Two stand out against all other candidatesHall or Benevides, OShea cant go wrong By: Gary Lawless Posted: 3:00 AM | Comments: 1 Tweet 0 Post 0 Reddit 0 ShareThis 0 Print Email 0 Mike OSHEA had no choice on Wednesday. Hell wake up today with a world of options, but two will stand out far above the rest. OShea 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 couldnt find it. OShea wanted a more balanced and traditional defence and Etcheverry wasnt going to be able to supply it. So he made the hard call and fired a man he likes and respects. Couldnt have been easy, but a head coachs 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 OShea begins to ponder moving forward, hell 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 OSheas defence. They have won championships, been CFL head coaches and have had recent success. They run traditional defences and understand the Canadian game. OShea finds himself in that rarest of positions where whatever coach he selects, he cant go wrong. Hall was recently stripped of his defensive co-ordinator title with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, but hasnt 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 hell 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 hed deserve better treatment than hes 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 hed 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. OShea is still learning and having an experienced hand with head-coaching experience such as Hall or Benevides will go a long way. Etcheverrys defence was unbalanced and focused on stopping the pass with less emphasis on halting the run. OShea wants more balance as well as a pressure element to the defence. Lots has been made about the personnel used in Etcheverrys 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 OShea make a mistake hiring Etcheverry? The results and Wednesdays decision would say as much. But its an error he from which he can quickly recover. There are other candidates, such as Baron Miles and Devon Claybrooks, but theyre untested. Maybe someone comes out of the pack and knocks OShea off his feet in an interview, but the upside with Hall or Benevides will be difficult to ignore. OShea made the hard choice to move past Etcheverry. The next decision wont be easy, but its all about improvement and the future. Hall or Benevides, its hard to go wrong. OShea did what was best for his organization in parting ways with Etcheverry. Now he can make the Bombers better.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 13:52:40 +0000
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