Campbell downplays returning ‘home’
Redblacks coach has moved past ties to Eskimos
The story seems to write itself.
The son of an Edmonton coaching legend goes home to the Alberta capital, leading his new Ottawa football team into battle. Except that low-key Rick Campbell, the Redblacks rookie head coach, isn’t really buying what we’re selling.
Yes, his father Hugh Campbell is a CFL icon as a former player in Saskatchewan with the Roughriders and coach and general manager in Edmonton. Son Rick, though, having been in the league since 1999, having coached for and against the Eskimos, is over the thrill of returning to Commonwealth Stadium.
“I don’t look at it any differently,” Campbell said Monday, following the Redblacks first practice of the week. “I’m very fond of Edmonton, Edmonton’s given me a lot with my life, but I’ve been there so many times now — as not an Eskimo — I’ve kind of gotten past that I guess.”
Campbell was a boy in elementary school when his father was coaching the Eskimos to all those championships — five straight Grey Cups from 197882.
“I have many fond memories of Edmonton and still have good friends there, people I know that work for the team. It’s a great stadium, all those things, a great place to play.”
But the Campbell family is long gone from Edmonton. Hugh lives in Idaho.
Asked if Hugh is now a Redblacks fan, Campbell deadpanned:
“He’s a fan of his kids having jobs. That’s what he would say.”
Father and son talk on the phone regularly, sometimes about everything but football, sometimes about the game, any game, because Hugh Campbell remains a huge follower of the sport.
“As I got older, the thing I appreciated more about him was that — as in most things in life — football is about how you treat people,” Rick Campbell says. “Putting them in a position to succeed. You want to hire good people and let them do their jobs.”
While the Redblacks made history with their first regular season game in Winnipeg Thursday, looking back at the what-ifs and could-have-beens in the exciting 36-28 loss to the Blue Bombers is over with.
“We did that two days ago,” Campbell said.
The page has turned to Friday’s encounter with the 2-0 Eskimos.
“In sports, and in football, you’ve got to get over it,” Campbell says. “We corrected the things that needed to be correct-
As I got older, the thing I appreciated more about him was that — as in most things in life — football is about how you treat people.
ed and we’re 100 per cent going forward on Edmonton.”
In recent seasons, the Eskimos have had their ups and downs, but they are earning a reputation as ball hawks early in 2014.
“Turnovers — they’ve created two turnovers in the two games and that’s what won it for them,” Campbell said. “They were down to Hamilton and the B.C. game was a back-and-forth thing, but they made some big plays. They’re giving great effort, playing fast.”
Redblacks quarterback Henry Burris saw plenty of Edmonton during his days in Calgary with the Stampeders. Over the past couple of seasons when Burris was in Hamilton, he faced Eskimos head coach Chris Jones in his capacity then as defensive co-ordinator of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“Coach Jones has been one of the best defensive co-ordinators in my time in the league,” Burris said. “He’s got some Hosses out there, some big guys that are smart, cagey and very fast. We’re going into a tough environment again.”
Campbell echoes the sentiment.
“We know it’s going to be a challenge going out there,” Campbell said. “They’re going to be sky-high in their confidence. They’ve won two close games, but they found a way to win the games. We’re going on the road, and we’re going to have to be at our best.”
Campbell likes what he has seen from his own team, the competitive level shown, the sense of pride of representing their new region, Ottawa- Gatineau, and making this expansion program work in the new TD Place stadium, still going up all around them.
“We just need to make sure we execute as well as we can,” Campbell said. “That’s what football comes down to, effort and execution.”