A great friend of Prospect Magazine has signed with the Edmonton Eskimos.
On Friday, the Eskimos confirmed the signing of home grown guard Simeon Rottier, who grew up in Westlock.
Rottier played his first three seasons with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Prior to that he played three seasons with the University of Alberta Golden Bears. Rottier was the very first Golden Bear drafted first overall in the Canadian Football League Canadian Collegiate Draft and was also selected to play in the 2008 East-West Shrine Bowl.
Rottier, who was once on the cover of Prospect Magazine, Alberta’s elite sports publication, will be counted on this season to give incoming quarterback Steven Jyles time to make decisions at quarterback.
An area of weakness last season, Rottier will bring great experience to an Eskimos team that struggled mightily in the 2011 Western Final offensively against the British Columbia Lions. The Eskimos will also need solid production from Greg Wojt, the Eskimos most outstanding offensive lineman in 2011, and Kyle Koch who injured his knee on October 10, and was gone for the season.
One of the best defensive players in the Canadian Football League is going to see how things emerge in the National Football League.
On Thursday, Solomon Elimimian of the British Columbia Lions, one of the top linebackers in football over the last two years, signed a contract with the Minnesota Vikings.
Elimimian was second in the CFL last year with 98 tackles, seven behind Jerrell Freeman of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. But Elimimian was more impressive than Freeman, as the Lions defense gave up 97 fewer points than the last place Roughriders this past season.
If Elimimian makes the Vikings, he will be the latest CFL product under the tutelage of the great Wally Buono to have NFL success. He’ll join defensive specialist Cameron Wake of the Miami Dolphins, and quarterbacks Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia.
Elimimian will also join former Lions wide receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux, who joined Minnesota last summer. Elimimian was the CFL’s Most Outstanding Rookie in 2010 and then won a Grey Cup with the Lions in 2011. The University of Hawaii product was also a CFL all-star this past season.
In other NFL news, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have named Greg Schiano head coach. Schiano most recently coached the University of Rutgers.
One of the top wide receivers in the Canadian Football League has decided to retire to accept a position as receivers coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
Jermaine Copeland made the decision at the age of 34. Copeland, played his last two seasons with the Toronto Argonauts, but prior to that had five very productive seasons as a Calgary Stampeder. In three of his five seasons, he passed the 1,000 yard mark, and in 2008, helped the Stampeders win a Grey Cup.
A product of the University of Tennessee, Copeland began his CFL career with the Montreal Alouettes in 2001, and was part of the Alouettes Grey Cup Champions in 2002.
A two-time CFL All-Star, once with the Alouettes in 2003 and once with the Stampeders in 2009, Copeland was traded from Calgary to Toronto for wide receiver P.K. Sam on February 17, 2010.
He finished his career with 622 catches for 10,014 yards and 75 touchdowns. His best year was in 2003 in Montreal when he caught 99 passes for 1,757 yards and 14 touchdown receptions.
Copeland will now be helping out Tiger-Cats head coach George Cortez in Hamilton. Cortez was the Stampeders’ offensive co-ordinator from 2007-2009. Another familiar face will be quarterback Henry Burris, who was Copeland’s quarterback in Calgary during his entire time as a Stampeder.
In a blog I wrote on Friday, I stated that I thought the Eskimos would hire internally for the opening defensive co-ordinator position and name Mark Nelson, as a primary assistant to Head Coach Kavis Reed. Well, gosh golly gee, sometimes I am right.
On Monday, Reed agreed with my blog, and named Nelson, an Edmonton native, as the Eskimos’ defensive co-ordinator for the up coming year, to replace vetertan Rich Stubler, who went on to accept a similar position with the British Columbia Lions.
Nelson, who has been coaching football, since 1986, was the special teams and linebackers coach for the Eskimos back in 1992, in charge of special teams and running backs in 1993 and 1994, and has been the Eskimos’ linebackers coach the past two seasons. He also has experience as a defensive co-ordinator in the CFL with Winnipeg in 2010, and playing experience in the CFL with Calgary and Saskatchewan as a linebacker from 1980-1986.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats have found their replacement to the fired Marcel Bellefeuille.
On Saturday, the Tiger-Cats named George Cortez as their head coach. Cortez, most recently was the quarterbacks coach for the Buffalo Bills in the National Football League.
This past season he helped oversee Ryan Fitzpatrick record a career high 3832 passing yards and 24 touchdown passes. However, after a fast start where the Bills went 5-2, they only won one more game in their final nine games.
Cortez has a strong history in the Canadian Football League. He has worked as an assistant coach for the Montreal Concordes, Montreal Alouettes, Ottawa Rough Riders, Calgary Stampeders and Saskatchewan Roughriders. He has also spent extensive time with incoming quarterback Henry Burris. Cortez was the Stampeders’ offensive co-ordinator from 2006-2009, and the two led Calgary to a Grey Cup in 2008.
Hamilton had a record of 8-10 last season, and advanced to the Eastern Final, where they lost to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
The Edmonton Eskimos are now in search of a new defensive co-ordinator.
On Thursday, veteran coach Rich Stubler announced he was leaving the team to accept a similar position with the British Columbia Lions.
Under Stubler’s guidance, the Eskimos gave up the second fewest points in the Canadian Football League in 2011– 401 points. Only the Lions at 385 points gave up fewer.
But a change became necessary in British Columbia when Mike Benevides became the head coach after spending four years as their defensive co-ordinator. That particular move was made by the Lions because Wally Buono felt it was time to step away from coaching to concentrate on General Manager duties.
Stubler has a long history coaching in the CFL. He was the defensive co-ordinator for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from 1983-1989, Toronto Argonauts in 1990 and 2003-07, Edmonton Eskimos from 1991-1995, 1998-1999 and 2011, and British Columbia Lions in 2000. Stubler was also the head coach of the Argonauts in 2007 and 2008 and the defensive line coach for the Lions in 2010.
If the Eskimos hire internally for the defensive co-ordinator position, linebackers coach Mark Nelson would be a solid choice. Nelson has a year of experience being the defensive co-ordinator of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in 2009.
In a blockbuster trade in the Canadian Football League the Calgary Stampeders have traded Henry Burris to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for Kevin Glenn.
According to Dave Naylor of TSN, offensive lineman Mark Dewit would also be traded from the Hamilton Tiger-Cats to the Calgary Stampeders.
In 2011, Glenn was fourth in the Canadian Football League with 3,963 yards, while Burris was fifth with 3,687 yards.
Burris though had a better quarterback rating than Glenn– 93.6 to 86.8 and a better touchdown to interception ratio of 20:12, compared to Glenn’s 19:17.
An interesting element of the deal is that Burris and Glenn were both involved in quarterbacking controversies in 2011, and even though they are trading places, the controversies at the quarterback position does not look like they will quiet down whatsoever.
Expect Tate to still be the number one quarterback in Calgary, but it isn’t completely clear if Glenn will be brought in to compete for the number one job, or if he will be used as a backup.
As for Burris, a similar situation exists. There’s a question if he will be the number one quarterback in Hamilton or if Quinton Porter will compete for the starting job.
It’s that time again folks – we’re back with a fresh episode of everyone’s favorite internet sports show: 15 Minutes of Fame!
This week on the show we’re talking about another concussion-filled week in the NHL, and going through the list of hired and fired coaches from around the league. As well, we react to the big news from last week in the CFL: The Edmonton Eskimos traded quarterback Ricky Ray, the face of the franchise, to the Toronto Argonauts.
In the GABBYs: Derek Jeter, Tebowing, Patrick Chan, the National Basketball League, fighting in hockey, Jerry Sandusky’s lawyers. The Punchline this week is the washrooms at the MTS Centre!
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have named Corey Chamblin as their next head coach.
If you say the word, who, I don’t blame you.
Chamblin spent last season as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats defensive co-ordinator. You can almost say the Roughriders are going back to the future, as they hired defensive co-ordinator Greg Marshall in last year’s offseason.
That didn’t work out very well at all for the Roughriders as Marshall went 1-7 as Saskatchewan missed the playoffs for the first time since 2001.
What even makes this move even more odd by General Manager Brendan Taman, was how poor the Tiger-Cats played defensively in facets of their game in the postseason. In the Eastern semi-final, they couldn’t stop the pass in a 52-44 overtime win in Montreal, as Anthony Calvillo threw for an amazing 513 yards. Then in the Eastern final, they couldn’t stop the run in a 19-3 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, as Chris Garrett ran for 190 yards.
Prior to his role as defensive co-ordinator, Chamblin worked with defensive backs in Calgary and Winnipeg. As a player, Chamblin played 11 games with the Jacksonville Jaguars as a cornerback in 1999.
According to TSN, the Grey Cup champion winning British Columbia Lions are set to announce Mike Benevides as their head coach today.
Benevides has been the Lions’ defensive co-ordinator since 2008. The Lions are making the move because legend Wally Buono has decided it was time to relinquish one of his two major responsibilities with the Lions and only focus on the managerial duties for the football club.
The Lions gave up the fewest points in the CFL last season. Their 385 points against were 16 fewer than the Edmonton Eskimos.
Prior to being named as the Lions’ defensive co-ordinator in 2008, Benevides had worked as the Lions’ special teams co-ordinator and linebackers coach from 2003-2007. Prior to that role, Benevides worked with the Calgary Stampeders as the special teams co-ordinator, linebackers coach and director of Canadian scouting.
A native of Toronto, Ontario, Benevides is the only Canadian born head coach in the CFL. With the move, John Hufnagel of the Calgary Stampeders is the only current person in the CFL, who is taking on the duel role as head coach and general manager. Earlier in the off-season, Jim Barker of the Toronto Argonauts announced he would only stay on as general manager and the team announced Scott Milanovich as head coach.
In a blockbuster deal, the Edmonton Eskimos traded star quarterback Ricky Ray to the Toronto Argonauts this morning for quarterback Steven Jyles, kicker Grant Shaw and a first round draft pick.
Ray was third in the Canadian Football League in passing in 2011 with 4594 passing yards and was instrumental in leading the Eskimos to the Western Final. But the bottom line is he hasn’t led the Eskimos to a Grey Cup Championship in six years and looked very poor and slow in making decisions in the 2011 Western Final.
As much as a Ricky Ray fan that I am, the CFL is all about a what have you done for me lately league.
With the interesting transaction today, the Eskimos now have Jyles, and Kerry Joseph at quarterback. Both Joseph and Jyles played in Saskatchewan when Eric Tillman was the General Manager there.
Don’t be surprised if Tillman isn’t done yet in trying to acquire a solid number one quarterback. Could Darian Durant be an Eskimo in the very near future? If recent history is any indication whatsoever, than there is a very strong possibility that will be the precise move Tillman will make.
The winningest head coach in Canadian Football League history has decided he will now just focus on his general managerial duties.
On Monday, Wally Buono, 61 years of age, confirmed weeks of speculation that he will stay on as the General Manager of the British Columbia Lions and give someone else a chance to be the head coach.
Buono had a record of 254-139-3 in 22 seasons as a head coach with the Lions and Calgary Stampeders. He has been coaching in the CFL since 1990, winning five Grey Cups and winning the Annis Stukus award as the best coach in the Canadian Football League three times.
Buono could win his fourth Annis Stukus award this season, as he helped turn a Lions team around that began the season 0-5 to an impressive Grey Cup Championship. I believe the award should go to Paul LaPolice of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, because the pre-season expectations in British Columbia than they were in Winnipeg.
Now the question is who will be the next head coach of the Lions? I think it will be one of Buono’s assistants, either offensive co-ordinator Jacques Chapdelaine or defensive co-ordinator Mike Benevides.
It appears Anthony Calvillo will play one final season in the Canadian Football League for the Montreal Alouettes.
On Monday, Calvillo, who is 39 years of age, made the decision to play one more season.
Calvillo is the all-time leader in CFL passing yards, touchdown passes and career completions for a quarterback. The four-time CFL All-Star is also a three-time recipient of the CFL’s Most Outstanding Player award and three-time Grey Cup champion.
There was substantial speculation that Calvillo would retire at the end of last season, after his Montreal Alouettes lost a dramatic thriller in overtime in the Eastern Semi-Final to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. But the veteran quarterback who has also spent time with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Las Vegas Posse, still feels he still has some more football left in him.
Staying with the Alouettes’ theme, it was interesting to watch former Alouette Tyler Palko record his first win as an NFL quarterback Sunday as Kansas City defeated Chicago 10-3. Palko made 17 completions in 30 attempts for 157 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown pass to Dexter McCluster was of the Hail Mary variety that put the Chiefs up by four points at the end of the first half. If you don’t remember him on the Alouettes’ active roster for three weeks in November in 2009, that’s ok because neither do I. He didn’t see any action because a guy by the name of Anthony Calvillo was leading the Alouettes to a dramatic Grey Cup victory.
We’re talking coaching changes, Rookie of the Month awards and trade rumors this week on 15 Minutes of Fame. Also: the Argos are fined for tampering and the groups are set for Euro 2012.
In the GABBYs: Ryan Jones, Ryan Jimmo, Marshawn Lynch, Nick Novak, Wayne Gretzky and the Chinese Basketball Association. This week’s Punchline is Ryan Miller!
A great friend of Prospect Magazine has signed with the Edmonton Eskimos.
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