Austin is still Riders royalty
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ successful courtship of Kent Austin raises a lot of questions.
Principally, what happens to the Austin Lot?
The Saskat chewan Roughriders literally cemented Austin’s legend by naming a prime parking surface in his honour. This was done to recognize his contributions to the CFL team as a Grey Cup-winning quarterback and head coach.
Last year, the Roughriders went one step further. A giant banner, showing Austin from his playing days, was affixed to the west-side exterior of Mosaic Stadium. The image of none other than George Reed had previously occupied that spot.
If not for Austin, Reed would have played for the first — and only — Roughriders team to win a Grey Cup.
Twenty-three years to the day after Reed, Ron Lancaster and associates helped Saskatchewan defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders 29-14 in the 1966 Grey Cup, Austin engineered a long-awaited second triumph.
On Nov. 26, 1989, Austin threw for 474 yards and three touchdowns and put Dave Ridgway in position for a last-second field goal that gave the Riders a 43-40 victory over the Tiger-Cats. (He owes them one.)
Austin returned to the Rogers Centre for a Grey Cup 18 years later, when he coached the Riders to a 23-19 victory over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
He resigned as the Roughriders’ head coach a mere 52 days later to become the offensive co-ordinator at his alma mater, the University of Mississippi. After two years at Ole Miss, he was named the head football coach at an Ivy League school, Cornell University.
Now he is on the move once again. He became the Ti-Cats’ (inhale) head coach, general manager and vicepresident of football operations (exhale) on Monday.
Austin’s return to the CFL loomed as a strong possibility as soon as the Tiger-Cats fired head coach George Cortez last week.
Questions quickly emerged as to how Roughriders fans would process the sight of Austin in enemy colours.
In 1994, remember, Austin was roundly excoriated after he demanded to be traded by the Riders. He was eventually accommodated with a deal that resulted in him becoming a B.C. Lion. The atmosphere was especially toxic on Oct. 15, 1994, when the Lions visited Taylor Field.
Prior to the game, a sledgehammer was used to demolish an Austin Mini. He was roundly booed (to put it politely) by the Riders faithful once the game began.
So what kind of reaction can he expect when he is again situated on the east sideline at Mosaic Stadium?
Surely, there will be people who are inclined to give Austin the kind of treatment that is ordinarily reserved for Henry Burris — the Tiger-Cats’ current quarterback, coincidentally enough.
When CJME hit the mean streets of Regina to gauge public sentiment regarding Austin’s decision to join the Tiger-Cats, one fan labelled him a “traitor.’’
On Twitter, one disillusioned Rider Prider wrote: “Hey Kent Austin. Don’t expect a warm welcome.’’
Honestly, though, he deserves one.
Consider the two Grey Cups.
Consider the classy and gracious manner in which Austin and his family treated everyone during their second residency in Saskatchewan.
Consider the exciting football that was played during Austin’s peak years as a quarterback. Austin collaborated with Ray Elgaard, Jeff Fairholm and Don Narcisse to produce the best air show in franchise history — one that is unlikely to be duplicated.
When Austin left here the second time, it wasn’t for more money. It was financially advantageous for him to remain in Saskatchewan. Eric Tillman, who was the Roughriders’ GM at the time, was prepared to give Austin a healthy raise.
The opportunity to coach at his alma mater was enticing, obviously, but that was only part of the equation. His mother, Gloria, was terminally ill with cancer at the time. The move gave Austin an opportunity to be close to his mother in her final months.
When Austin joined the Cornell Big Red, that was understandable. The man was born to be a head coach, and to lead.
But he was also born to win — see the aforementioned Grey Cup references — and that was not going to happen at an Ivy League school. He enlivened the offence at Cornell, but the Big Red still had an 11-19 record over the past three years.
So now he is back in the CFL, a league for which someone with his intellect, command of offensive football and intuitive ability to manage people is ideally suited.
“You don’t ever know where this path leads,’’ Austin told reporters at a Monday media conference in Hamilton. “I’m just glad that it led here and I’m very excited about this opportunity.’’
When navigating the paths that lead to Mosaic Stadium, it is impossible to forget his accomplishments in Saskatchewan. They are not diminished one scintilla by the fact that he has cast his lot with the Tiger-Cats.
Sure, the sight of Austin in non-green attire might not ever look quite right to dedicated denizens of the Rider Nation. After all, he is immortalized on the side of the Roughriders’ home stadium.
In this case, perhaps precedent can be of some comfort to anyone who may be despondent over Monday’s news regarding Austin.
In 2006, the greatest of all Roughriders quarterbacks returned to Regina as the Tiger-Cats’ head coach. He, too, was pictured on the west side of Mosaic Stadium. His name: Ron Lancaster. A change of affiliation never resulted in any enmity toward The Little General. He was deservedly treated like Riders royalty during his visits to the 306.
The hope here is that Roughriders fans will apply a similar mindset with respect to Austin.
There is a reason why his photo adorns the stadium.
Look at the big picture.