LIONS: VETERANS WARMING UP TO TEDFORD
Trust level between coach and players is a two-way street, says running back Harris
KAMLOOPS — The thought of thumbing his way back home from training camp was never entertained by Andrew Harris.
But, well, there was a new head coach in town, Jeff Tedford, with a reputation for whipcracking and a new offensive coordinator, George Cortez, with a button-down personality different from the previous one.
Besides, Tedford was bringing in new players, three of whom had a background with him at the University of California. Among them was Brandon Bigelow, a running back recruited by Tedford a second time, when he was offensive co-ordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Professing faith in what you know is a trait of humankind, not just football coaches.
“I knew there was a bit of history there,” Harris admitted, as the B.C. Lions packed up the Kamloops portion of their training camp on Day 18 Wednesday. “To be completely honest, Bigelow played into that a little bit. He was a little bit too comfortable. Maybe his sense of entitlement came back to bite him. You really need to compete at a high level and prove yourself every year.”
When Bigelow was released in the first round of cuts last Sunday, it was an indication that Tedford is unencumbered by set thinking that can lead a coach and his team to grief.
“I recruited him (Bigelow),” Tedford said. “But this is about business. It’s not about personal relationships. If you don’t perform, then that’s what it is. He understood that.”
Harris, coming off surgery for a dislocated ankle that shut down his 2014 season on Sept. 27, also understood early that there is no certainty in the shifting sands of the coaching universe. The precisely circumscribed environment in which Tedford operates required him to earn the coach’s trust, unlike the comfortable familiarity he was used to under Mike Benevides and Wally Buono.
“You read articles and hear interviews,” Harris says. “But I didn’t know what to expect. I came here like a rookie running back, learning a new system. I felt like I had to prove myself all over again.”
At first, Tedford was so demanding in practice that he alienated some Lions veterans unused to the pace. Harris had to leave one workout early after his hamstrings started to seize up. Yet, immersed in making his team the best-conditioned in the Canadian Football League, Tedford had the sensitivity to know when to scale back the workload.
“At first, everyone was thinking, ‘Well, this is different,’ ” Harris explained. “A lot of guys didn’t like it too much. He was hard on us for the first couple of days. A lot of guys said the Day 2 practice was the hardest of their lives. As we went along, he tapered back a bit. He responded to our bodies, and how we were feeling. I think the trust level from player to coach is great. I think the trust from coach to player is great as well.”
Harris termed his pre-season prep in Kamloops “an old- school training camp” because his injury rehab didn’t allow him the proper groundwork. He had to practise hard to get up to game shape. His first test comes Friday, at UBC’s Thunderbird Stadium, when the Lions play the Edmonton Eskimos in their second pre-season game.
For Harris and quarterback Travis Lulay, among the 12 starters who didn’t play last Friday in Calgary, it’s a chance to demonstrate the positive initiative from training camp in a live-fire situation.
“My ankle has been a nonissue the whole camp,” Harris said.
“It’s 100 per cent. I worried about my fitness and lungs in the beginning. But I feel like I’m running really strong, and my wind is great right now. For sure, we’re going to be one of the best conditioned teams.”
Lulay, whose mechanics, throwing volume and practice participation are under constant scrutiny, said progress from his latest right shoulder issue is on schedule. Tedford expects him to start Friday and possibly play the entire first half.
“I’m ready,” Lulay said. “I’m ready to resume the role (as starter) that’s been most natural to me. I’m beyond thrilled. I’m excited. I’m trying to temper the emotion of it. But we’re there. It’s been a progression. It’s been steady. (Tuesday) probably was my best practice. We’re peaking at the right time.”
A disciplinarian, technician and systematic details guy, Tedford was greatly attuned with Lulay’s situation, never pushing him too hard, knowing when to ease back, even when the player wanted to do more. The quarterback agreed with Harris that getting buy-in from the players is smart coaching.
“There’s a difference between him trying to be a ‘nice guy’ and doing what’s best for the team,” Lulay said.
“We worked like crazy, when we worked. But when he sensed it was (time) to pull back the tempo, or the time on our feet, that was to make us better. Recovery is a legitimate part of what we’re doing.”
With the Lions’ first game — July 4 in Ottawa — still 16 days away, how to manage boredom might be Tedford’s next test.