BY ARASH MADANI
sportsnet.ca
Corey Chamblin will be the next defensive coordinator of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, sources tell Sportsnet.
Chamblin, most recently an assistant head coach with the Calgary Stampeders who has served as a defensive backs coach with two different teams since breaking into the CFL coaching ranks in 2007, has accepted Hamilton's offer to run its defence, replacing the departed Greg Marshall who is the new head coach in Saskatchewan.
Chamblin made the decision Tuesday, after spending the weekend in Hamilton for interviews.
The Tiger-Cats have called a Wednesday press conference but is not to unveil Chamblin. Instead, they are expected to make official what has been reported for weeks—that former Saskatchewan scout Joe Womack will become their new assistant general manager.
It is believed Womack, who spent the 2010 season based out of the U.S., will remain working from his Denver base in his new role with the Tiger-Cats.
On Monday, Chamblin had told Sportsnet he was encouraged with the direction the Tiger-Cats are heading after speaking with head coach Marcel Bellefuille over the weekend.
"I like the direction and vision the Hamilton Tiger-Cats are going in," he said.
Chamblin was unavilable for comment Tuesday.
"I like what (Bellefuille) said. That's what made it pretty good. What he was saying, I thought 'I like that. I didn't know some of the things they have going on there, being in the West all these years. But I can buy the vision Marcel has and where he's going with that."
This will be Chamblin's third CFL stop.
He broke into the league with Winnipeg as an assistant in 2007 before moving on to Calgary in 2008, where he won a Grey Cup that season and had remained since.
Chamblin took the job in Hamilton over a similar role with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who were also seeking the former NFL defensive back.
The Blue Bombers first interviewed Chamblin before Christmas for their defensive coordinator position, vacated when Kavis Reed became head coach in Edmonton. Winnipeg had originally hoped to land Richie Hall, but he appears to be joining Marshall in Saskatchewan and Chamblin was their next preference.
Bill Bradley, who played for the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1970s and is currently a defensive backs coach with the Florida Tuskers in the UFL, was on Winnipeg's radar, but is said to not be interested in the job.
It is unknown what direction Winnipeg goes in now to fill their defensive coordinator position.
Landing Chamblin appears to make sense for the Tiger-Cats.
In each of his stops, Chamblin’s secondary has possessed the same athletic makeup that Hamilton general manager Bob O'Billovich targets while searching for talent.
There has been talk this off-season that the Tiger-Cats would want to look for an upgrade in their defensive backfield, and with Chamblin coordinating the group, a more aggressive approach is likely – similar to some of the philosophies Chamblin worked under with Stampeders defensive coordinator Chris Jones in Calgary.
