RIDERS HAVE NO OPTION BUT TO STAY THE COURSE
Where do the feckless Saskatchewan Roughriders go from here?
To Edmonton — with fingers crossed.
All the Roughriders’ ruling class can do, really, is hope that a sorry situation is not irreparable.
For Roughriders presidentCEO Craig Reynolds and the community-owned CFL team’s board of directors, there is not a realistic alternative to gritting their teeth and staying the course — despite scant evidence to suggest that the new regime is charting a path toward sustained success.
A sustained drive would be a start. Even that is a pipe dream, the way things are trending.
The Roughriders have gone 90 minutes without scoring a touchdown, whatever that is, as they prepare for Friday’s road game against the Edmonton Eskimos.
Despite the presence of marquee quarterback Darian Durant, whose supporting cast is of industrial-league calibre, the offence is merely a rumour.
Factor in a defence that has more holes than U.S. Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte’s version of events and you have a team that is incontestably the league’s worst ... again.
The 2015 Roughriders set the bar ridiculously low, posting a 3-15 record. The 2016 Roughriders are determinedly attempting to dig a tunnel underneath that bar. At this rate, they may soon hit the Earth’s core.
But what can be done? Not much.
Reynolds played the housecleaning card nearly a year ago. In fact, the house was bulldozed after it was cleaned, given the extent of the transformation.
On Aug. 31 of last year, one day after Saskatchewan’s record dropped to 0-9, Reynolds cashiered head coach Corey Chamblin and general manager/ vice-president of football operations Brendan Taman. Chamblin and Taman were sacked even though they were under contract through 2017.
They were eventually replaced by one person — Chris Jones — who was awarded a three-year contract barely a week after he coached Edmonton to the 2015 Grey Cup title. Although the financial terms of Jones’s deal have not been released, he must be receiving well in excess of $500,000 per annum.
Jones proceeded to feed the Roughriders’ roster into a shredder. Few members of the 2015 edition were spared. Beloved players such as defensive end John Chick and slotback Weston Dressler were cast aside — financial reasons being cited in those two cases.
Although the Roughriders tried to buy some cap space, they eventually had it reduced. Not long ago, the CFL pared $26,000 from the Roughriders’ ceiling on player-related expenditures. That was in addition to the $60,000 fine that was levied for roster violations. Oh, and the Green and White was earlier fined $15,000 for violating the national-international ratio during a July 16 home game against the B.C. Lions.
A lot of good it did. The Lions won 40-27. It has been that kind of year. This dreary season reached a nadir Saturday when the host Hamilton Tiger-Cats won a 53-7 nail-biter. It was Saskatchewan’s most-lopsided loss since 2000. The 53 points were the most the Roughriders had permitted since 2006.
Since the beatdown in Steeltown, many observers have voiced their rightful displeasure with the 1-7 Roughriders.
Graham Kelly of the Medicine Hat News has called for Jones to be fired. On open-line shows and via the magic of email, fingers have been pointed at Jones and, in some cases, Reynolds.
Everyone is fair game at a time like this. The Roughriders are on a 6-29 skid, dating back to mid-September of 2014, and nerves are frayed. There are pleas for patience even though the Roughriders have been a punchline for the better (or worst) part of two years. But what can be done? Jones has absolute power over the football operations. He is accountable to Reynolds, but the second-year president-CEO has limited (and perhaps non-existent) options.
He can either fire Jones or, as he did earlier this month, endorse him.
Not even a year after sacking Taman and Chamblin, Reynolds cannot throw Jones overboard. It would be too costly — even for a franchise with the Roughriders’ vast financial resources — and would essentially mean a vote of non-confidence in Reynolds by Reynolds.
Reynolds made a big play for Jones — a move that was endorsed in this space — while sweeping all the cards off the table.
If Reynolds had retained Taman while bidding adieu to Chamblin, there would be another move to make. The GM would be a convenient scapegoat.
Given the current management structure, Reynolds is left without a Plan B. The scenario might differ a year from now, if the Roughriders are faltering in a palatial new stadium. For the moment, however, there isn’t a practical, affordable and sensible alternative to showing faith in Jones and hoping that, somehow, he can reverse the Roughriders’ flagging fortunes.
This may be The Farewell Season, but the Roughriders won’t be saying goodbye to Jones anytime soon.