Two stand out against all other candidates

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This article was published 18/12/2014 (4171 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike O’SHEA had no choice on Wednesday. He’ll wake up today with a world of options, but two will stand out far above the rest.

O’Shea had to fire his friend and defensive co-ordinator Gary Etcheverry. The Blue Bombers head coach looked for any bit of a wiggle room to keep Etcheverry on and couldn’t find it.

O’Shea wanted a more balanced and traditional defence and Etcheverry wasn’t going to be able to supply it. So he made the hard call and fired a man he likes and respects. Couldn’t have been easy, but a head coach’s loyalty is to the organization and not any individual.

One of the few things Joe Mack said during his time as GM of the Bombers that stuck as a truism was, “Football teams are like sharks. They must constantly be moving forward.”

Today, when O’Shea begins to ponder moving forward, he’ll have lots of choices and two of them can be classified as automatic wins. Richie Hall and Mike Benevides will be at the top of his list of candidates to contact. Either man will bring instant credibility to O’Shea’s defence. They have won championships, been CFL head coaches and have had recent success. They run traditional defences and understand the Canadian game.

O’Shea finds himself in that rarest of positions where whatever coach he selects, he can’t go wrong.

Hall was recently stripped of his defensive co-ordinator title with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, but hasn’t been removed from the Riders staff. He has, however, been granted permission to seek work elsewhere.

Riders head coach Corey Chamblin has elected to bring in a new defensive co-ordinator or perhaps take over the duties himself. Hall has been left with an uncertain future.

Employed but clearly not wanted. Send him a bus ticket to Winnipeg and he’ll be on the first Greyhound out of Regina. Hall won three Grey Cups with the Roughriders, one as a player and two as a defensive co-ordinator.

One would think he’d deserve better treatment than he’s receiving from the Riders, but pro sports with its mix of ego, ambition and pressure to win can result in strange circumstances.

Benevides was fired this off-season from his post as head coach of the B.C. Lions after leading the team to the playoffs in three straight seasons, never enduring a losing campaign and compiling a 31-22 record.

Benevides has won three Grey Cups, one with Calgary as special teams co-ordinator and two with B.C., first as linebackers coach and then as defensive co-ordinator.

Speaking to Benevides at the Grey Cup, he said he’d be interested in taking a co-ordinator position if the situation were right. Whether Winnipeg fits into that category is unknown and he did not immediately return phone calls Wednesday night.

O’Shea is still learning and having an experienced hand with head-coaching experience such as Hall or Benevides will go a long way.

Etcheverry’s defence was unbalanced and focused on stopping the pass with less emphasis on halting the run. O’Shea wants more balance as well as a pressure element to the defence.

Lots has been made about the personnel used in Etcheverry’s scheme, but import players can quickly be turned over in the CFL. The Bombers need a big middle linebacker who can run and be effective both against the pass and rush. They also need some beef along the D-line. All this can be found, and plugging Benevides or Hall into the Bombers coaching staff can result in an immediate turnaround on the defensive side of the ball.

Did O’Shea make a mistake hiring Etcheverry? The results and Wednesday’s decision would say as much. But it’s an error he from which he can quickly recover.

There are other candidates, such as Baron Miles and Devon Claybrooks, but they’re untested. Maybe someone comes out of the pack and knocks O’Shea off his feet in an interview, but the upside with Hall or Benevides will be difficult to ignore.

O’Shea made the hard choice to move past Etcheverry. The next decision won’t be easy, but it’s all about improvement and the future.

Hall or Benevides, it’s hard to go wrong. O’Shea did what was best for his organization in parting ways with Etcheverry.

Now he can make the Bombers better.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @garylawless