By Mitchell Blair
For Riderville.com
The shuffling has started in Riderville—or has it?
On Wednesday afternoon, Riders president and CEO Jim Hopson announced the team is going to a more standard structure in its front office. That means Ken Miller will not be replaced as vice-president of football operations. It also means Brendan Taman will continue on in his role as general manager, Craig Smith will keep serving as director of player personnel, with Jeremy O’Day being promoted to the title of assistant general manager.
Despite the football team having a dismal five win season in 2011, Hopson and the board of governors are giving Taman a vote of confidence feeling he can help turn the team around from being the league’s worst next year to being back at a level where they can compete for the Grey Cup in 2012 and beyond.
“You want to make your decisions in a rational, objective and logical way.” Hopson told reporters. “Looking at Brendan and what he has brought to this team and looking at the success he had when he was a true GM in Winnipeg (2006-2008), that team went from 5-13 to three years in the playoffs with two home playoff games and a Grey Cup appearance. He knows the league and he is respected by people in this league. I think Brendan has the ability to lead this team and make them successful again.”
Taman, who first worked with the football team in the 1990’s as a player personnel man before coming back in 2009 to work with the team as an assistant to Eric Tillman after stops in B.C. and Winnipeg, knows he has a lot of work to do and he is more than ready to dig his heels in and start getting this team back to a level of respectability and more.
“First of all, I look at two teams who were really bad last year in first place. I look at Winnipeg and Edmonton and where they finished last year and where they are this year.” Taman concluded. “There is no reason why the Riders of 2012 can’t do what Winnipeg and Edmonton did this year. We have a good team here. Yes, we have some holes to fill and I think that’s obvious, but when you have players like Darian Durant, Weston Dressler, Chris Getzlaf and a healthy Rob Bagg, we’ll be OK. There is tinkering that needs to be done and changes that need to be made, but there is still a good group inside that room.”
The main task for Taman is finding a new head coach for the football club. While he won’t say who is on his list, he does say the interviewing process could start as early as next week.
“The big concern I have with whoever ends up as our new head coach is who he has on his staff,” Taman said. “I want to know who the offensive co-ordinator will be, because that is huge to us. Another thing is the successful candidate must be able to go into that locker-room and command respect. Staff and respect are very important to me.”
As for O’Day, it’s been quite the year for the long-time Rider offensive lineman. After retiring in the off-season to become the team’s football operations co-ordinator, he now moves up to the position of assistant general manager. He admits it’s been quite a ride and he thinks the contributions he has made in a short time will pay off in the long run.
“I hope so,” O’Day said. “I guess I showed them enough in a short period of time for them to show the confidence in me that they have by making this move. It’s like going from the practice roster to the starting roster, but this is something I’ve always wanted to do. This past season taught me a lot and I’m very excited to get going and make this team a winner again.”
Taman is confident O’Day can continue to rise to the challenges put forth to him.
“I’ve worked with Jeremy for a year and he surpassed our expectations by far,” Taman said. “He’s very passionate about this team, he’s dedicated, he knows this team and I’m very excited to work with Jeremy and Craig. I think with these two I have gotten off to a pretty good start. I’m very excited at what the future holds and I am confident we will win.”
Besides looking for a head coach, Taman must also deal with 14 free agents. He says they have broken those free agents up into three categories. One is trying to keep high profile guys like receiver Andy Fantuz and defensive lineman Keith Shologan, one is players that he wants to talk to and keep on the team if possible and one is a group of players who have seen their last days in a Rider uniform as they won’t be offered a contract.
