Chris Jones Watch - Front Office SMS

[TecnoGenius]

As far as poaching coaches, it definitely does matter. We can't have a bidding war like we have had for QB's. We have been lucky here that MOS stayed but I don't know what he makes or how much he would have made elsewhere. I can't say he'll be here forever. The point of the cap is to give teams an equal opportunity. This little 9 team league of ours is fragile, all for one and one for all or we don't have enough teams. The cap as it is is flawed but I think with tweaks it should be kept.

It sounds so nice "can't have a coach bidding war" and "fragile league", and it's parroted often, even by our commissioner.  But is it real?

Show me the epidemic of HC/GM bidding wars before they instituted the cap.  I don't recall any, except maybe mercenary Jones.

Show me the death of the CFL in its bazillion years of existence without a coaches cap.

It's literally inventing phantom problems that sound nice on paper when framed in a narrative.  They aren't actually helping anything in reality and they are causing (I hope) unintended problems that work against the (stated) original goal!

[TecnoGenius]

As much as a hate Chris Jones, the problem in Edmonton isn?t coaching, it?s lack of talent and no bonafide starting Qb. To turn the bombers around, we had to go out and get Bryant,  bighill, Jefferson and Collaros, but also we picked up a Jeffcoat, and moved Alexander to safety and brought in a whole new secondary and o line.

The immediate job this off season is to find a #1 Qb and I would bet anything they get their chequebook out for Dru Brown.

Ya, but chicken and egg... bringing in good players made the team good, or good character team lured in the good players?  The ball got rolling with Biggie and he has admitted several times he only came here because of MOS's vision and character.  If a team lacks intangibles and all they have is the "overpay option" to get good players, then it's hopeless to build a good team in the severely (player) SMS-limited CFL.

And EDM had a severely good roster on paper going into this season.  That's why I picked them to do well.  They cheaped out on QB in order to bring in the best WR, a ton of great SBs, decent OL, and a pretty good D.  Their R corps looked nearly as good as ours, on paper.

No, the main problem in EDM is losing the room, losing the hope, sub-par coaching, no culture, and a no-loyalty cut-throat GM+HC.  You never come back from that until you change the HC.  And at this rate even after doing that it'll take 1-3 years to build it back up to where players will want to play there for reasons other than just biggest-$$.

The severely SMS-limited and cheap CFL highlights that the MOS vision and method of offering more than just money is really the only way you can gain success, and keep it.  And it builds on itself and is self-reinforcing every season.  Every other team will just be a band of mercenaries looking out for #1.  I think this is the secret sauce to TOR's Pinball success, too.  It's so obvious.  Teams that don't foster this will not succeed (for long) in the current CFL era.

[TecnoGenius]

The CFL is a Qb lead league, and the first piece you have to put into place, is a good Qb. Teams with good Qb's- Wpg, BC and Toronto, do good, teams with bad Qb's - Edmonton, Ottawa and Saskatchewan do bad.

That's what tummy-rubbing tongue-wagging HC in BC thought in M.Reilly's final season.  I would argue the first piece is a good OL.  A good OL and decent receivers will give you the Matt Nichols era where you can win a ton of games whilst only having the 3rd or 4th (or 5th) best QB.

I think SSK and EDM understood this need in FA2023 but failed somewhat in their OL efforts.  Not easy to get a great OL in one season because it's so hard to get the required NATs, and for some reason stellar IMPs are also rare.

[Waffler]

It sounds so nice "can't have a coach bidding war" and "fragile league", and it's parroted often, even by our commissioner.  But is it real?

Show me the epidemic of HC/GM bidding wars before they instituted the cap.  I don't recall any, except maybe mercenary Jones.

Show me the death of the CFL in its bazillion years of existence without a coaches cap.

What we did have is a disparity in the number of coaches the rich teams had, that made a difference. I recall the Bombers had a tiny staff compared to Calgary in their winning years.

Yes, not that many head coaches moved for money but I can see it happening if there is no penalty. It would be the only competitive advantage you could still buy.

[Lincoln Locomotive]

That's what tummy-rubbing tongue-wagging HC in BC thought in M.Reilly's final season.  I would argue the first piece is a good OL.  A good OL and decent receivers will give you the Matt Nichols era where you can win a ton of games whilst only having the 3rd or 4th (or 5th) best QB.

I think SSK and EDM understood this need in FA2023 but failed somewhat in their OL efforts.  Not easy to get a great OL in one season because it's so hard to get the required NATs, and for some reason stellar IMPs are also rare.

Case in point are some of our Bomber teams who won with average QBs and super above average defences.....but a great QB is usually going to bring championships to any team.    There are exceptions but Bud Grant said it best when asked what were the keys to his success...."a good QB, a good wife and a good dog!  He won more championship for us than any other coach....