Hawkins Fired In Mtl, Popp To Take Over As Hc

[voodoochylde]

Touché

[TrueBlue]

It was a off the board from Montreal to hire Hawkins in the first place. If anything they have stopped the bleeding.

[17to85]

wow very surprising that it happened this early. 

[kelownabomberfan]

Madani: Hawkins hire was doomed from the start

 

The dismissal of Dan Hawkins as the Montreal Alouettes head coach after only five games can be traced back to the franchise-altering move the team made in 2008.

Montreal’s hire of Marc Trestman five years ago was perceived by many in the Canadian Football League as an obscure one at the time. But in the immediate aftermath of the Alouettes reaching the Grey Cup game that November — losing to the Calgary Stampeders, who had just brought John Hufnagel back from the NFL — other CFL teams quickly tried to find the “next” Trestman, scouring the United States for an offensive-minded coach who could quickly adapt to the wide-open Canadian game.

When Trestman left for the Chicago Bears coaching job six months ago, it became clear that Montreal was searching for the same on-paper candidate.

General manager Jim Popp told some interested parties with previous CFL head coaching experience that he wasn’t looking for someone who had held the top job in the league before.

 

It was clear the Alouettes were looking to clone Trestman. They came up with Hawkins.

Now in the middle of their bye week, coming off a win to improve to 2-3, Hawkins was fired, and Popp, remarkably, becomes Montreal’s head coach for a fourth time in the 2000s.

 

Hawkins was the wrong hire from the beginning. He demanded to bring his own coaching staff, outside of veteran CFL assistant Noel Thorpe — who had already been hired to run Trestman’s defence before the Bears came calling.

 

None of Hawkins’s hand-picked guys had ever coached a down of Canadian football. His offensive coordinator, Mike Miller, lacked imagination. Against Calgary, the Als did not sniff the red zone in the final three quarters of the game.

 

At Popp’s urging during the winter, Doug Berry was brought on to be an advisor to Hawkins but Miller ran the offence and called the plays, despite Berry’s prior time as an offensive coordinator and head coach in the CFL.

 

The logical next step is Miller leaving and Berry running the controls for quarterback Anthony Calvillo, hoping to salvage a season that still has 13 games left, and a terrific wide receiving corps for the quarterback to target.

 

Reading between the lines of Calvillo’s ongoing post-game comments made it clear there was division within the ranks of a team that had been a machine under Trestman — winning consecutive Grey Cups, and reaching another.

 

Hawkins is one of the quickest dismissals in league history. Hamilton fired rookie head coach Tom Dimitroff in 1978 after a 1-3-1 start while Ottawa parted ways with Jim Gilstrap two games into the 1996 season and others lasted three games before getting the pink slip.

 

Hawkins’ methods were unconventional, and there were rumblings during training camp that there were issues with the lack of knowledge in the Canadian game throughout the coaching staff. The dismissal of Hawkins was not a five-game issue — it went back to his hiring.

 

In reality, this was a chase to go back in time and find the next Trestman. They wanted another renaissance for Calvillo’s career.

Instead, it’s now Popp, who took over for Rod Rust in 2001; who took over for Don Matthews in 2006; who kept the job in 2007, and it got so bad that they went off the board and found the head coach of today’s Chicago Bears.

 

Trestman isn’t coming back but the Alouettes still have a chance to contend, especially in a poor East division.

But they never did with Dan Hawkins, which is why his era ended before it really began.

 

http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/madani-hawkins-hiring-was-doomed-from-the-start/

[voodoochylde]

Little surprised they gave a rookie head coach 5 games to prove himself. Firing Hawkins is an admission that his hiring was a colossal mistake.

[Mike]

I won't be able to find my comments over on the other site, but I'm pretty sure I saw this coming when it happened.

 

A terrible hire by Popp.

[17to85]

not to be THAT guy, but could you imagine the fall out here if Joe Mack had hired a coach and fired him 5 games later?

[Jpan85]

That teams needs to start winning or that stadium will be a empty by the end of the season.

[Fraser]

not to be THAT guy, but could you imagine the fall out here if Joe Mack had hired a coach and fired him 5 games later?

 

Popp has done enough good to earn a mulligan though.

 

He's going to take over as HC, probably have Berry do a lot of OC work and likely make the playoffs

 

Take another crack at finding the next Trestman next year

[kelownabomberfan]

That teams needs to start winning or that stadium will be a empty by the end of the season.

 

unless they hire Guy Lafleur as their new head coach.

[17to85]

Popp has done enough good to earn a mulligan though.

 

He's going to take over as HC, probably have Berry do a lot of OC work and likely make the playoffs

 

Take another crack at finding the next Trestman next year

but it's not like this is the first time he's fired a coach and taken over himself... He's had his slip ups before. Just damned lucky he had such stability at the qb position for such a long long time. 

[Brandon]

Classless? When u r in the business of winning football games and coaches contracts are bought out how can u call this classless. We're both Hawkins and Cortez bad HC hires yes but the sound business de is ion was to make a business decision and move on. The BOD of the Bombers are hoping things get better....how has that plan worked so far fellas?

I was being sarcastic because on ob.com people would cry if the club made any big move without taking the person being axed feelings in consideration. I.e obby khan or lapolice...

[holoman]

I was being sarcastic because on ob.com people would cry if the club made any big move without taking the person being axed feelings in consideration. I.e obby khan or lapolice...

I believe it was DR Snuggles who started it

[Zontar]

Entire structure of that team is up in the air. Calvillo is set to retire with no bonifide replacement in sight then Popp will do his annual slapping of resumes on windshields around the US looking for a job all at the same time he has to find hire an entirely new staff.

 

Its a mess now. A bigger mess is coming down the road.

[Blueandgold]

This should push Montreal to be a 9-9 team which is probably quite easily going to be good for second in the East. 

[Captain Blue]

I think he's a terrible coach. But I also think you have to give a guy at least a season to see if he can do the job. Wouldn't have hired him in the first place but I wouldn't have fired him now either.

[kelownabomberfan]

*****A.B. III***** ‏@RUNAKORETH Protected account7m

Coaches Fired League:  Whose Next? (CFL) or (cashflowlow)

[rebusrankin]

Thing is, can Montreal get better? Maybe this is the year age catches them?

[17to85]

Thing is, can Montreal get better? Maybe this is the year age catches them?

given how their o-line has struggled this season and how poorly Calvillo has dealt with that pressure I would lean towards this move not really doing as much as some people expect. Popp is not known for his head coaching abilities. 

[Mr. Perfect]

Berry will now take over the playcalling responsibilities. Now former OC Mike Miller is staying on in a reduced role.

[iso_55]

Nah, Popp knows his own limitations. Berry will be highly involved in things, if only behind the scenes. 

 

If they gas the OC too then Berry may get the OC or ass't HC title. 

 

Als just got better. 

Last time Popp was HC it was a disaster. Good on Montreal. Hee hee.

[iso_55]

given how their o-line has struggled this season and how poorly Calvillo has dealt with that pressure I would lean towards this move not really doing as much as some people expect. Popp is not known for his head coaching abilities. 

Calvillo is a whiner & a complainer. He made sure he got Hawkins fired.

[rebusrankin]

That is my thinking, AC looks like age has caught up with him and the OL has struggled and they've already lost Flory.

[Brain]

Calvillo is a whiner & a complainer. He made sure he got Hawkins fired.

 

Still shocked he didn't announce his retirement the day Trestman was pulled south.

 

Could have gone out on top... now that team is a wreck, over-shadowed only by how bad the east is this year.

[BlueBall]

Kinda surprised by this move by Montreal. Yes, they were struggling but they're still a close second behind the Argos in the East. Things must've been going pretty bad behind the scenes for the team to make such a drastic move after only five games. I also get the feeling Calvillo may have had something to do with it. You could tell he wasn't happy on the field, not used to losing. I agree his age may be playing a factor, and he should have retired after the last Grey Cup win. It'd be a shame if he ended his career like Brett Favre and I don't think Popp can bring him back much glory. He's got nothing left to prove, hope he leaves on top.