Lions will enter season ‘doing it Ed’s way’
Buono and Hervey not confused on what their roles are, and that’s all that matters
As outsiders contemplate the newly imagined B.C. Lions, Ed Hervey and Wally Buono maintain it’s really quite simple.
Buono is the head coach. Hervey is the general manager.
OK, Buono is the head coach and vice-president. And he’s still in the same big office he’s always occupied in Surrey, while Hervey moves into the more compact digs of Lions director of communications Jamie Cartmell.
And Buono is still the liaison between the CFL team and owner David Braley.
But don’t be distracted by any of that. The two football men understand their roles within the new world order and there won’t be any conflict. Both men want this to work. Both men have the best interests of the Lions at heart.
Besides, their energies will be better invested elsewhere, like trying to remember everyone’s name as they undertake this grand adventure.
“I told the coaches and the staff, buy into the transition,” Buono said Friday as the Lions coaching staff was introduced to the media and to each other. “We’re not doing it like we did last season. We’re doing it Ed’s way. You have to be onside with that.
“The whole idea of the transition was to bring in new ideas and a new heartbeat. When I visited with (Braley) at the end of the season, it was all about that. You have to have the new leadership come in and revitalize the organization.”
They’re here now. All of them. In the team’s first public event of the 2018 CFL season, the Lions unveiled their new organization — and it’s a sizable group.
There’s new director of player personnel Torey Hunter, new offensive co-ordinator Jarious Jackson, new special teams coordinator Jeff Reinebold, new D -line coach Randy Melvin and new receivers coach Markus Howell.
This is in addition to new team president Rick LeLacheur, new GM Hervey and a new role for Buono, the resident icon.
One other thing. CFL free agency starts Tuesday, which means there will be a bunch of new players this season.
Say this for the Lions: For a franchise that seemed stuck in its ways, it didn’t fool around once it committed to change.
“It had to be this way,” says Buono, who then added he would have retired before coming back as head coach and GM.
Hervey and Buono occupy the core of the new organization and that relationship will be under scrutiny throughout the season. But sitting here in February, when the team is undefeated, there’s no one on the disabled list and everyone is getting along, they don’t anticipate any problems. Both see the Lions’ wants and needs through a similar lens. There will be collaboration on all player decisions but, the final call will be Hervey’s.
As it happens, the new chain of command has already been put to the test in the trades for Gabe Knapton and Odell Willis, two defensive linemen who address a significant need for the Leos.
“Wally’s been in the loop on every move,” Hervey said.
“I’ll call him and ask, ‘What do you think about this move.’ Then we’ll have a conversation.
“But he says, ‘Do what you think is best for the football team.’ He doesn’t say, ‘I don’t want that guy.’”
There will also be a major test of that relationship with free agency looming but, again, Buono has been around long enough to respect the boundaries between head coach and GM.
When asked if the Lions would be targeting the offensive and defensive lines, he deferred to Hervey.
It was the same answer when he was asked about quarterback Travis Lulay.
Hervey, meanwhile, was candid when those same questions were raised, starting with his priorities in free agency.
“I’m willing to put more into protecting the quarterback and getting after their quarterback than the skill positions,” he said.
Hervey, the former Eskimos GM, was asked if he had any interest in Adarius Bowman, the elite receiver who signed with Winnipeg later on Friday after he was released by Edmonton.
“He’s like family to me,” Hervey said.
“He knows that. But we have other priorities.”
On Lulay, Hervey said: “Ultimately, the decision is his. The way I left it (after a meeting earlier this week) is we’d love to have you and we’d like to get something done.”
That leaves the Lions’ own players to consider and Hervey said he expected defensive ends Craig Roh and Alex Bazzie, DB Ronnie Yell, offensive lineman Kirby Fabien and wide receiver Nick Moore to make it to free agency.
He’ll also try to sign defensive back Chandler Fenner before Tuesday.
As for his wish list, Hervey will likely shop down-market in free agency with a view to adding Canadian talent and depth on both lines.
And there will be conversations with the head coach.
“I always talk to Wally, the head coach, and we’re always going to talk about players coming on to the roster,” Hervey said. “The relationship is with the head coach and that’s the relationship you have to focus on more than the VP. I think that’s what confuses everyone.”
Which is fine. There will only be a problem if Buono and Hervey get confused over their relationship.