Riders Quick named Defensive Coordinator

There is a fine line between believing in yourself and operating without being able to explain what the hell you are doing, never mind why.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders announced Greg Quick, formerly the Montreal Allouettes linebacker coach as their defensive coordinator in training. I added the “in training” because the defensive signals are going to be called by Rider Head Coach Cory Chamblin at the start of the season, and who knows how long that will last.

Quick has been the linebacker coach for Montreal for the last few years and was a small university coach in the NCAA with a record of 48-112 or something in that neighbourhood. His replacement of Richie Hall, who is mulling over an offer from Winnipeg, was made possible because Chamblin felt the Riders defense was too passive against opposing offenses and he favors someone who is more aggressive.

To further make his point, Chamblin said he called the defensive signals in the western semi-final where the Riders defense did not give up a touchdown. Of course, the offense didn’t show up and the special teams gave up a touchdown, but the only one to keep their job was special teams’ coordinator Bob Dyce.

If Chamblin wanted to make a move by removing his coordinators, that was certainly within his rights to do so. George Cortez did not have his contract renewed, but he ended up on the staff of Jeff Tedford, who took over the BC Lions from Mike Benevedes. Benevedes was rumored to be in the running for the Rider defensive coordinator job, but declined, citing taking a year off. In reality though, Benevedes would not get to call his defensive signals with Chamblin looking over his shoulder while taking in a year of cheques from the BC Lions as he waited for a head coaching job to open up, is the more preferable activity.

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It’s not clear what Quick adds to the Riders. He is the human shield placed by Chamblin in front of the defense while Chamblin calls the shots and forgets that head coach is responsible for the whole team, not just a piece of it. Now Hall was not one of Chamblin’s guys, having been rolled over from previous coaching eras, but the guy has three of the four Grey Cup rings the Riders have ever won.

Hall is one of the more approachable Riders. I had the opportunity to sit down with him at some function and pick his brain about why he called what defense he did in certain situations and he had no problem in answering me.  Hall deserved to be treated better by the Riders and while there is a segment that feels that they are happy with not seeing Hall’s bend but don’t break defense, taking a look at Cory Chamblin’s defense that he ran in Hamilton gives me no confidence he has any better answer.

The problem with the Riders last year was not defense (with the exception of middle linebacker) but offense. And if you really want to get particular, the Riders problem last year was in not recruiting players who could step in and play. The Riders brought in a number of receivers, none of whom managed to stand out, and the handling of the back-up quarterback situation was ridiculous.

Was it the coaching or the scouting?

Speaking of scouting, the Riders have already held two free agent camps and the first one attracted seven players. One quarterback, one receiver, three defensive backs, one linebacker and one offensive lineman.

The Riders have added three more free agent camps for January 25 in Birmingham Alabama; February 21 in Dallas and February 22 in Houston. If the Riders come up with a few players to invite to training camp, or even their off season training activity in Florida where the whole team will assemble, it may prove to be an invaluable experience.

But that is a big if – the Riders had announced hiring Ron Selesky to help with US scouting and it was erroneously reported he was director of US scouting, but the Riders decided to inform people they already have two US scouts. This came as news to everyone who didn’t know the Riders had those scouts, never mind who they were.

Needless to say the questions are building up for the Riders annual meeting set for May or June. It would be nice to penetrate the cone of silence which has become Riders headquarters and find out exactly what it is we Rider fans are paying for.

The Riders announced Taj Smith would be back, which would mean some sort of favorable judgement in his bail jumping/assault charge. A combination of injury, his legal problems and the loss of Darian Durant at quarterback saw Smith fall into receiver limbo last year. Now if the charges against Smith have been dropped, and there has been no word on that, then Smith should at least be mentally be ready to contribute, but this is another example of the cone of silence for which the Riders are becoming notorious for.

The Riders did re-sign Korey Williams and Terrell Maze to contract extensions. Williams was maybe one of the few receivers to show a spark of being a deep threat so it would be nice to see what he can offer with a full season and some familiarity with Durant. Maze is a valuable addition to the defensive backfield but it does raise the question of what happens with Tyron Brackenridge.

Brackenridge has yet to get nibbles re NFL interest and may get some CFL interest, but the Riders may be looking at putting in a Canadian safety. If Brackenridge does not get any NFL interest, it would not be surprising since he is early 30’s, and I am not sure if the Riders will pursue the Canadian option at safety and move Brackenridge back to linebacker to help bolster that area.

Ben Heenan has had some NFL workouts already and will probably do a few more. Brent Jones of Calgary has already worked out for Pittsburgh and will go to Tampa Bay. Both players with a Regina connection are looking to test their abilities on the bigger market, and my former hopes of landing Jones are fading somewhat as he gets deeper into his NFL tryouts. Again, if both land NFL training camp spots, they likely won’t become available until Labour Day.

Which means the Riders may look at having two American tackles and three Canadians on the offensive line. Losing the one Canadian spot there would necessitate adding a Canadian elsewhere, hence the speculation on a Canadian playing safety.

I would think that Weston Dressler is likely to re-sign with the Riders. His sitting in with Darian Durant on the Jacques Chapdelaine interview would be a prime sign that Dressler will come back. I suspect the Riders will announce a few signings after their free agent camps are over and Dressler’s signing will be huge, so the Riders would like to do it up big time.

The Riders picked up the option for receiver Brett Swain, who was the tall guy in the receiving corps. Again this is hard to comment on based on the offensive performance of 2014, but with the addition of Jamal Richardson, the Riders are looking to get larger in their receiving corps.

There is still talk that SJ Green, formerly of Montreal, is expected to sign in Saskatchewan. Adding Green would be a bit plus for the Riders and make their receiving corps a more feared group. But as we wait for the February 15 free agency period to kick off, it’s all speculation until they get their names on the contracts.

The Riders will announce the rest of their additions to their coaching staff in February, reflecting their trips to the states for free-agent camps and seeing who comes available. Kelly Bates, formerly of Humboldt and the BC Lions has put his name in with the Riders, so there could be even more additions from the former BC Lions coaching ranks to come next month.