We’re just not sure what to do now

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/08/2011 (5559 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It has now been a week since our coach passed away and there seems to be two minds and opinions as to what happens next in this transition period for the football team.

From an entirely football perspective, do you preserve and revere his teachings, traditions, and techniques, or do you start to move in a different direction with the new minds, systems, and ideologies that have been forced to take over from his? In this situation, there is seemingly no handbook or timeline for how you can move past and on from an unspeakable tragedy and yet still respect and honour a man.

The initial thing I noticed Monday on our first full work day without coach Harris was his office. His name tag is still on the wall outside of his workspace and his door is closed like it would have been during meetings or when he was counselling someone in there. I have not gone in there since he passed and I can’t imagine wanting to do it anytime soon, but as an organization, what do you do with that space? Does it become a shrine and a memorial to the man for the rest of the season? Do we wrap it and preserve its integrity like the Redskins did with Sean Taylor’s locker for the remainder of their season? Or do you try and move on and erase a painful association and change out the office?

Where is the line between respectfully remembering someone and trying to get on with your tasks at hand? At this time it is not exactly comfortable walking past his office every day or even being on the same floor space where he was being worked on by the paramedics and being reminded of what once was, but you don’t want to see someone else in there taking his spot either and trying to already turn the page.

Do Richard Harris’ traditions and teachings remain his own and should they only be dignified in our minds, or do we continue to revere and honour the processes he brought into our lives by respectfully leaving them intact?

Last Thursday, like we have the morning of every home game since 2006 when coach Harris first got here, the defensive line went for breakfast as a group. We knew that is what we would have done if he was still with us, so that is what we did when he was not. But is this method of coping the right way to handle his absence? Are we better off going somewhere else or not continuing traditions that he started because they are special to him and him alone?

I have lost all my grandparents on both sides of my family, but never anyone that I worked with and spent time with on a daily basis. With all of the extremely helpful words of advice and messages I have received since this tragedy from a public that is very aware of the impressions and impact this man has made, a number of us are still uncertain of the proper way to grieve and revere a man of his standing.

Does holding onto everything he did and provided for us prolong what is obviously already a difficult process, or is moving on, changing things and closing that chapter of your life callous and the easy and expedient way out?

Even from a coaching standpoint it is a difficult and tricky process to replace someone of such tenure, achievement and character. You don’t want to try and replace the man that came before you, but in all essence that is exactly what you are doing.

It all seems to be happening too fast, but when you only have three or four days to prepare for a new opponent each week, things have got to get done in an expedient manner. As players I think it is essential to try and understand that no two coaches operate the same way and have the same ideas as to how things should be run. You can’t resent someone for being forced into a situation they would have never imagined or hoped for, but at the same time, teachings and lessons learned from a predecessor should not be altogether dismissed or forgotten either.

Somewhere there must lie a balance between what allows a team and individuals to function, heal and move on from a tragedy, while at the same time paying mind to those who came before and whose footprint and impact on an organization can and will never be forgotten.

Doug Brown, always a hard-hitting defensive tackle with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and even harder-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Winnipeg Free Press.