What are the Riders up to this off-season

By Greg Urbanoski

Well, now what do we do?

The 100th Grey Cup saw the Toronto Argonauts beat down the gutless Calgary Stampeders 35-22 in a game that had me thinking, that could have been us in there.

Calgary, with the exception of say Kevin Glenn, is on most fans lists as one of the more obnoxious teams in the CFL and to see them choke and turn on each other like rabid dogs in Michael Vick’s basement was one of the heartwarming spectacles of this season. I remember all through the 2009 Grey Cup in Calgary sitting in front of some obnoxious Calgary fans and after the stupid end, turning to shake their hands and wish them happy holidays just to show them what class is like.

So seeing the TSN cameras pan over the devastated faces of the Stampeder fans brought back a few memories and in my house at least, a reference to karma and female dogs.

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But enough of the Grey Cup and the Justin Bieber experience. What are the Riders going to be up to this off-season?

There is a ban on announcements during Grey Cup week to avoid distracting from the game, but the Riders moved earlier by saying coaches Alex Smith and Mike Walker will not be with the team next year.

Smith has been with the Riders since the early 1990s and first reports said it was by mutual decision and perhaps Smith would retire. Smith used to coach special teams with the Riders and also was involved in the Canadian draft because of his past experience with the Regina Rams and his familiarity with junior and university football players.

However, it seems Smith may well be going to Hamilton which desperately needs help on defense considering its million dollar offense and its five cent defence resulted in no playoff spots. Hamilton’s problem was in large part not managing its salary cap and over-investing in some players to the extent the defense suffered.

If Smith goes to Hamilton, where former Rider coach Jim Daley is somewhere in the weeds, I guess that would not come as a big surprise, but it sort of makes me wonder why he didn’t stick around here?

The decision to let Walker goes comes as really no surprise. Walker was from the former staff and was given a one year try-out by Rider Coach Cory Chamblin, but Walker was unable to get the Rider defensive rush operating at a championship level. Chamblin may have some candidates in mind for the spot and one of those candidates may be former Rider Bobby Jurasin who has said he would love to come back here, but apparently when he was here ticked off some in the Rider organization.
Well, if he can coach, maybe the Rider brass can stick their egos in the closet and put the team first as the fans do. I’m curious to see how this works out especially as defensive coordinator Richie Hall’s contract expires at the end of December.

Hall has taken some heat for his “soft coverages” but again, with the inconsistent pass rush and rebuilt linebacking corps, who could have done better? There is a school of thought that Hall will go, maybe to Hamilton or maybe to Winnipeg. Greg Marshall had his contract with the Riders bought out so he is looking for a new job and it seems that maybe a combo order for whatever team is looking for defensive help.

Again, it’s early in the off-season, but the wheels are in motion as the Riders prepare to host Grey Cup 101 and now have little choice but to follow the example of the BC Lions and Toronto Argonauts who have won the last two home Cup games.