THE CANADIAN PRESS
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Under Rich Stubler’s guidance the past five years, the Toronto Argonauts defence has been one of the CFL’s most dominant and consistent units.
They’ve surrendered a mere 163 touchdowns in 90 regular-season games during that span, a stunning average of just 1.81 per game. Yet the Argos have been unable to parlay that stinginess into post-season success, reaching the Grey Cup just once over that stretch, a win over B.C. in 2004.
An offence that has routinely failed to carry its share of the load has taken much of the blame for that, and the challenge before Stubler following his promotion to head coach Thursday is to find a way to get more production when his team has the ball.
"Right now we’ve taken a defensive group of people and kept them for as many years as we can," Stubler said after his long-rumoured hiring was announced. "We’ve not done the same thing on offence and I truly believe in my heart that that’s the only way you can play good football.
"My influence at that point is going to be that whoever we leave training camp with is basically who we’re going to play with on offence. We’re going to learn to play as a team."
To that end, Stubler’s mantra of FIFO — an acronym that says conform or leave in impolite fashion — will now be applied uniformly across an Argos roster that finished the season first in the East at 11-7, but lost to Winnipeg in the division final. That means applying his approach of forcing a strict adherence to the team’s schemes and empowering players to police themselves to everyone.
"The head coach’s job is to put 46 people into one," he said. "My job broadens now."
And life changes dramatically for the players.
Michael (Pinball) Clemons, who stepped down as coach Tuesday to become the team’s CEO, is a one-of-a-kind person and his endless positivity and preacher-like pep talks will be a thing of the past. Stubler is a lifetime coach with 38 years under his belt and doesn’t have the same sunny disposition.
"Don’t mistake Pinball as just this nice guy, he gets on you when you need your butt kicked," said veteran linebacker Michael Fletcher. "Stubler, he’s kind of a no-nonsense guy but he creates an environment where it’s still fun to work for him. I don’t think it will be as light as it was with Pinball, which is not a bad thing, it’s just different."
Stubler, 58, becomes a head coach for the first time, taking the reins of a job he’s been groomed for since returning to the Argos in 2003. There were no other candidates for the job.
"This was the only decision for the success and progress of the Toronto Argonauts," said Clemons.
Stubler’s had previous opportunities to become a head coach, but never was he offered "control of things need to be control of." That won’t be an issue with the Argos, as he’s been given full control of player-personnel decisions, a big stick he can wield against players who don’t fall into line.
"Part of my deal was to say that I control who plays on the field," said Stubler, adding he will consult with everyone around him. "The final decision has got to come down to me."
There are plenty of decisions already looming, highlighted by:
— The potential need a new offensive co-ordinator, as Steve Buratto was en route to Montreal on Thursday to be interviewed for Alouettes’ vacant head coaching job. He wants a decision on Buratto by next week;
— Who will take over as defensive co-ordinator, although Stubler hinted he didn’t want to give up total control of his defence. He’s already talked to defensive assistant Kavis Reed about his plans;
— The option on veteran quarterback Damon Allen was picked up during Grey Cup week but that doesn’t mean his future with the team is assured. Stubler expects to make a decision on where Allen fits in, if at all, after Christmas.
.Stubler also made a point of showing some support for quarterback Michael Bishop, who took over at starter last season and was criticized for his inconsistency. Bishop was 185-of-355 passing for 2,920 yards with 22 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, but a poor effort in the Eastern final left many sour with him.
"We endured some growing pains because we had a new quarterback this season. He’ll be a lot better next season," said Stubler. "You can say whatever you want to say about Michael Bishop, he was 11-2."
That doesn’t mean Stubler won’t be keeping his eyes open. He said he has some interest in Dave Dickenson although he seemed to shoot that down right after by saying he was concerned by the veteran quarterback’s concussion issues.
"You have to really worry about Dave and his physical things that are going to happen," said Stubler. "You obviously don’t want to bring somebody in who it takes one hit and he’s mushy for the rest of his life, that’s not a good thing. You don’t want to say he’s the Muhammad Ali of Canada."
Stubler’s strong CFL pedigree should be an asset as the off-season unfolds.
He has 18 years of experience north of the border, starting when he joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ coaching staff in 1983. In 1990, he spent one season as defensive co-ordinator for the Argonauts before joining Edmonton’s coaching staff for five seasons (1991-95).
After a two-year stint as defensive co-ordinator at the University of Oregon, he rejoined the Eskimos from 1998-99 before moving on to help the B.C. Lions capture the Grey Cup in 2000. He also won a championship with the Argonauts in 2004.
"We know that he can keep people from scoring," said general manager Adam Rita. "So now all he has to do is to keep that up, keep the special teams up and improve the offence from game-to-game and we’ll be in good shape."
The native of Glenwood Springs, Colo., has also coached at several American colleges and even had a stint with Detroit of the Arena Football League. Now, he plans to move to Toronto full-time as he settles into his new role.
"I look out here now and I fell on the ice yesterday and whacked my head," he quipped, "so I feel like a Canadian now."
That sounds like something Clemons would say. But those days are gone now.
"The fact is we’ve lost five out of six Eastern finals, so something has to change," said Fletcher. "He’s trying to spread some of the momentum from the defensive side over there and that comes with empowering players, that’s his big thing.
"That’s what’s needed throughout the whole team. We’re 1-for-6 in Eastern finals and it’s not because we’ve been beaten on the field, we beat ourselves in those games."
