Brace for return of Bellefeuille, Etcheverry

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/12/2014 (4241 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Like it or not — with nary a peep from the Winnipeg Football Club as to the futures of their co-ordinators — with each day that passes it becomes more probable they will continue their duties guiding the offence and defence in 2015.

When termination is on the agenda, the P.C. way to do it is to make it as clean, quick and painless as possible. Since it’s been 45 days since the team had a game to play, and the holiday shutdown is imminent, unless they are squeezing as much work out of these gentlemen as possible before they make things official, it’s looking like fans better get used to the idea of Bellefeuille 3.0 and Etcheverry 2.0 for next season.

If this is indeed the path to be travelled, one would hope the last seven weeks have been spent revamping and redefining the roles and expectations of these co-ordinators. While many fans won’t be placated by even the greatest degree of changes to their philosophies, a number of adjustments could well help the outcomes.

If defensive co-ordinator Gary Etcheverry is to return, one would think it would be prudent to start off with losing the proprietary information paranoia. Many of us were aware the Bomber defence did not utilize playbooks this year, yet for some reason hearing it in detail from disgruntled ex-employee Korey Banks made it even worse — “….he just writes plays on the board and then erases them. As a player you feel uncomfortable as you have nothing to reference when studying,” Banks said in an interview with Defend the R, the Ottawa Redblacks blog.

While I can empathize if you spent years creating an innovative and novel scheme, you might want to prevent it from being copied and borrowed, but when the film is available for everyone and anyone to see and break down at any time, its not like you’re holding onto the Colonel’s secret recipe of herbs and spices. Besides, by not issuing a playbook — which I’ve never heard of in 20-plus years of college and professional football — you send the message the sanctity of your concepts is more important than their absorption and execution by the players. Everybody learns differently, and to not provide your players every opportunity to reference the material they are being asked to implement is a concept that should be abandoned.

Additionally, if there is an ongoing negotiation about concessions and changes that need to be made in return for continued contract fulfilment, it shouldn’t be too much to ask for a four-three front-seven base, in traditional alignments, to help stop the run and combat the pass at the same time. The trade-off of the defence utilized in 2014 was supposed to be yards on the ground given up in exchange for fewer points on the scoreboard. What happened was a torrent of rushing yards were surrendered but so were the most points in the league. Sometimes, you don’t need to spit in the face of close to 100 years of football rationale to separate yourself from the pack.

As for Marcel Bellefeuille, I would hope the mandate for his continuation in 2015 starts and ends with protecting the quarterback. Whether you have the best or worst offensive line in the league, there are ways to get around surrendering the most sacks ever by a franchise. If you can’t spare the extra blockers and run the offence at the same time, then you should become more receptive to utilizing the quarterback in your stable that can evade the rush on a regular basis. Furthermore, spending the off-season deciphering how to adjust to the adjustments that were made against your offence after the first six games could also go a long way to improving the output in 2015.

As it stands right now, it looks like “loyalty” and “continuity” are the themes of the day when it comes to decision-making time on the coaches in Blue and Gold. It’s a nice sentiment to be sure, especially around the holidays, but hopefully not at the expense of evolving inflexible philosophies, and of course, winning.

Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Free Press.

Twitter: @DougBrown97