SURREY, B.C. — B.C. Lions general manager Wally Buono says Andrew Harris voicing his season-long frustration following the club’s playoff exit won’t impact contract negotiations with the impending free agent.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t going to be repercussions.
"Where it has a negative effect is … in the locker-room," Buono said Wednesday. "You don’t think we’re frustrated with all this?"
The Lions’ roller-coaster 7-11 regular season culminated in a 35-9 beating at the hands of the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL’s West Division final on Sunday. As he joined teammates in cleaning out lockers less than 24 hours later, Harris told reporters that "the amount of effort and things I’ve put into this club … hasn’t been reflected the same way back to me."
Despite finishing second in the league in rushing and first in yards from scrimmage, the 28-year-old Winnipeg native felt ignored at times in the offensive scheme, adding that the "writing’s kind of on the wall" after six seasons in B.C.
Buono said he had "a candid conversation" with Harris this week and left the door open for his return, but speaking in general terms, it was clear he wasn’t pleased with the airing of dirty laundry in public.
"You’re going to go through your ups and downs, but you’re a professional athlete, you’re a professional coach, you’re a professional GM," Buono said at his end-of-season press conference. "I don’t stand up here every week and show my frustrations on why we won or why we lost. You’ve got to be enough of a pro that you can’t do that. Your body language can’t be so evident.
"I always say: ‘I don’t want to see your body language tell me if you’ve been successful or a failure, because if you can tell me, everybody else can see it."’
Buono added that the dollars have to make sense for Harris to return to the Lions in 2016.
"There’s a salary cap," he said. "If a player’s demand is higher than what we can pay or higher than we feel is warranted then you’ve got to make a decision."
The Lions were also blown out in last year’s playoffs and replaced head coach Mike Benevides with Jeff Tedford, who had an extensive resume in U.S. college football, but had not worked in the CFL in more than 20 years.
"Jeff was brought here for specific reason: to make this football club into a winning organization," said Buono. "But at the end of it we were 7-11 and we went to Calgary and couldn’t get the job done."
Buono has a contract through 2017, but would not speculate on his or Tedford’s future before meeting with team president Dennis Skulsky and owner David Braley. The Lions are 0-4 in the playoffs since Buono stepped aside as coach following the club’s 2011 Grey Cup victory.
"The last four years we’ve kind of regressed every year," said Buono. "If this year was rock bottom then so be it, but what happens from today forward, we’ve got to look at how we’re going to put our organization in the best position to improve and to win."
Buono also touched on the future of veteran quarterback Travis Lulay, who lost the starting job to rookie Jonathon Jennings after going down with a knee injury in September. The 32-year-old Lulay dealt with injuries his throwing shoulder over the previous two seasons, but is eager to keep playing.
"Travis is an intelligent guy, he takes things to heart," said Buono. "Would the organization like to have him back? Yes, but part of that is depending on what his goals are, what his objectives are."
Notes: The Lions announced Wednesday that a trio of Canadians had signed contract extensions. Wide receiver Stephen Adekolu, slotback Shawn Gore and offensive lineman Cody Husband each inked two-year deals. … Buono said Jennings didn’t break his collarbone in the West semifinal, but instead suffered an injury to the AC joint.
