It was the biggest gamble the Edmonton Eskimos could take.
Switching offensive co-ordinators while sitting in first place in the West Division with a 5-4 record at the midpoint of the season was a lightning rod for fans and media to strike when things weren't going well down the stretch.
But it's a move that head coach Richie Hall said he doesn't regret.
"We created such a nice foundation that I'm actually juiced about coming back," said Kevin Strasser, who had the challenge of replacing former offensive co-ordinator Rick Worman without the opportunity of spending training camp and the preseason with his new team.
"We won't use that as an excuse because we did have nine weeks together," Strasser said.
"That was a new experience for me, it was new for the players as well and I'm really proud of how we came through and communicated and tried to get better each week."
It's that improvement factor that wasn't living up to expectations prior to the change, said Hall.
"I'm encouraged by our production overall, maybe not so much in statistics regarding where our offence was headed over the last number of months regarding the change, so the direction of where we were going is where I want us to be."
It's not like the Eskimos were without their problems without Strasser.
"Whether it was early in the year or late in the year, we seemed to be kind of on a roller-coaster, so in that aspect things didn't change," said Hall. "We moved the ball at times but we couldn't finish off drives with touchdowns.
"A lot of times you've got to take steps back to take steps forward. It's one of the things we knew that we were going to do ... especially when you do something in midstream. But in the long run, I think it's something that was beneficial for our football team."
And for its continued improvement.
"There's no doubt in my mind that we have almost everything we need," Strasser said.
