Official Game Day Thread - Winnipeg at Calgary, August 9, 2025

[blue_gold_84]

Even worse it was 4 points in the entire second half.

Meant to put half, not quarter.

Sentiment remains the same, though. I'm over Hogan and this pathetic excuse of an offense.

[theaardvark]

Meant to put half, not quarter.

Sentiment remains the same, though. I'm over Hogan and this pathetic excuse of an offense.

He's dealing with RB injuries, Oline injuries, QB injuries, REC injuries.

No week has he had the same players as the week before, and some big names are missing for some of those losses.

I'm not excusing the mistakes, just saying, this is not an easy job in the first place, he's a rookie at it, and has had a lot of adversity to deal with.

I'm willing to give him a little time to figure things out.

[Jesse]

He's dealing with RB injuries, Oline injuries, QB injuries, REC injuries.

No week has he had the same players as the week before, and some big names are missing for some of those losses.

I'm not excusing the mistakes, just saying, this is not an easy job in the first place, he's a rookie at it, and has had a lot of adversity to deal with.

I'm willing to give him a little time to figure things out.

We have no choice, but it again begs the question, why are we letting someone figure out the job in a Grey Cup year?

[theaardvark]

We have no choice, but it again begs the question, why are we letting someone figure out the job in a Grey Cup year?

We do have a choice, Jarious Jackson is in the house.  The Mafia could either fire Hogan, or flip flop him and Jackson.

I don't think its as much a "figure it out" situation as it is "deal with adversity".  We have had a lot of different issues crop up this year.

I think we all hope that Hogan will figure it out sooner than later.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

He's dealing with RB injuries, Oline injuries, QB injuries, REC injuries.

No week has he had the same players as the week before, and some big names are missing for some of those losses.

I'm not excusing the mistakes, just saying, this is not an easy job in the first place, he's a rookie at it, and has had a lot of adversity to deal with.

I'm willing to give him a little time to figure things out.

I was not impressed with their hiring process, after Buck signed on with BC they dillied and dallied months away before announcing they were signing Hogan. I suppose he was O'Shea's choice all along but I don't believe they interviewed anyone else for the OC job.  Hogan reminds me too much of rookie OC Kelly Jeffrey who went one and out in Sask. in 2023.

[gordo]

Our FS has been pretty invisible in the pass game for 2-3 seasons now.  Our FS is always coming up to help the run escapes.

How many times in '24 did you see BA in the picture on a pass explosion.  Like never.  And Parker this season?  Like never.

Give Kelly some credit: he's in the picture on all these explosions.  That means he has a better nose for the ball than the other guys!

And again: If your FS is the only one in the picture on a SB/WR on a deep route, then some other DB screwed up.  Kelly is never to be alone with a SB/WR by design.

You cherry pick '24 to criticize Brandon Alexander. He was washed up and only around because MOS never gets rid of his vets.  In his prime Alexander was a feared big hitter patrolling the middle and he lived on the edge - exactly the kind of safety we need now.

Kelly is not that guy. Sure he's around the ball but in a bad way - getting beat and not tackling when he's there.

Agree that saftey is not the only problem but it's frustrating to watch ours running around not doing much.

[blue_gold_84]

He's dealing with RB injuries, Oline injuries, QB injuries, REC injuries.

No week has he had the same players as the week before, and some big names are missing for some of those losses.

I'm not excusing the mistakes, just saying, this is not an easy job in the first place, he's a rookie at it, and has had a lot of adversity to deal with.

I'm willing to give him a little time to figure things out.

This is the year the WFC is hosting the Grey Cup, and they chose to promote from within instead of finding the best candidate.

I'm not interested in hearing excuses; all teams deal with injuries. I'm also not interested in watching what appears to be an incompetent rookie OC try to figure out if he can hack it or not.

Hogan ain't it.

[Blueforlife]

The folks writing off Hogan can't see the forest through the trees imo.  Seen this story before when we hired MOS and Hall.  They learned slowly and became great.  Time will tell for Hogan but give him a chance.  Agree with Ards (he has been dealt a tough hand to deal with).  People getting obsessed with the GC year and the all in idea of winning this year.  I'm looking for another great decade.  Patience pays off (usually).  The same sediment was on this forum when MOS and Hall were in their early years, people were obsessed about our cup drought and were willing to dump two world class coaches just b/c we were not dominating early in their tenure here.  This club has proven to take the medium to long term approach and it's paid off in most cases.

Yes I want us to get to the cup, yes I want a win.  I even changed my vaca plans this year to ensure I'm here.  That said as always I like the longer term thinking that has made this club great.  Hogan will take a few years to figure out his craft and likely will be worth the wait imo.  It's not like he is on his own, Jackson is here too.  They are doing their best, adjusting as they go and will get better as we get consistency on offense and our D gets healthy.  Won't be easy, will be ugly at times but I think he will slowly rise to the challenge.  1st year coach at any pro level isn't easy.

I believe a pillar of our success has been based on our consistency within management and coaching.  Pre mini dynasty it was a revolving door.  Then we settled on a group that year after year got better and we sure have enjoyed a number of great years as a result.  Hogan doesn't have the pedigree of Hall and MOS but he learned from Buck and maybe just maybe we can be rewarding by giving him a chance to show us he can do it.

It's hard seeing the club fall down the mountain and become average but it's early in the season and you can't be king forever.

[Waffler]

The folks writing off Hogan can't see the forest through the trees.  Seen this story before when we hired MOS and Hall.  They learned slowly and became great. 

We didn't hire MOS and Hall. MOS brought Gary Etcheverry with him as DC and he was terrible and got worse from there. His OC hire was no better with the immortal Marcel Bellefeuille.

Hall came the next year and as with LaPo we were lucky they were available. Buck was ok as a successor but that may have been luck too as promoting from within is the MOS way. As Techno keeps pleading for we need fresh voices here.

[Sir Blue and Gold]

I get there is a lot of self reflection going on, and rightfully so, but it's so CFL that we've played 8 games against 4 teams. Calgary X3, Toronto X2, BC X2 and Edmonton X1

Calgary is clearly a better team than us, they beat us three straight, and we lost a rain soaked game in Toronto.

Lots of room for us to grow but a different schedule and we might have a different record. Let's see how things go from here.

[Blueforlife]

We didn't hire MOS and Hall. MOS brought Gary Etcheverry with him as DC and he was terrible and got worse from there. His OC hire was no better with the immortal Marcel Bellefeuille.

Hall came the next year and as with LaPo we were lucky they were available. Buck was ok as a successor but that may have been luck too as promoting from within is the MOS way. As Techno keeps pleading for we need fresh voices here.

MOS and Hall were criticized loudly by a select group on here.  Many others and the club ignored the noise and stayed the course.  MOS created one of the best team cultures ever in Wpg and Hall created one of the best runs on D I can remember.  Yes the club hired MOS and Hall.  Buck brought us come great success but also had a few issues.  Thanks for the info on the history of our coaches, I didn't remember all those names.

I get there is a lot of self reflection going on, and rightfully so, but it's so CFL that we've played 8 games against 4 teams. Calgary X3, Toronto X2, BC X2 and Edmonton X1

Calgary is clearly a better team than us, they beat us three straight, and we lost a rain soaked game in Toronto.

Lots of room for us to grow but a different schedule and we might have a different record. Let's see how things go from here.

Really good perspective there.  I believe it's early enough in the season to not know exactly what we are yet.  Have had a lot of injuries and yes clearly we are not at Cgy's level.  Sask will be tough out but the rest of the league is beatable.  MTL is a hard out when they get their QBs back imo.  Asking for coaching changes at 4-4 is knee jerk imo.

[theaardvark]

This is the year the WFC is hosting the Grey Cup, and they chose to promote from within instead of finding the best candidate.

I'm not interested in hearing excuses; all teams deal with injuries. I'm also not interested in watching what appears to be an incompetent rookie OC try to figure out if he can hack it or not.

Hogan ain't it.

Front Office $SMS hamstrings you from "hiring the best".  It's more "hiring the best that fits into your cap".

We have MOS at the top, we have Younger and Hall on the D, all no doubt getting paid well.  And Walters in that $SMS too.

So, getting the top OC possible might not have been in the budget.  Not sure what the Front Office $SMS budget overages penalties are, but guessing they are similar to the roster $SMS penalties.

So we got Jarious Jackson to have a veteran assistant on the staff.  Not sure he would have been the top choice for OC outright, but you can bet the cost is much lower as QB coach.

Its not so simple when there is cap involved.  And who was out there available once Buck left?  Maksymic?  Doing great in Edm... Who else?

[Blueforlife]

Front Office $SMS hamstrings you from "hiring the best".  It's more "hiring the best that fits into your cap".

We have MOS at the top, we have Younger and Hall on the D, all no doubt getting paid well.  And Walters in that $SMS too.

So, getting the top OC possible might not have been in the budget.  Not sure what the Front Office $SMS budget overages penalties are, but guessing they are similar to the roster $SMS penalties.

So we got Jarious Jackson to have a veteran assistant on the staff.  Not sure he would have been the top choice for OC outright, but you can bet the cost is much lower as QB coach.

Its not so simple when there is cap involved.  And who was out there available once Buck left?  Maksymic?  Doing great in Edm... Who else?

A good analysis, can't all be hero signings, need the value guys and developmental guys.  I'm not sure many heros were available.

[blue_gold_84]

Front Office $SMS hamstrings you from "hiring the best".  It's more "hiring the best that fits into your cap".

We have MOS at the top, we have Younger and Hall on the D, all no doubt getting paid well.  And Walters in that $SMS too.

So, getting the top OC possible might not have been in the budget.  Not sure what the Front Office $SMS budget overages penalties are, but guessing they are similar to the roster $SMS penalties.

So we got Jarious Jackson to have a veteran assistant on the staff.  Not sure he would have been the top choice for OC outright, but you can bet the cost is much lower as QB coach.

Its not so simple when there is cap involved.  And who was out there available once Buck left?  Maksymic?  Doing great in Edm... Who else?

The organization appeared to have no trouble paying most of those coaches last season, including the previous OC in Pierce who I assume was not on a minimum deal. Obviously, all we can do is speculate because none of that information is shared publicly.

I think we all expected better from the offense thus far. The first few games we saw some good things but also some issues. Even with key players returning from injury, the same issues and mistakes persist, while improvements or adjustments appear non-existent. At what point do we start asking about the system in place?

And just to clarify, when I say best, I don't mean a top OC. I mean a candidate who's seasoned and can fit into the FOSMS. Hogan's promotion to OC falls strictly under the latter.

[Jesse]

Obviously when we hired MOS, we were a developing team and the plan was to be patient. Very much not the case right now.