The Ottawa Redblacks are still pressing towards gaining some sort of compensation for their former offensive coordinator Jason Maas. In a move that has caught many off guard, most notably the Edmonton Eskimos, Ottawa firmly believes that they deserve something if anything for what transpired back in December with the revolving door of head coaches.
The CFL has a unique code: coaches and staff are free to go when they have a opportunity for career advancement. Such was the case with 2015 Grey Cup champion head coach Chris Jones. Jones was offered an opportunity in Regina to become the Riders GM and head coach. Eskimos general manager Ed Hervey granted this opportunity for Jones, and the story ends there.
Not the case in Ottawa.
We can all appreciate and understand trying to put your self in a better position, as well as the difficulty a team faces in having to come up with a replacement.
Coaches being able to jump out of contract to pursue career advancement opportunity is something unique to the CFL, but it’s been done over and again. If your team benefits as a result, great. If not, you tip your cap and wish your former employee good luck in the new chapter of his football career.
Further to that, if you feel that the staff member in question is a valuable asset, you don’t grant him permission to talk to other teams. Sure you might get a disgruntled staff member, but these are paid professionals and will continue to make their best effort to put a quality product on the field. After all, the staff member is clearly interested in moving up and doesn’t wish to remain in the position he is now for the remainder of his career.
The ruling will be worth watching. Will Ottawa indeed be awarded compensation? Most fans say no, and that’s the likely outcome. However, this may actually result in the creation of a policy that will award compensation to teams if they lose a staff member.
That would be a major undertaking. What’s the value of a seasoned offensive coordinator versus a special teams coordinator? What’s the value of a head coach who’s been successful if he wishes to pursue double duty of general manager and head coach? Or will teams be able to name their price in advance, and if the other team doesn’t like it, no talks.
The latter would be the likely outcome. Orridge and company are not going to want to babysit adults in a he-said-he-said dispute at the end of each season; ultimately, that’s what this will be.
If a policy is put in place, the city of Ottawa will be known once again for bringing in a new kind of tax. It really would alter how business is done with staff members’ contracts. Is that a good thing? For a general manager and head coach who want to retain staff members, yes. For the staff who run the offensive, defensive and special teams drills? Not at all – they will be expected to work their contracts to the bitter end.
And if a coach signs a long term deal for job security, great. They’ll be able to sit quietly in the background and watch someone else take their ideal job, simply because another, possibly less qualified candidate has a contract ending a little sooner.
