Buono to stick with Lions for one more year, but not as GM
About seven minutes into the presser that was supposed to explain the B.C. Lions’ new chain of command, Wally Buono felt compelled to take over the mike from Ed Hervey and explain the new chain of command with the Leos.
Students of foreshadowing please take note.
Hervey, it seems, is going to be the team’s new general manager in 2018 and Buono will return as head coach for one more year before he steps away for good. Hervey will also assume control of football operations unless something needs to be brought to owner David Braley’s attention. That will fall to Buono, who retains the vice-president’s title, because of his relationship with Braley.
Interesting twist that. Braley, by the way, will be back as owner for another year, which means whoever buys the team from him will inherit Hervey as the GM. As for the team’s vacant president position, sorry, the Lions weren’t prepared to discuss that Thursday; nor were they prepared to discuss changes to the football department or coaching staff. Hervey’s appointment, in fact, seemed to raise as many questions as it answered and given everything the Lions endured in 2017, that isn’t the best situation for this franchise. But both Hervey and Buono believe they can make this arrangement work because they’re both committed to the same goal.
Everything else, you ask? Details, bothersome details; not really worth discussing even if they are to everyone else.
“It’s going to work because, one, Ed and I want it to work and, two, Ed’s not an ego guy,” Buono said. “I’m not trying to build a career here. All I’m trying to do is assemble a good football team with Ed.”
And maybe it’s that simple. It’s just that recent history has taught us it’s anything but.
The Lions, who were under enormous pressure to signal a new direction for their beleaguered franchise, charted that new course Thursday with Hervey as the new GM. Never mind this was the only significant change announced Thursday and many more questions remain to be answered about the Lions. But Buono believes the reset in the football department had to start with a new GM and he left little doubt that Hervey, the former Eskimos GM, was his man.
Hervey, as it happens, brings credentials to the job. In four years with the Eskimos, he delivered one Grey Cup, made a franchise-changing trade with, ahem, Buono for quarterback Mike Reilly and amassed a cumulative 40-32 record.
He also had a reputation for being difficult to work with and formed combative relationships with, among others, former Esks GM Eric Tillman, former head coaches Kavis Reed and Chris Jones and former CFL commissioner Jeffrey Orridge. He now comes to the Lions, who are still very much a Buono construct, after spending 18 years with the Esks as a player, ambassador, scout and executive.
Still, Buono targeted Hervey as his man from Day 1 and insists this is the start of a “new era” for the Lions.
“It had to be this way,” Buono said of starting the change with the GM’s position. “If I couldn’t sell it, I’d move on.”
As for the decision to come back as coach for his 12th season with the Lions, Buono said retaining both jobs had become onerous in the CFL of 2017 and his passion remained in coaching.
“I’m not trying to build a career here,” he said. “I don’t need the aggravation. I’m doing this for the joy of coaching.”
Hervey, meanwhile, gave every indication the bulk of the Lions’ football department and the coaching staff would remain intact. He was asked about Geroy Simon, the resident franchise icon who’s been labouring in the personnel department and who’s made clear his ambition to become a general manager.
“I’m going to help Geroy,” Hervey said. “That’s my objective.”
“I consider Ed a good friend and he’s been a valuable resource for me,” Simon said. “I think this will work.”
And, in the end, this has a chance to work. Hervey and Buono maintain they’re in this for all the right reasons. Whatever else they are, both are experienced football men with proven track records. There might be uncertainty in the uppermost reaches of the franchise, but there is now clarity in the football department and any chance of restoring the Lions has to start there.
Besides, Hervey said his priority will be fixing the Lions’ offensive and defensive lines. If he does that, you can start building the statue in front of B.C. Place.
“This team has a chance to do something special,” Hervey said. “There’s no need to blow everything up.”
“I don’t believe this works unless Ed has carte blanche in football operations,” said Buono. “My role is no different than (CFL head coaches) Marc Trestman or Dave Dickenson. The fact that I have a relationship with the owner helps both of us.”
OK, that makes him a tad different than most head coaches, but both men say they know what they’ve signed up for. They have one year together, one year to breathe some life into a franchise that looks old and tired, but here’s the good news.
If they’re looking for a challenge, they’ve come to the right place.