GCn20

Basically. I think JOD tried to impose some conditions on Buck's hire that made him walk away as well....and based on how much of Mace's presser was all about his belief in Harris I am guessing he was the deal breaker for Buck. Why would his need for a yes man change now? Of course that's what he was looking for. When a GM says he is looking for a guy that "shares his vision" it ultimately means he is looking for a yes man. O'Day doesn't have the guts to let his HC determine roster etc. It would shine a light on how poor a GM he is.

So apparently Buck was in Regina and left on Saturday. Mace's 2nd interview happened and was scheduled Monday. Buck stated he withdrew his name and one would have to assume it was Saturday before he left. I think Buck is the type of guy who would do it in person. Something happened on that visit that changed Buck's mind and it wasn't the imminent hiring of Mace because he had not even had his 2nd interview yet. My bet is that O'Day told him that Harris would be his man and Buck said thanks but no thanks, and rightfully so. After that is was straight spin about how Mace was the guy all along through the process. Mace basically got Harris forced on him and wanted the job so bad he is willing to harpoon his, and the teams best chances of success by properly rebuilding around a young QB. Unfortunate for the Riders and the Rider fan base that JOD can't help but #%$* their team over even as a new coach is hired. Buck had the integrity to stay committed to his plan for success or pass on it. Harris 38 coming off a major injury and has been completely uncomfortable in the pocket for a few years now. Chances are he doesn't make it to the halfway point of next season.

I didn't want to say it out loud but I was thinking it too...then I realized they aren't cousins.

No doubt. Why on earth would he be in the HOF? He knew that coming in. It's why he bailed.

So Mace committed to living in Regina, massaged ODay's ego, and then committed to ODays choice of QB...he already sucks as a HC and it's only day 1. Reading between the lines it would seem that Buck was not very enthusiastic about the job, wouldn't move to Regina year round, or wanted a different starting QB. Probably all 3. Good gravy, committing to year round residence in Regina just screams bad decision maker.

Reminds me of when we hired Mike Kelly because it was his dream job so he'll probably try real hard.

Not to mention the difference e in win%.

Good god no....I would not want Ball to have any connection to our team in any way shape of form. They are like the ugly chick at closing time puckering their lips and then bragging about the drunk they snagged the night before.

Nope. Mace was top choice. Buck was never under consideration and only withdrew after Mace was negotiating a contract. Signed. Rider Stronson (Delusional seems to fit alright.)

I don't think Michael Ball has any constituency to pander towards, even Rider fans think he is a grade A tool....and that's a tough thing to pull off. Today is a pretty awesome day to be a Bomber fan. Buck tells them he'd rather be a coordinator in Winnipeg than a HC in Regina. Life doesn't get any better than that. I mean how bad of a sink hole does a team need to be when a guy won't take a promotion and a 200k salary bump to go there. Two words...TIRE FIRE.

He posts predictions and makes definitive statements saying he is an insider, then when they are proven to be false he deletes them and bans anyone who dares to bring it up.

Yea...Dunk doesn't put his name on any rumor unless it's pretty legit sourced. He gives the dubious rumors to Hodge to report. Stronson saying Buck was never offered the job and that Dunk, Blair, etc were all wrong because apparently he sits in on Rider meetings or something. lmao

He gives them all a bad name. I don't blame them.

According to Riderfans Buck is a liar trying to save face for being rejected because Stronson told them so. What a bunch of clowns. They can't see the forest through the trees. Buck himself says that he withdrew his name, but they try spin that into fiction. lol

I don't just think they are ripe for an exodus, I think that it is inevitable. They just lost half a million in cap space with Kelly's new contract kicking in. That alone would necessitate multiple player loss. Couple that with a slew of guys coming off rookie contracts looking for raises. The Argos are gonna be in tough. I'm so confused. Stronson said that he was all in on the job but Mace was his first choice? LMAO. Man that guy needs to STFU once in a while and quit proclaiming he is a Rider insider.

Buck may have been an organization choice for a rookie HC, but Hall didn't come until later and was quite likely MOS'd decision.

Yes, I believe we might. I don't buy into the players were tired or letting them off the hook for mental errors. Games are won and lost by player performance and unless the time of possession becomes extremely lopsided fatigue is a BS excuse. Plain and simple.

I think he succeeded. Hey, if O'Day can be that easily swayed off of a superior candidate by a sales pitch (because that's what a 1-2 hour interview is) then right on for us. They will suck for the next 3 years.

Mitchell Blair tweeted that as of yesterday morning the word in all the insiders was their was basically confirmation it would be Buck with a presser to come today to announce it. We now have 3 known media insiders that are fairly reliabe suggesting Buck may have walked away, or been lured back by the Bombers. Then we have Stronson, who is a self claimed Rider insider with an atrocious record or being correct claiming Mace was the guy all along. Who to believe....who to believe. Sure is sounding more and more like Buck walked away. Numerous media reports now from some pretty good reporters suggesting that the Bombers lured him back. We may never know for sure, and I was a bit hesitant before in believing that entirely, but now some real heavyweight CFL reporters are all in lockstep on this.

I agree. I have my opinion others have theirs and I don't think anyone is convincing anyone else of anything at this point.

Nah. MOS was widely known to be 10x the leader of men that Mace is. Mace is a good coach don't get me wrong, but anyone with a set of eyeballs could see MOS was the top choice. In this latest competition I don't think many would have considered Mace the top choice.

If they didn't then they are idiots. If they did and didn't get him then they are losers. I mean let's break it down. What could Buck offer them? Well, he instantly brings the gold standard in culture reset to the Riders. This is probably more than anything what they need. He brings a top notch offensive system that features the strongest run game and red zone attack in the CFL, Dru Brown (probably) to solidify their QBing for the next few years, (if rumors are true), an ability to fix a brutal OL., Jordan Younger who could abosolutely transform their putrid pass defence, and Buck is another coach that guys would run through walls for. For these reasons I find it pretty unbelievable that the Riders would pass that up, I mean it's possible that O'Day could not see that because he is not a particularly good GM but it is far more likely that he went with Mace because he was uncomfortable with the planned changes by Buck at QB.

At the end of the day, we all know Buck was by far and away their best bet. IMO, this was more a matter of Buck interviewing the Riders than the other way around.

Maybe. Hard to say. All depends on whether or not a GM is going to actually let him carry out his plan with the players/type of players he wants. Seems to me that at the end of the day something with the Riders broke down, I would wager big that it was O'Day and Buck not being on the same wavelength in respect to roster/roster priorities/ player retention/types of players to recruit. I am sure Buck wanted to carry FIFO over to the Riders, and a team first approach to player recruitment/retention just doesn't seem like something O'Day values very highly. He is like Joe Mack, he likes to bring in the skilled guys with sketchy characters and hope they change. It's a losing approach as we all found out. O'Day, like Mack, just can't keep his eyes of the shiny baubles no matter how toxic they might be.

Rider Stronson lmao. That is about as authoritative as talking to Gainer the Gopher. They lick his boots over there and tend to completely ignore that he is wrong on his insider info about 80% of the time.