Coaches born to be bashed

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/10/2011 (5153 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winning is the great eraser of criticism, so it’s hard to argue against coaching decisions given the end result.

And that’s where the debate starts on the semi-benching of Odell Willis in Winnipeg’s 26-25 win over the Montreal Alouettes Saturday afternoon. The Bombers defensive end, the CFL sack leader (13) and a legitimate contender for the East division’s most outstanding defensive player, was shelved during the game for his poor run defence, according to the club.

The 26-year-old only came into the game on a handful of obvious second down passing situations before suffering a rib injury that shelved him for the second half (he only saw action in eight snaps before the injury).

Did not having Willis actually make the Bombers run defence any better? On paper, the numbers suggest it didn’t (more on that in a moment) but either way, the club is planning to continue with the defensive line rotation — injury or no injury to Willis — this week.

Coaches always say you can’t be afraid to try new things, especially at this point of the season where everyone is fighting for playoff positioning and home field advantages. The club is essentially benching Willis, whose positives (ability to get into the backfield and disrupt the run lane) seemingly far outweigh the negatives (poor edge contain at times). If that opens the door for second-guessing, then you do it and deal with the consequences.

“As coaches, we’re always lightning rods for criticism,” defensive co-ordinator Tim Burke said after a light practice at Canad Inns Stadium Monday. “It’s part of the territory. If we’re successful, the criticism will go away and if we’re not, regardless of how we did it, we’re going to get criticized.”

Fair enough. The question is still on the table, though: Were the Bombers better against the run without Willis?

A one-game sample size is not sufficient, agreed, but while employing a run defence that didn’t contain the CFL’s most dominant rush end, Winnipeg gave up 124 yards on the ground to Montreal Saturday (77 of those in the first half). Coming into the game, the Bombers were averaging 94.7 yards rushing against per contest.

The run defence changes versus the Alouettes weren’t just limited to Willis, either. Pierre-Luc Labbe spelled off Clint Kent because the clubs feels the non-import is better against the run, while tackles Doug Brown, Don Oramasionwu, Bryant Turner and Jason Vega were used in heavy rotation to keep the interior of the line fresh.

Tinkering with one of the top defences in the league is nothing new to Burke, who might see a few write-in votes for coach of the year for what he’s done with the Bombers. He earns some benefit of doubt based on how his defensive staff has come up with a variety of different looks over the last few games, defensive sets that have included a five-man D-line and exotic secondary packages at various points of the season.

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So what does all this mean for Willis, who’s questionable for Friday’s game with the Toronto Argonauts with that rib injury? His sack frequency has dropped off in recent weeks and with the Winnipeg front seven getting to Montreal quarterback Anthony Calvillo six times Saturday while he sat on the sidelines, Willis almost sounds resigned to the fact that he might not be a full-time player for the rest of this season.

“I don’t agree with it,” he said, putting up a minor challenge to the move while ensuring he doesn’t create any distraction. “A player is never going to agree with coming off the field but that the same time, there’s nothing you can do about it but just play better football.”

While head coach Paul LaPolice told reporters he was genuinely satisfied with the results of the run defence rotation Saturday, Burke was a little more frank in his assessment. “I was not happy with our run defence,” he said. “I think we could have been better there. A different guy would make a different mistake at a different time.”

The Bombers are back on the practice field this morning.

adam.wazny@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @wazoowazny