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There’s an old saying coaches use when evaluating players: the film doesn’t lie.
Neither do the results, when evaluating football organizations as a whole.
That’s the beauty of sport. The winners and losers are clearly defined, every game, every season. The good decisions are proven correct. The bad ones, proven wrong.
Over the last two years, every CFL team but one has undergone the most revealing test of an organization’s mettle — the hiring of a head coach.
Only the B.C. Lions, with Wally Buono, have stood pat in the most important position within the franchise.
The rest have gone through extensive — some more than others — processes in an attempt to find the perfect man to lead their organizations.
The results to date suggest some team presidents and GMs know what they’re doing — others, we’re not so sure.
With this week’s Grey Cup combatants set, it’s as good a time as any to revisit the selections.
FIVE STARS: Montreal Alouettes
When he got the job, it was, “Marc who?”
Today, Alouettes boss Marc Trestman’s name is being bandied about for a head job in the NFL.
That’s what happens when your team throws up 11-7 and 15-3 seasons and goes to the Grey Cup twice.
Trestman had tons of experience as an NFL assistant, but he’d never coached the three-down game.
That didn’t dissuade Als president Larry Smith, who hired the brightest and most thorough CFL boss we’ve seen in years. Never mind that he’s a lousy quote.
When we first heard this guy has his players practice lining up for the national anthem, we wondered.
We don’t anymore.
FOUR AND A HALF STARS: Calgary Stampeders
The hiring of John Hufnagel two years ago, with his experience in the CFL and NFL as a player and assistant coach, made perfect sense.
Hufnagel proved it right, too, leading the Stamps to an 13-5 mark and a Grey Cup title his first year.
They slipped a little this year, finishing second and losing in the West Final.
But Huffer’s a keeper.
FOUR STARS: Saskatchewan Roughriders
Ken Miller’s promotion from assistant before the 2008 season didn’t look like a sure thing at all.
But the granddaddy of CFL head men, in charge of a team for the first time, has steered his troops through injuries to 12- and 10-win seasons — and a trip to the Grey Cup.
Miller’s steady approach might look boring from a distance, but it works.
Good call, Eric Tillman.
THREE STARS: Hamilton Tiger-Cats
When the Ticats canned Charlie Taaffe near the end of last season it appeared they might be giving the job to Marcel Bellefeuille by default.
But the former offensive co-ordinator, one of just two Canadian head men in the loop, orchestrated a dramatic turnaround from three wins to nine and Hamilton’s first home playoff game in eight years.
We don’t know about his staying power, but he’s off to a great start.
TWO STARS: Edmonton Eskimos
Truthfully, we expected Richie Hall to have a more successful debut.
Changing offensive co-ordinators midstream and squeezing into the post-season made for a rough start to the career of this longtime defensive guru.
Some assistants just aren’t cut out to be head guys. Another year should tell us plenty about Hall’s future.
ONE STAR: Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Toronto Argonauts
They were both regularly out-schemed, finishing with the CFL’s two worst offences.
The only thing going for Bart Andrus of the Argos: he wasn’t the public relations disaster Mike Kelly was with the Bombers.
Andrus had an even worse team, though: 3-15 to Kelly’s 7-11.
This wasn’t what either organization had in mind.
Come to think of it, what was going through their minds?