Not even 24 hours following their final game of the 2015 season—a 30-24 overtime loss to the Saskatchewan Roughriders—the Montreal Alouettes announced on Monday that interim head coach and general manager Jim Popp returns in 2016 and will be stripped of his interim tag.
This announcement, made by president and CEO Mark Weightman, came as a shock to many Alouettes fans and media personalities who expected Popp to name a new man for the job during the off-season.
Popp gave himself the title of head coach when he fired Tom Higgins earlier this season, who led the team to a 3-5 record.
Popp has spent 20 years with the club, mainly as their general manager but has had four stints as interim head coach. He is much better off as a general manager than as a head coach, but not so in the eyes of Weightman, board of director Andrew Wetenhall and owner Bob Wetenhall.
“Jim and his coaching staff showed some real progress in the latter stages of the 2015 season” Weightman told CFL.ca. That “real progress” included a 3-7 record, five different starting quarterbacks and a missed birth in the playoffs for the first time in the club’s 20-year history. Some real progress.
The Alouettes finished the season with a 6-12 record, the worst since their return to the league in 1996.
They also announced that offensive co-coordinator Anthony Calvillo, special teams coordinator Kavis Reed and most importantly, defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe will all be part of the coaching staff next season.
Many expected the team to go into a rebuild phase during the off-season but clearly management is content with sticking with continuity. In an Eastern Division that was full of changes over the past off-season, the fear of change will be the Alouettes biggest downfall next season.
Bright Stars Moving Forward
Individually, the Alouettes dominated the league this season. With players like John Bowman, Winston Venable, Stefan Logan, Boris Bede and Tyrell Sutton, Montreal was stacked with stars. Bowman was the sack leader with 19, Venable was third with 104 tackles, Sutton the rushing leader at 1,059 yards, Bede had the second-best field goal percentage, making 36/40 FGs and Logan’s 2,549 all-purpose yards led the league.
Moving forward, Popp will need to do his best to retain these players. To have such stars on part of the team, offence, defence and special teams, is a luxury and a dream for every club to have. The Alouettes are lucky to have them and need to repay them with a better team surrounding the stars.
Bowman is a leader on and off the field and to let him go would be outrageous. After facing the adversity of being benched by Higgins for three games this season, Bowman still managed to lead the league in sacks and was a dominant force on the defensive line. Jamaal Westerman was right behind Bowman in terms of sacks add finished with 17, while the third-placed Justin Capicciotti had 12. The veteran Bowman can still bring the heat against these young machines.
Bowman’s ferocity set an example to his team mate Gabriel Knapton, who brought the quarterback down 11 teams, good enough for third in the league with three others. For the Alouettes to have any remote chance at the playoffs next season, this duo will need to line up side-by-side once again.
Besides the noticeable stars, the Alouettes have some young prospects making their way up the ranks, looking to lead the team in the future.
B.J. Cunningham is their next big receiver in a core that features veterans Nik Lewis, S.J. Green, Sam Giguere and Fred Stamps.
Cunningham only played in eight games but collected 241 yards on 32 receptions and four touchdowns, with the latter three coming in the final two games. Surprisingly, his four TDs were enough to tie him with Giguere for second on the team, one behind Stamps and one ahead of the 1036-yard man, Green.
The former Michigan State Spartan connected well with Brandon Bridge in the regular season finale, another young star that might remain in Montreal for a few seasons. Bridge saw playing time in week one with both of the team’s quarterbacks when down with an injury in that contest but did not see action until Sunday.
In his CFL debut, Bridge went 21/30 passing for 220 yards and touchdowns. The mobile Canadian also ran for 45 yards on six attempts. To not make the same mistake with the ten other starters in the past two seasons, Bridge will need to be guided into the starting role by a veteran pivot like Kevin Glenn.
As for now, the Alouettes can keep their heads held high with the individual talent that they have on the field but in order to play like a team, management will need to be more cohesive with each other and with the players.
A mystery remains to why the fact that Jim Popp returns as head coach is a good option but if that is in the best interest of the CEO and owners, then so be it. The play on the field next season will determine to who’s the right man for the job but as for now, the Alouettes will need to focus on building a fortress surrounding their wall full of talent that they have.
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