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altimore, the Colts have parted ways with special teams co-ordinator Marrwan Maalouf and watched vic
Topic Started: May 17 2014, 08:38 AM (4 Views)
zake201
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This B.C. Lions team that starts the 2012 season may be even better than the Lions team that last year finished the regular season at 11-7 and won the Grey Cup. I say this in reference to their personnel carried over from last year combined with their newly acquired personnel. Put those two groups together and you have a pretty impressive starting 24. The majority of the time when a team wins a championship, players move on. One or two retire, and those who have earned free agency use it to their advantage to create a new opportunity for themselves. Its also rare to repeat as champions because the desire for that winning feeling has been satisfied. Sometimes its tough to regenerate that same maintained intensity for an 18-game schedule and playoff run. With this years Lions, its a little different, in a good way. Yes, they lost LB Solomon Elimimian and DE Aaron Hunt. But to great surprise, they kept DL Khalif Mitchell and OT Jovan Olafioye. Losing just two starters to free agency from a Grey Cup Championship team is pretty good. And yes, some players retired – DL Brent Johnson, DB Davis Sanchez, and RB Jamal Robertson – but as a compliment to those players, the timing was perfect. All three wouldnt have been starters this season; all three went out on top. I can only wish. Then in the off-season, the Lions improved their roster. Both Lin-J Shell and Byron Parker are risk-taking defensive backs that will enhance the confidence of the entire defence. So, can the Lions repeat? Will they have enough energy and enthusiasm to pay the price to do it again? Well, first of all, it will be a different team with Mike Benevides as head coach. When the head coach changes, the team changes – trust me on that one, I know from experience. This will be a new Lions team. Everyone knows the history of Wally Buono, and I thought it was a very classy move on his part to step aside. I am sure Buono would have liked to have the chance to coach in the 100th Grey Cup, especially considering the team he has, but he is giving that opportunity to someone else. It was a pretty unselfish move by Coach Buono in a sport that has strong egos at all positions. So Benevides takes over as the 24th head coach in the clubs history, and guess what? Hes Canadian. Born in Toronto, hes currently the only Canadian head coach in the league. So look at the possible Cinderella story for Benevides: born in Toronto, played high school and college football in Toronto, and now may come back to Toronto as a Canadian head coach for the 100th Grey Cup. Movies are made of these types of stories. The No. 1 thing I like and respect about Coach Benevides is that hes earned his opportunity. From Central Tech High School – as a nose tackle believe it or not – to York University. Then as a guest coach, to an unpaid assistant. Next a special teams coordinator, linebackers coach, and for the last three years a defensive coordinator. And he also ran the Canadian talent evaluation for the Lions. Mike Benevides has earned it! The opportunity to be a head coach in the CFL has nothing to do with luck or association. It is based on paying the price. What will determine whether Benevides experiences success or failure? The same as any head coach: keeping his team healthy and having his players continue to improve. His first challenge is easy to identify: win more games in July and August so theres not as much pressure in September and October. Through my observation, I would say it is true that maintaining success is tougher than creating it for the first time, and that will be the Lions ultimate challenge. But it is a new team, with a new head coach who could be a Canadian head coach leading his team in his hometown in the 100th Grey Cup. Sure would make for a good movie or better yet, a true documentary. wholesale jerseys . Theyre hoping he will be all right. But the usually jovial attitude inside the Colts locker room turned serious whenever the topic turned to Collie and his history of head injuries. wholesale nfl jerseys . 1-seeded Victoria Azarenka 6-1, 6-2. On Saturday, Williams will face first-time Olympian Maria Sharapova, who beat Russian teammate Maria Kirilenko 6-2, 6-3 in the semi-finals. http://www.cheapauthenticjerseysfromchina.com/ . -- Torontos Colin Doyle moved ahead of Hall of Famer Gary Gait into second place on the NLLs all-time scoring list with two goals and three assists, and the Rock defeated the Washington Stealth 16-13 on Friday. cheap nfl jerseys . According to a report in the Hamilton Spectator, Plesius will return to Laval to play his senior season with the Rouge et Or. Plesius attended rookie camp with the Philadelphia Eagles on a tryout basis in mid-May, but wasnt signed to a contract. cheap jerseys from china . -- Brandon Moss might just make Boston miss him yet.INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts have their new offensive co-ordinator, and its someone Andrew Luck already knows. A person familiar with the decision said Stanford offensive co-ordinator Pep Hamilton has accepted the same position with the Indianapolis Colts, where he will be reunited with Luck. The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity Friday because the deal has not yet officially been announced by the Colts. Team owner Jim Irsay tweeted that the Colts offence "could have some pep to it this fall." The Colts were hoping that a promised pay raise and a new job title would be enough to keep Bruce Arians in Indy. But Arians, a longtime NFL assistant, had long dreamed about being an NFL head coach and couldnt say no when the Arizona Cardinals offered him the job Thursday. Arians stepped in when Chuck Pagano was diagnosed with leukemia in September and went on to tie an NFL record for wins after a midseason coaching change. His 9-3 record not only made him a front-runner for coach of the year honours, but suddenly made him a hot commodity on the interview circuit, too. Knowing that, Colts general manager Ryan Grigson said Tuesday that while he was hoping Arians would return for a second season as offensive co-ordinator, he was preparing for life without the 60-year-old Arians. "I take it upon myself to always be prepared. Just like during the season, I always have a doomsday mindset," Grigson said Tuesday. "I always have a deep reserve of players and people at the ready. Thats my job. Thats what Ive been entrusted to do. Im just doing my job. Its not cold or heartless, Im just doing my job." Grigson played it coy earlier this week when he was asked whether Plan B would be promoting quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen to offensive co-ordinator, a job he held under former coach Jim Caldwell. But one thing the Colts wanted was continuity for Luck and his young teammates and Hamilton could help in that facet. Hell have some familiar faces on the roster with Luck, last years No. 1 overall pick out of Stanford, and tight end Coby Fleener. Luck set NFL rookie records for attempts and yards passing and fell just short of the leagues rookie marks for completions and touchdown passes. He tied the leagues single-season record for most winning drives in the fourth quarter (seven) and produced a league-high nine wins in one-possession games. Hamilton also has a solid supporting cast outside of the two ex-Cardinal players. Running back Vick Ballard, tight end Dwayne Allen and receiverss T.ddddddddddddY. Hilton and LaVon Brazill combined with Fleener and others to give Indy (11-5) the highest combined total of yards rushing and receiving by rookies on one team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. Hamilton joined Jim Harbaughs staff at Stanford in 2010. He was promoted to offensive co-ordinator when Harbaugh left for the San Francisco 49ers two years ago and David Shaw took over as Stanfords head coach. Last May, the university officially renamed the offensive co-ordinator position the "Andrew Luck Director of Offense" after an anonymous donor made what the school called a "very generous" gift to honour the record-setting quarterback. Stanford has endowments for many positions in the athletic department, although most are reserved for head coaches and the athletic director. Hamilton helped continue Stanfords renaissance behind a balanced offence -- with and without Luck. One of the Cardinals key recruiters, Hamilton also discovered new quarterback Kevin Hogan out of McLean, Va. The strong-armed and quick-footed Hogan finished 5-0 -- including beating four ranked teams en route to the Rose Bowl win over Wisconsin on Jan. 1 -- since replacing Josh Nunes, who struggled to succeed Luck. Stanford had not won the Rose Bowl since 1972. Stanford is one of only three schools -- Oregon and Wisconsin being the others -- who earned BCS bowl berths the past three seasons. The Cardinal routed Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl two years ago and lost in overtime to Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl in Lucks finale. Stanford has won at least 11 games each of the past three years. The program had won 10 games only three times before (1992, 1940 and 1926). Losing Arians is only part of Indys transition. Since losing a wild-card round game to Baltimore, the Colts have parted ways with special teams co-ordinator Marrwan Maalouf and watched vice-president of football operations Tom Telesco leave to take the general manager job in San Diego. Grigson replaced Telesco with Jimmy Raye, who had spent the past 16 years in San Diegos front office, and Pagano hired Tom McMahon as his new special teams coach this week. Grigson said he expects no more major changes to the front office or coaching staff during the off-season. "Just because weve won one season were not going to let people just raid the hen house," Grigson said. "Ive been on the other side of it myself, its tough but guys are in contracts and if youre offered a head coaching job or a GM position I have to let you out, but otherwise, I dont." ' ' '
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