Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Taman Won't Fire Coach Chamblin

Roughriders' head coach Corey Chamblin is on the hot-seat. (Photo: Jeff Gross, Getty Images)

According to CFL on TSN insider Gary Lawless, Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Corey Chamblin won't be getting fired, at least not by general manager Brendan Taman.
 
Chamblin has taken a lot of heat from the fans and media of Rider Nation for his team's 0-4 start, but unless team president Craig Reynolds gives in to the pressure of the fans, Chamblin will play out the rest of the season.
 
And that's probably a good thing. Firing a head coach midseason rarely works anyway, and there's also so many possible negative effects that can snowball if a general manager or team president does indeed pull the trigger. For one, the fans might see it as a midseason sign of surrender and then stop showing up for games. There's also a chance the players won't respond well to a new voice, leaving some veterans discontent. And if one of the trusted coordinators is indeed promoted, the team will have to lift the interim tag off him in the off-season, otherwise he'll take another job elsewhere. There's usually no going back.
 
With that being said, the Riders probably should find another head coach if Corey Chamblin doesn't right the ship. From questionable coaching decisions to an inability to close out football games, Chamblin has underperformed as a head-coach. He's also in charge of the defence, which ranks last in nearly every statistical category. Bad injury luck hasn't helped matters, but it can't be used as an excuse as even with them, the Riders have still found ways to lose games as a result of poor coaching.
 
Chamblin has an even 29-29 record as the head-coach in Saskatchewan, and he'll be well below .500 by the end of the season at this rate. He still has the 2013 Grey Cup to show for, but that doesn't cover up what he's done recently.
 
Brendan Taman's job shouldn't be secure either. He committed to using the win-now-at-all-costs approach and will have created quite the ugly mess in the long-term should this team not find success this year. Taman has assembled the oldest team in the CFL and stated himself that he can't afford to look into the future.

"My long-term plan is to win right now. Everyone keeps talking about the new stadium in two, three years from now and I've gotta keep that in the back of my mind. There's no doubt about that. But if we can't go make a field goal next week you ain't going to be talking to me to get to the new stadium. Somebody else will be here so my goal is to win right now."

This has to be concerning considering Taman's jeopardizing the future of the team to win a Grey Cup this year. That's not always a bad idea if it actually works. Taman's tunnel-vision towards the short-term success of the Riders has seen him cut many up-and-comers in favour of other teams' scraps, most recently guys like Jamel Richardson, Geoff Tisdale and Alex Suber. He's left his potential successor in a difficult situation next winter.

If Chamblin and Taman are indeed joined at the hip, Reynolds will simply have to fire them both once the season passes if the team doesn't turn it around. Taman makes a good case to be fired anyway, while Chamblin's decision-making and defence should make it easier to deliver the pink slip. It would be the right move to make, but it should only happen when the dust has settled and the season is in the rear-view mirror.

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