REDBLACKS’ UGLY SEASON TOOK ITS TOLL ON CAMPBELL
Former coach notes issues with GM, saying ‘sometimes relationships have a shelf life’
When Rick Campbell spoke to Mark Goudie Saturday, he told the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group CEO/president he wanted to step aside as Ottawa Redblacks head coach.
Goudie asked the coach to take 24 hours to think about it and not to get caught up in the emotions of a 42-32 home-field loss to the Montreal Alouettes, the Redblacks’ 15th loss of the season.
The year was a disaster from Week 3 on, when the Redblacks sunk deep in the quicksand.
On Sunday, Campbell, who had been the Redblacks’ coach since Day 1 in season 1 (2014) and helped them get to three Grey Cups (winning in 2016), told Goudie he was done, it was over. Call it irreconcilable differences — with GM Marcel Desjardins.
There were many layers to this story, a gradual buildup of discontent.
Goudie insists it didn’t come down to a Desjardins-versus-Campbell thing. He wasn’t pressured into choosing one or the other — that wasn’t what the coach asked for.
“If you know Rick, he’s not that dude,” said Goudie. “He didn’t. We had a conversation that was more about Rick and his feelings about what he could and couldn’t do.”
There were howls of anger all over social media after the news of Campbell’s exit early Monday morning. Much of the venom was being spit at Desjardins. Fans, it seems, quickly forget the teams he helped construct went to the Grey Cup three times in four years. Broken record, right?
I’ve always found Desjardins to be extremely co-operative, fair and likable, but that’s just me.
Campbell said he was left with a “bad taste” after a “long list” of players and coaches were gone. But Desjardins insists Campbell was involved in the process of who stayed and who went.
“Rick was involved in all the personnel decisions we ever made,” said Desjardins. “He was involved in the expansion draft in 2013, he was involved in every Canadian college draft we were involved with, he was involved with everything we did in free agency. Every time we set out a roster for a game, the coaches set the roster — that was not me. Rick was continually and regularly communicating with me about not only our current roster, but our roster moving forward.
“We did, multiple times, sit down to discuss 2019, what would we have done differently in terms of the off-season and during the season and thinking ahead to 2020. At no point during any of that did he say anything about having issues with any part of our dynamic.
“Obviously, in a 3-15 season, I have to ask more questions, just like I answer more questions to Mark and to the ownership. Sometimes I’m asked questions by the ownership group that only the head coach would know. That’s the nature of the beast.
But having said that, I was always trying to stay positive with him relative to trying to figure things out.”
It’s unlikely the highly respected Campbell will be unemployed long. The Edmonton Eskimos would be a logical landing spot if the team fails in the playoffs and head coach Jason Maas is gone.
“I definitely am up for ( being a head coach) again,” said Campbell. “For me, it’s not burnout. Sometimes things in life have a shelf life, sometimes relationships have a shelf life.”
What happens next for the six-year-old franchise will help shape the next several years. Building back the confidence of a fan base that’s been soured by the loss of stars like Trevor Harris, Greg Ellingson, William Powell, SirVincent Rogers and now Campbell in the past year — add that to a dismal season — is crucial. How does the team appease RNation?
“I think it will be through actions that will start with the hiring process that happens with the new head coach,” said Goudie. “I think we’ve built something pretty cool here with Redblacks football. We’ve got a good base. They’ve heard enough about the fact we went to three Grey Cup games in four years, that stuff is all water under the bridge. What we do next will be important.
“I don’t think we’re going to have questions fully answered until we start winning football games and people see we were able to recreate ourselves into the organization we expect to be.”
Winning solves everything, right?