Although the Bombers are atop the CFL, LaPolice remains grounded.
Paul LaPolice is enjoying the worst-to-first feeling although trying to keep things in perspective -- knowing how quickly things can turn around in the football business and that coaching is not a job with any guarantees.
LaPolice is head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, currently leading the Canadian Football League with a 6-1 record. Last year in his rookie season with the Blue Bombers, his team produced a league-worst 4-14 record.
But the Blue Bombers organization, specifically first-year general manager Joe Mack, allowed LaPolice to continue rather than canning him and his staff and starting all over. The Bombers have done that in the past with first-year head coaches, including LaPolice's predecessor Mike Kelly.
"I can't speak to what happened to other people in other places, but I just believed the people here believed in what we were doing and that we were going to be better," LaPolice said Wednesday in an interview with sportsnet.ca. "I think every situation is different. People that have faith and believe in you are going to hold their course. It isn't easy trying to get things in place and trying to do your job. Hats off to Joe Mack for trying to bring stability. Winnipeg has gone through a lot of head coaches in the last couple years. (Firing the rookie coach) isn't always the right model, I don't think."
There have been noteworthy CFL coaches who didn't make it through year one, including Greg Marshall, fired last week by Saskatchewan with a league-worst 1-7 record. Other casualties include Gary Etcheverry, Rich Stubler, Rod Rust and John Huard, who brought LaPolice into the CFL with Toronto in 2000 from a U.S. Division 3 school.
Some of the coaches who turfed after only one year include: Jim Barker, currently coaching Toronto but who has been fired two separate times in other tenures; Matt Dunigan, Kay Stephenson, Joe Paopao, Darryl Rogers and Urban Bowman, to name a few.
Sometimes it had nothing to do with performance, but more about a change of ownership or management seeking to bring in their own people. LaPolice, who came to the Bombers following three years with the Saskatchewan Roughriders (the last two as the team's offensive co-ordinator), said he never worried that he would be an early casualty last year because of the won-lost record.
"If you worry about those things you're not going to be very successful," he said. "That's part of this business. This is a change business. If you're not comfortable with change you'd better not be in this business. I've moved every couple years. Hopefully I stay here a very long time. That's my goal. It's a change business. If you're concerned about that, you really shouldn't be a coach, so I worry about what I can control and that's how I handle myself and how we prepare this team and how we get this team better. Our job is to build this into a winning organization for the long haul."
Huard lasted only eight games before his tenure ended with a 1-6-1. LaPolice is the only member of that staff to have moved on to another job at the professional level and become a head coach. While the Bombers are riding a wave of popularity called Swaggerville that has been created by the players to bring pride to the team and the city, LaPolice is trying to remain grounded. He is happy for the fans, but there is no swagger in him.
"That's not how Coach Huard raised me there, buddy," he said.
LaPolice said he is trying not to place too much stock in the Bombers' current record because there's still 11 games to be played in the regular season, including one this Friday at home against Hamilton, third in the East with a 4-3 record.
"It's not something you sit back and go, 'We're doing great.' If you process orientate, you just keep working hard to keep the players focused from week to week. Right now records don't matter. A 6-1 team can lose to a 1-6 team if they don't play well and they're not prepared. The part of the wins makes us believe in the process even more, but we just can't think we're doing great because we've got six wins."
A day after the season ended last year, LaPolice took his daughter to daycare and a fan spotted him and said, "Hey, Coach, you had a good year." LaPolice said his idea of good did not correspond with the fan's, who angrily replied, "Cut the crap. We believe in you. We have faith and we're going to be better next year."
It would be something LaPolice would hear from more than just one person, making him feel good about what he was doing, even if the record didn't indicate that.
"It makes you want to work even harder and gets you even more mad when you don't have the success in year one," he says. "What people didn't understand is last year we were fixing this roster all year long. Our guys played competitive football every week and this year we've been able to finish games. It's great that fans are behind us. It's just awesome. When I got hired I said I'm going to work my tail off for this community to make this organization the best it possibly can. It's a great thing because a lot of people care about football here, and especially when our record has been good. It's been a good thing, but it's early."
But it's been a lot better this year than at this point last year.
