Patience is a virtue.
And according to Richie Hall, it's virtually impossible for a team to succeed without it.
The Edmonton Eskimos head coach said it's something that was crucial for coaches during player evaluations in training camp and will continue throughout the season.
"Patience always stays there. I think once you eliminate patience, then you eliminate any flexibility," he said.
"That's a process that we go through as a team, to be patient with ourselves individually and to be patient with ourselves collectively.
"Because each week there's going to be something new. The roster's always going to be different just because of injuries or performance and I think that we have to be patient with ourselves."
It's an integral part of the development process a team must go through to improve as the year goes on.
"It goes back to the two things we've talked about from the beginning of training camp, is improvement and consistency," said Hall.
"And I think when you have those kinds of things, you have to be patience because we're not going to be the team that we want to be in Week 1.
"We want to be the team that we want to be in November, and we've got to be patient with ourselves. It's a growth process."
And it starts from the ground up -- or in this case, from the head coach down.
"There's a lot of different dynamics going on right now. You still have a staff that hasn't been together and we are still working together, and you have various players, very talented players," said Hall.
"It's about finding your mesh point, finding that role. I look at myself now that it's the regular season, what's my comfort level, what's my role as a head coach now?
"It's different than during training camp, just the same way as the players. I've always said the quicker that we come together, the easier it is to go forward."
GREY CUP REMATCH
CFL commissioner Mark Cohon will be present for the 2008 Grey Cup rematch between the Calgary Stampeders and Montreal Alouettes when the regular season gets underway today in Calgary.
"Season ticket sales are going very well. They have 45,000 seats and I think they're hopefully going to be close to sold out almost before the season starts," Cohon said during a recent preseason visit to Commonwealth Stadium. "The buzz is very exciting in the city right now."
Looking ahead to Grey Cup 2009, the commish could only smile when asked for a preseason prediction on who will be there. "Well, everyone's undefeated -- for the moment at least," he said.
RICHIE THE ROOKIE
An all-rookie Grey Cup duel last season between first-year head coaches Marc Trestman from Montreal and John Hufnagel in Calgary proves experience isn't the most important part of the job -- which bodes well for Hall.
The Eskimos new head coach is entering his first campaign at the helm of a CFL club.
"Well, he's a rookie but he's got a tremendous reputation as a person in the league and also as a terrific defensive co-ordinator," said Trestman.
"He knows this league, he knows the history of this league and he's much farther along than I was coming in a year ago.
"I know he's going to do a great job there. I see him as a terrific person of mad-high character and I think he'll do very, very well in Edmonton."
GERRY.MODDEJONGE@SUNMEDIA.CA
