Perry Lefko

Perry Lefko keeps you connected to all the news in the CFL on Sportsnet.ca.

The CFL is all about giving players second chances. Why not a GM?

Let’s be honest: The Edmonton Eskimos will not go anywhere as long as Richie Hall continues to coach the team.

A career assistant coach in Saskatchewan, where he had been an outstanding player, Hall has not done the job coaching the Eskimos. He has a regular-season record of 10-15, including 1-6 this season, which gives him a .400 winning percentage.

Hall may be one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, but he hasn’t made the transition from co-ordinator to head coach.

And that shouldn’t be much of a surprise.

How many assistants have done well in their initial try as head coaches?

Immediately I’ll note that Hall’s former boss, Danny Maciocia, won the Grey Cup in his rookie season. You can also point to Kent Austin, who won the Cup in his rookie season. Dave Ritchie, Don Matthews, Wally Buono and Bob O’Billovich won Grey Cups within the first three years of their first tries as head coaches, but all had won more games than than they had lost leading up to their championship titles.

Barring a miracle, this will not be the case with Hall.

Those are exceptions to the rule that the majority of almost all assistants bomb their first time around as head coaches, but become better for the experience if they are given a second chance.

As examples we submit Bill Belichick, Mike Shanahan and Pinball Clemons.

Whatever happens beyond this year of this dysfunctional Eskimos’ team right now, Hall won’t be part of it. A new general manager or whatever title is assigned to that person in charge of football operations will fire Hall in a heartbeat.

So why entrust him with any football authority now?

Without a senior member of the football organization to take over – unlike the case with Montreal general manager Jim Popp replacing Matthews late in the 2006 season – there is no one with experience to do it now.

There is no one with experience to do it now.

That said, the problem with making mid-season coaching changes is—as a rule—they don’t make a difference. That was a belief of Matthews, the winningest head coach in CFL history until Buono dethroned him last year. Matthews’ belief held true when he was parachuted out of retirement to turn around the Toronto Argonauts in 2008 and went winless in eight games.

Again, it’s not necessarily a hard-and-fast rule. Steve Buratto was plugged into the B.C. Lions organization as head coach late in the 2000 season and, after an initial slow start, he began a run that ended in Grey Cup glory. Again, that was unusual. Popp took the Als to the Cup in 2006. But again, there was infrastructure still in place.

There is none in Edmonton now.

The Eskimos can make all the deletions either through firings (Jeff Bleamer) or resignations (Dan Kepley) or additions (linebackers coach Mark Nelson and offensive line coach Tim Prinsen), but does it really matter? The whole staff will be blown up at season’s end anyway. A new person coming in needs to have his own people. That’s an axiom in any business.

Moreover, this idea of management by committee – consisting of three of Maciocia’s subordinates – doesn’t wash. It says here Eskimos’ veteran U.S. scout Paul Jones, who has tried in the past to be a GM, should be the one to take over. He lives year-round in the southern U.S. and seems comfortable there. Allow him to finish out the season in Edmonton. Whether or not he wants to make the move is another story. He seems content working from home or close to it.

To think a team that is as disorganized as the Eskimos are right now can somehow turn the corner after their current bye week break is over is naïve. It’s too hard to recover. Were it not for the fact the B.C. Lions are also slumping at 1-6, this problem would be magnified. But the Lions’ have gone through revolving quarterbacks this season and have lost significant talent to the National Football League in the past few years.

Losing a stud such as Cameron Wake, voted the top defensive player in each of the two years he played in the CFL and is now a starter in the NFL, is a loss that seriously set the franchise back.

The obvious person to take over the Eskimos’ football operations, which became vacated following the firing of Maciocia almost three weeks ago, is Eric Tillman.

He built winners in B.C., Toronto and Saskatchewan. He’s in limbo now after pleading guilty to a summary charge of sexual assault earlier this year. It’s the equivalent of a misdemeanour in the U.S.

Tillman hoped he could return as the Roughriders’ GM, but ultimately he resigned when it became apparent that he did not have the support of everyone in the organization. Rider fans were split on Tillman: some wanted him back, some wanted him out, and the organization simply couldn’t – or wouldn’t – vouch for Tillman.

To hire Tillman would mean having to deal with his personal past, but it would also mean judging him on his football ability. In the end, an organization such as the Eskimos, which is already under siege, would have to be comfortable in its cleats if it hired Tillman.

Let his football resume speak for itself. The CFL is all about giving players second chances.

Why not a GM?

At some point, some CFL team will hire Tillman in some capacity. In fact, it will likely happen at the end of this season because he has connections to several people who understand and support him.

Tillman was plugged into the Roughriders’ fold in August, 2006, replacing Roy Shivers, who was terminated after refusing to fire head coach Danny Barrett. Tillman assessed the situation, decided after the season to offer Barrett a one-year deal, and Barrett refused.

Tillman had a variety of choices to replace Barrett, including Hall, annually overlooked by teams as a head coach. Tillman opted for Kent Austin, a controversial move because Austin had never been a head coach and had a checkered history as a player in Regina. All Austin did was win the Grey Cup in his first year.

Tillman made the right move then and his football past suggests he could do it again. Hall didn’t figure in Tillman’s plan in 2007 and wouldn’t be part of them now.

It’s up to Eskimos’ president Rick LaLecheur, who is currently doing a North American search for a replacement for Maciocia, and the Eskimos’ board to decide if they will give Tillman the chance.

The following are some other choices for either head coach and/or GM:

Tom Higgins: He’s currently the CFL’s director of officiating, but he’s a career football

coach with managerial experience. He won a Grey Cup with the Eskimos, but didn’t have the flash and pizzazz. Again, judge the man by his football record and not his personality.

Danny Barrett: He’s with the University at Buffalo as a co-ordinator but was passed over as head coach. Give him control of the organization (with his old buddy Shivers, now assistant GM in B.C.) and it would be a good move.

Rick Worman: Should have never been fired as the Eskimos’ offensive co-ordinator. He’s a former quarterback, had a 5-4 record when dismissed, and he knows the league. Head coaching material for sure.

Marcel Desjardins: Montreal Alouettes’ assistant GM. Had a brief stint as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ GM, but might be better second time around.

Matt Dunigan: If one of the prerequisites the Eskimos are looking for is a connection to the team’s past, why not bring in football analyst Matt Dunigan? He struggled in a dual role as GM/head coach in Calgary for one year, but he will have learned from that experience. He brings a fiery personality and a solid understanding of CFL personnel.

Adam Rita: He is the GM of record in Toronto, but it’s really the team of head coach Jim Barker. Rita’s team won only seven combined game the past two years, but he’s been with the Eskimos and needs a change. He’s probably a better head coach than a GM, but pair him with Dunigan and you have an interesting combination.

Mike McCarthy: Former GM has dealt with worse than this – i.e. the B.C. financial mess in 1996 – and could manage this team out of its chaotic state.

Ritchie: He’s up there in age, but his passion for coaching still burns.