THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — He pondered opportunities in government and television as well as the business sector but Mike (Pinball) Clemons wasn’t ready to sever his 19-year tie with the Toronto Argonauts.
Clemons did the expected Tuesday, stepping down as Toronto’s head coach to become the CFL team’s chief executive officer. The Argos also appointed Brad Watters, who had served as chairman of the 2007 Grey Cup committee, as the franchise’s chief operating officer during a news conference at the Rogers Centre.
"There were some lucrative opportunities that were posed to me … but ultimately this is where my heart is," Clemons said at a packed news conference. "What a journey it has been.
"I’m not here to sort of hold a position to say that I’m still associated with the Toronto Argonauts. I am here to do a job. CEO is a fancy term but for me all it means is this — coach and empower ownership. That is what my job is, to coach and empower ownership in our front office."
Clemons, 42, will head up Toronto’s management team, serve as its governor on the CFL board and oversee the club’s football operations, which is headed up by GM Adam Rita. The Argos will hold a news conference Thursday to unveil Clemons’ replacement as head coach, which sources say will be defensive co-ordinator Rich Stubler.
The affable Clemons, whose warm, outgoing personality and tireless community work have made him one of Toronto’s most popular athletes, replaces Keith Pelley as the face of Toronto’s management team. Pelley served as Argos president for four years before leaving the team last week to become president of the CTV-Rogers consortium that will broadcast the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Argos co-owners David Cynamon and Howard Sokolowski were thrilled to install Clemons and Watters at the helm of their team.
"Brad’s skill set complements Michael’s and we’re confident that this new executive time is the best there is," Sokolowski said. "We’re lucky to have them both."
Watters, the former president of the Ottawa Renegades, will manage Toronto’s day-to-day business operations, including marketing, corporate partnerships and sales. Watters is also the owner, governor and president of the National Lacrosse League’s Toronto Rock, but said he will step down as that franchise’s president.
"I always wanted the opportunity to continue the role I had in Ottawa," Watters said. "To come to an organization that’s this successful and this established and to go into something that has such history and not start from the ground up, really, it’s a privilege for me to do that."
Clemons’ future with the organization was the biggest off-season question facing the Argos, but his decision to step down as coach was hardly a surprise. The overwhelming sentiment this year was that a big reason why Clemons decided to stayed on through the 2007 campaign was the allure of trying to win a Grey Cup on home turf.
Clemons joined the Argos in ’89 as a running back and kick returner after being released by the NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. Clemons earned the "Pinball" moniker from former Toronto head coach Bob O’Billovich for his ability to bounce off potential tacklers.
Clemons played 12 stellar seasons in Toronto, being named the CFL’s outstanding player in ’90 and being part of three Grey Cup championship teams (’91, ’96 and ’97). He retired in 2000 as pro football’s career leader in all-purpose yards (25,402) to reluctantly become the Argos head coach after John Huard was fired.
Clemons left coaching following the ’01 season to become the Argos president. But he found himself back on the sidelines late in the ’02 campaign after Gary Etcheverry was fired Sept, 17, 2002.
Clemons enjoyed plenty of success as a head coach, amassing a 68-55-1 regular-season record with Toronto (second-most coaching wins in club history behind O’Billovich with 89) and being a finalist for CFL coach of the year between 2002 and 2006. In ’04, he led the Argos to the Grey Cup, becoming the first black head coach to win the league championship..
But Clemons never aspired to be a career head coach because of the time it forced him to be away from his wife and three daughters as well as the discomfort cutting players caused him.
"I loved the guys and being able to take a group of players and mould them and teach them they could accomplish more than they thought they could," Clemons said. "But I hated to cut guys and I hated to lose more than I liked to win so that was a bit of a challenge.
"It was much tougher after a loss as a coach than it was as a player. As a player you could feel like you went out and did all you could but as a coach the feeling was a little bit more incomplete."
Clemons, arguably, did his best coaching job this season by motivating a hurting and under-achieving Argos squad to do more. Early in the season, Toronto, minus starting quarterback Michael Bishop, was languishing with a 2-6 record.
Upon Bishop’s return, the Argos caught fire, riding their stout defence and opportunistic special teams to win nine of their final 10 regular-season games to finish atop the East Division for the second time in three years and secure home-field advantage for the conference final. However, Winnipeg dashed Toronto’s Grey Cup aspirations with a 19-9 win over the Argos in the division final.
Being unable to win the Grey Cup at Rogers Centre was a huge disappointment for Clemons, but it was obvious that he’s over it now.
"I’m not a yesterday guy so I don’t look back so much," he said. "I move on pretty easily because I’m a really today guy and it’s important to live in the present.
"People talk about the good, old days but these are the good old days and that’s what we want Argonauts fans to understand."
