No laughing matter
Dunigan not amused fans would like him to start
By DAN TOTH -- Calgary Sun
EDMONTON -- Opposing defensive ends are tough on Stampeders quarterbacks but not nearly as hard-hitting as the team's own fans.
With the club staggering through a 2-9 season, the playoffs a longshot at best, the folks paying the bills are getting a little irritable.
After all, the fans are the real owners in the CFL, no matter what California's Corrugated Box King Michael Feterik tells you.
Amplifying their criticism was a recent Sun poll suggesting 69% of readers think GM-head coach Matt Dunigan -- eight years retired -- is the team's best quarterback. The tongue-in-cheek results are a boost to the egos of middle-aged jocks everywhere but an apparent blow to the psyches of Dunigan's impressionable young passers.
"Those guys don't need to be reading that," Dunigan warned yesterday, defending the club's struggling crop of pivots.
"They don't need to be subjected to that. They're young guys trying to learn this game. Give them an opportunity, don't throw them into some kind of comedic (poll)."
The fans would suggest there's nothing funny about claiming Dunigan is the team's top gun, the gory details on the field are proof of that.
Incumbent starter Marcus Crandell, 30, remains inconsistent in his seventh CFL season while backup Tommy Jones, 25, has shown few encouraging signs in four starts.
Youngster Michael Souza, 22, has only seen game action once while newcomer Tommy Denison, 25, is still on the practice roster learning the offence.
Dunigan said an outcry from fans this season about the team's inability to produce points, despite strong efforts from the defence and special teams, has tested his nerves, too. The club is averaging fewer than 20 points per game.
But while the rookie head coach is preaching for patience with his quarterbacks, he says he's been given permission from Feterik to chase free agents in the off-season. Quarterbacks and running backs are obvious priorities.
The strategy paid off on defence this season with the team beefing up by adding linebackers Scott Coe and Brian Clark, along with John Grace, acquired in a trade.
"The defence is taking shape like we had anticipated and planned, now it's a matter of concentrating on other aspects of our football team," Dunigan said.
"We'll take an aggressive approach, whatever it takes. We've gotten the green light and the go-ahead from Michael to do those things and we have his full support. We have to go out there and find better people in some situations. Some guys will buy into a system, fit into a system and some won't. And in tough times, those guys declare themselves in a hurry, so right now it's easier to see who's fitting into the system and who's not."
Although Dunigan recognized after being hired last December a legitimate starting quarterback was needed, a deal never materialized.
He tested the waters in a number of potential trades before acquiring Romaro Miller from Ottawa, hoping he would push Crandell. But Miller disappointed and was axed after the pre-season.
At Commonwealth Stadium yesterday, a stone's throw away from the turf on which Dunigan started his pro career, the Stamps boss harkened back to his days as a fuzzy-cheeked rookie. He was quick to remind critics his all-star career started by holding a clipboard and learning his trade behind Esks starter Warren Moon.
"That's the fans' prerogative to criticize, it certainly is," Dunigan said. "It could be two or three more years before these guys reach their potential. Hopefully it will be quicker than that. But you look at every guy (who has succeeded in the CFL) and it takes time to get to their level of competency and understanding.
"Experience is a tough thing that's learned."
Tough on the fans, too. Just ask them.
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Tuesday, we asked Sun readers who the Stamps should start at quarterback for tonight's Labour Day rematch in Edmonton. The overwhelming favourite -- the team's coach and GM. Dunigan is growing tired of the abuse his QBs are taking.
69% -- Matt Dunigan
13% -- Marcus Crandell
10% -- Tommy Jones
8% -- Michael Souza
