Riders must restore order
The “S” on the helmet stands for “Semantics.’’
Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Corey Chamblin is adamant that he has not fired anybody. Technically, that is true.
But the “S” also stands for “Shakeup,’’ considering the degree to which Chamblin is overhauling the CFL team’s coaching staff.
George Cortez is no longer the Roughriders’ offensive co-ordinator, but he didn’t necessarily receive the Donald Trump treatment. Cortez’s contract was simply not renewed after a two-year stint in Riderville.
Richie Hall is no longer the defensive co-ordinator, but he may stay with the organization — one that he has served with distinction for 23 years — in a different assistant-coaching capacity.
Bob Dyce remains the special-teams co-ordinator, but his status is still under review. After a season in which Saskatchewan surrendered six kick-return touchdowns, it would not be at all surprising to see a change at the third coordinator’s position. Even if that happens, Dyce could very well remain with the team in an adjusted role.
So it can be said that Chamblin wasn’t firing on all cylinders — much like his team during the second half of the 2014 season.
Hence the head coach’s voracious appetite for change.
Regardless of how strenuously Chamblin tries to put the best face on the situation — with assistance from the ever-smiling face of the classy Hall — the ranks of the assistant coaches have been blown up at the three positions of greatest responsibility.
Given the Roughriders’ efforts to massage the makeover, Chamblin’s approach does not radiate ruthlessness, but the Roughriders have nonetheless cleaned their slate of co-ordinators barely one year after the same people helped the Green and White win the fourth Grey Cup in franchise history.
It is highly unlikely that three coaches with championship credentials all lost their acumen in one year.
But all three could lose their positions.
Yet, the highest-ranking member of the coaching staff — someone who also did not have his best year — could end up assuming more responsibility.
Chamblin has allowed for the distinct possibility that he may succeed Hall as the defensive co-ordinator. In fact, Chamblin essentially performed those duties during the 2014 West Division semifinal, in which the Edmonton Eskimos defeated the visiting Roughriders 18-10.
In that game, the Roughriders did not surrender an offensive touchdown despite serving up interceptions on a conveyor belt.
So it can be said that Chamblin did perform admirably as the Roughriders’ de-facto defensive coordinator.
Perhaps the intervention of Chamblin was inevitable. Not long after being hired as the Roughriders’ head coach three years ago, Chamblin noted that his coaching philosophy was more aggressive than that of Hall.
Chamblin re-emphasized that point during a media gathering on Tuesday, and Hall did not disagree.
The Roughriders could ensure philosophical harmony on defence by having Chamblin assume a dual coaching role in 2015.
There is only one problem.
Chamblin needs to do a better job of coaching the entire team.
In fact, that should be the priority after a season in which the Roughriders were systemically suspect.
Chamblin was named the CFL’s coach of the year in 2013, and deservedly so, but regressed this past season.
His scattershot decisionmaking ended up compounding the woes that afflicted the Roughriders.
The offensive personnel were not the greatest, for various reasons, but the lack of cohesion and effectiveness was exacerbated by a series of impulsive head-coaching moves.
Seven different people saw action at tailback for the 2014 Roughriders. At times, you wondered if a raffle would be held to determine the eighth.
The handling of the tailback position was downright orderly compared to the manner in which Chamblin managed the quarterbacking situation.
There were bound to be issues after the Roughriders’ marquee player, Darian Durant, suffered what turned out to be a season-ending elbow injury on Sept. 7.
However, an unenviable situation became a circus on Chamblin’s watch.
The Roughriders’ offence routinely sputtered with 25-year-olds Tino Sunseri and Seth Doege behind centre. Some growing pains were inevitable, but they became excruciating due to the lack of confidence exhibited by Chamblin (and, yes, Cortez).
Acting on a “gut” feeling, Chamblin relegated Sunseri to second-string duty and gave Doege his first CFL start — against the eventual Grey Cup-champion Calgary Stampeders on Oct. 3.
Doege proceeded to throw three first-half interceptions before being mercifully replaced by Sunseri, who actually enlivened the offence — rallying the Roughriders from a 24-0 deficit and pulling them into a 24-24 tie before Calgary applied the dagger, winning 31-24.
Even then, Chamblin continued to dither before reinstating Sunseri as the starter — but not before the Roughriders coaxed 41-year-old pivot Kerry Joseph out of retirement.
Joseph ended up starting Saskatchewan’s final four games — including the playoff contest — after the young quarterbacks were thrown under an entire fleet of buses. (At least those throws weren’t intercepted.)
It was a mess, for which Chamblin should assume considerable responsibility.
And his responsibilities may soon increase.
After presiding over the chaos that plagued the Roughriders during the final two months of the 2014 season, Chamblin should be more concerned with the entire on-field operation.
If he allows himself to be preoccupied with the defence to an even greater extent, the overall stewardship of the team could be adversely affected.
That is hardly what the Roughriders need after the dysfunction of 2014.
As one who played an integral role in delivering a championship in 2013, Chamblin earned permanent status as one of the elite head coaches in franchise history.
But he needs to be just that — a head coach — to give the Roughriders their best chance of restoring order, along with some of the lustre that was lost during a 2014 season that is best forgotten.