Have the Roughriders made a good move by not renewing Barret's contract.?

Question

Personal opinion!! BAD MOVE. There is no one out there to take his place. Dave Ritchie is too old. The CFL has passed him by. Kent Austin is not a team player. He does not work well with others or accept the opinions of others. The Roughriders being a team that has to answer to a board of directors has reacted to the panic button and have elected to start over again. Look to another period of long term rebuilding. It is a good thing that there is nothing else in Saskatchewan so the fans will keep supporting them. Does anyone no why??

Answer 1

Great move. Change is good first of all. Danny's record wasn't that good. Tillman does not take the position if he can't make changes and put his people in place. Ritchie is old and young guys respond to that. I see him being the coach. A long history with a lot of loyal players out there. To answer your question, the past has to be disconnected from the future and Danny is part of that.

Answer 2

That is assuming they hire one of those.  There are plenty of other potential candidates.. How about Richie Hall, with a good offensive coordinator?  At any rate, Danny's time had come.  No progress, no job.  The life of a coach in any sport.

Answer 3

If it helps the Tiger-Cats any it was a great move! We'll gladly give them back Ron Lancaster in exchange!

Answer 4

I met Danny once at a mall in Calgary back when he was still pivot for the Stampeders.  Really stand up guy, I found.

That being said, I don't know that he was ever given the best shot in Sask with that team.  Always seemed to be issues somewhere outside his control that hurt them...whether it was personnel, lack there of, or whatever.

As for a replacement...there are plenty of college coaches who would jump at a chance to go pro.  Generally the CFL isn't as high profile as the NFL, but guys like Marv Levy and Bud Grant are proof that it can be used as a stepping stone to get into the NFL.  Mind you, Hugh Campbell also showed that it doesn't always work.

One name that keeps crossing my mind is Dan Reeves.  Maybe a stretch, but who's to say he wouldn't take an opportunity to coach in a less stressful environment.  Considering his offensive minded coaching, he might fit well.  I do realize this isn't going to happen, but its an interesting thought.

Answer 5

I agree with you. The previous regime was a disaster. The Riders

were probably doing this good because of Barrett, who is a player's coach.  The Riders had success because the players generally

liked Barrett. He should end up on a coaching staff somewhere, because he did a good job.  I think the Riders will regress under the new coach likely, and miss the playoffs, while the Eskimos will recover from a bad season, and make it in their place. BC and Calgary look to be pretty solid teams, while the East is pretty solid with Montreal, Toronto and Winnipeg (really a West team that is playing there to even things out).

Answer 6

I think it was the smart move...not necessarily the right move...when a team has had the same coach for many years the players (rightly or wrongly ) begin to not listen. Players will think the coach's ideas are "stale" ..I don't think it is very professional.......but it happens (just look at the NHL so far this season....3 coaches fired after only 20 something games)

Fans are fans...hence the name fan which is short for fanatic...defined as "a person motivated by an extreme unreasoning enthusiasm".......'Rider fans are not unique!!!

Answer 7

It was a bad decision...

Answer 8

Why did you ask this question if you have such strong opinions???

Face it: Barrett won only 46.9% of the games he coached here and over the last few years rose to the giddy heights of 50%. Players say privately that he is the worst coach in the entire league for getting his team psychologically "up" for a game.

He's a mediocre coach.

So did the board of directors panic? Heck, Barrett has had SEVEN years to get better and hasn't done so.

I don't understand why you are so hypnotized by this very mediocre coach.