CALGARY -- Richie Hall took note of the date last week returning from the Edmonton Eskimos win in Toronto.
"It was Oct. 17th. That was 10 months to the day since I'd been hired. That's the fastest 10 months I've lived in my life," said the rookie head coach.
The rest of the way it may become slow motion.
Tonight against the Stampeders could provide the biggest win in his coaching career.
That's the upside.
The downside is he's been largely living since the 32-8 Labour Day loss to Calgary in a season which has only included two wins since, and taken Hall's team from first to last in the CFL West.
'LEARNING EXPERIENCE'
"It's been a real learning experience," said Hall here yesterday. "There have been lots of highs and lows. I've learned a lot about myself. I've always thought of myself as a patient person. But I'm not as patient as I thought I was.
"I always thought of myself as an easygoing person. But I'm more stern in the way I respond to the players as a head coach.
"I expected our performance to be more consistent than it's been. I thought we'd have won more than seven games at this point. At the same time I believed this is the way it would end up in the West this year with all four teams real close in the standings. I believed it would come down to the end."
There has been no ending yet.
If the Stampeders lose their last three games they could miss the playoffs.
If they win tonight they're guaranteed a playoff spot. It's still there for everybody to make something out of this.
"Right now all four teams could still finish first in the West. After Montreal, who is the next best team in the league?" asked Hall. "That's changed just about every week."
Hall said there's a difference between now and the previous games.
"The games since Labour Day have all had playoff implications. But it's a playoff game."
And now we get to see how Richie Hall coaches when it matters most.
Make no mistake. This would be a big, big win for Hall and his team.
"We've been an up-and-down team. Hope is there. But all the steps we've taken this year have been small steps. This would be a very large step to win this football game. It could really make us as a team."
There's an interesting contrast between the two head coaches in this game.
Calgary coach John Hufnagel was 13-5 in the regular season last year and 2-0 in the post-season with a Grey Cup ring and the coach of the year award in his first go as a head coach.
So far this 8-6-1 season has been an entirely different adventure, he says.
Sometimes the win-loss records don't tell the story.
"I think I'm a better coach this year," he said. "I think having a year's experience as a head coach and a year back in the CFL has made me better. If you don't learn from experience, then something is wrong."
Hall said overall he's enjoyed his first season despite the frustrations.
GETTIN' HITCHED
"It's like a marriage. You want to get married but until you've been in a marriage you really don't know what it's going to be like.
"It's been a whole different experience. It's something I'm enjoying right now.
"It's like Ray Jauch said when he hired me in Saskatchewan for my first coaching job. He asked me if I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. I told him I'd have to do it to find out.
"Now I'm finding out what it's like to be a head coach. I can't say I'd like to be a head coach for the next 10 years. But it's something I definitely want to keep doing for the next few years."
Results of games like this one tonight and the ones he'll coach for the rest of the season will go a long way to providing an extended opportunity.
TERRY.JONES@SUNMEDIA.CA
