Grass looks greener in Regina to Taman

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This article was published 19/03/2009 (6347 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Brendan TAMAN is seeing green.

The former Winnipeg Blue Bombers GM confirmed Wednesday that he’d be open to a job offer from the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who on Monday expressed some interest in Taman, given current Riders GM Eric Tillman, now facing sexual assault charges, is on administrative leave.

"It’s my home, gosh," Taman said. "It’s not something I would say ‘No’ to. But I’m enjoying myself. If they wanted me to start right now it’s not something I would be gung-ho about. But maybe in a few months.

"The timing of this is a little bit awkward, given their situation and mine. Would I jump at it? Probably not right today. But anytime somebody says something about you, you always want to see what they have to say."

Taman was responding to a report in the Regina Leader-Post Tuesday quoting Riders president and CEO Jim Hopson, indicating that if Tillman’s legal problems persist, the team may have to pursue other administrative options. "If there’s an interest on Brendan’s part, we’d be happy to talk to him," Hopson said.

Apparently, the feeling is mutual.

However, Taman insisted that a) "I don’t want to be the man in charge, per se" and b) "The first guy I would need to talk to is Eric, no question."

In fact, Taman, who resigned from the Bombers front office in January, had an interesting conversation with Tillman in December. "He (Tillman) said if anything happened to me here (in Winnipeg) to keep in touch with him. If there was something there he would try to help me out. I never thought anything of it at the time."

Clearly, however, Taman has thought about that conversation since leaving the Bombers, largely due to what he called a burn-out factor. But since it’s only been a couple months, the obvious question arises: Was Taman really burnt-out or did he foresee problems working with new head coach Mike Kelly, who has since publicly mocked Taman’s scouting methods?

"This is different," Taman said. "First, it’s my hometown (Saskatoon, actually, but close enough). And it wouldn’t be the same job I had (with the Bombers). I was still hoping to get this summer (off). We’ll see."

Should Taman end up in Regina only months after claiming to be burnt-out in Winnipeg, it does have the optics that his relationship with Kelly was an issue or would become an issue. Given that Kelly has since said the previous administration (re: Taman) must have kept track of personnel on a "paper napkin," the reasons for Taman’s "resignation" become a little more defined.

When asked about the potential for building up the Riders-Blue Bombers rivalry should he leave the latter and join the former, Taman just chortled.

"I sent (Bombers president and CEO) Lyle (Bauer) a note saying if he wanted to sell some more Banjo Bowl tickets, I could probably help him out."

randy.turner@freepress.mb.ca