.S. scouting; Shawn Burke, Hamilton’s senior director of personnel/ co-manager of football operations, and Ryan Ringmaiden, the Blue Bombers’ director of college scouting. The Montreal Gazette has learned that Burke has since withdrawn his name from consideration.
Two other potential candidates — Neil McEvoy, the Lions’ director of football operations, and Jean-Marc Edmé, Ottawa’s director of player personnel — declined interview requests.
Other potential candidates who have been CFL GMs, including Eric Tillman, Danny Maciocia, Brendan Taman and Jim Barker, haven’t been interviewed.
That would seem to indicate the Als, or the CFL and commissioner Randy Ambrosie, will settle upon a rookie GM whom they can get at a reduced salary. The league continues to operate the team until new owners are found. It’s still believed some kind of combination involving Peter Lenkov and the Claridge Investment Ltd. will be announced at some point this month.
The Als, through circumstances, have gone about this in a skewed manner, re-signing Jones before having a GM in place, then including the popular Jones, who led Montreal to a 10-8 record and its first playoff berth in five seasons, in the interview process. In effect, Jones could have a say on who will become his next boss.
However, Jones still remains relatively inexperienced as a head coach, entering only his second season. While there’s no denying he did a masterful job last season under adverse conditions, and got the best out of quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. in his first season as a starter, Jones also operated under no pressure since nothing was expected. Things will be different in 2020. Jones likely could benefit from the guidance he’ll receive from an experienced GM. He might require someone to lean on in various situations. And Jones will be expected to take the team to the next level moving forward.
But numerous sources continue to believe the Als will select McManus, who is basically a scout. This doesn’t mean he can’t become a good GM in time, only that he’s inexperienced. Same with Burke and Ringmaiden.
With the Als finally having turned the corner and starting to gain some momentum and popularity, every decision taken now becomes critical.
Popp admits he made mistakes in Montreal. While he said not once did he ever fire an Als coach — and the team went through its share after Marc Trestman in 2012 — he said he probably shouldn’t have stepped in so frequently, constantly acquiescing to the wishes of former owner Robert Wetenhall, who likely advised Popp he’d have a job with the organization for life.
“I’d love nothing better than to be in Montreal,” Popp said. “I have to work and want to work. I’d like to finish my career in the CFL. It’s what I know and have done well.”