Tillman, Austin answer questions from national media
By Josh Bell-Webster,
CFL.ca
Saskatchewan Roughriders general manager Eric Tillman and head coach Kent Austin fielded questions from the national media on Tuesday in the first of eight CFL State of the Franchise teleconferences.
Despite advancing to the West Championship three of the past four seasons, the Roughriders are not expecting an easy pass to the game this time around.
“Obviously we are in a very, very competitive division,” acknowledged Tillman. “B.C. is the best team in the league; that’s acknowledged. The Calgary Stampeders are a quality football team with legitimate Grey Cup aspirations and the Edmonton Eskimos — I know coming off a disappointing year — it’s easy to look at last year and forget they were the Grey Cup champions the year before.”
“We have our work cut out for us in the West, but we are looking forward to the season and can’t wait for camp to open.”
The Roughriders have a rookie head coach in former CFL quarterback and offensive coordinator Austin, who has spent the last few months getting used to his new role. He is planning a multifaceted offence in Saskatchewan this season, but expects some growing pains.
“There are still some unknowns,” admitted Austin. “Not having coached the players on a daily basis, and only being able to evaluate them from the outside in looking at film is a different vantage point than having them everyday and understanding their aptitude for learning, their ability to transfer concepts and things of that nature.”
There will still be continuity on the defensive side with the return of defensive coordinator Richie Hall.
“That was the first priority for me in respect to my coaching staff,” said Austin. “I’ve known Richie for many years and have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I was a team-mate of his. I’ve had to prepare against his defences as a coordinator in this league. They are very well coached.”
“Richie was very adamant that he wanted his staff back, and I think having that continuity on the field that we’ve had here for several years and the way that they handle these players was a huge bonus for us to get those guys back.”
One of the issues that Tillman has had to deal with in his short tenure as Roughriders GM is dealing with the CFL’s new Salary Management System which comes into effect this season. Tillman admitted that his club was on target to be upwards of between six and seven hundred thousand above the league mandated $4.1 million cap.
“It’s been a challenge,” admitted Tillman. “We’ve made some tough decisions. We’ve gone younger at some positions, but I think we’ve come out of it with a young team that we feel good about.”
The secondary is one of the areas that will see a youth movement, but with veteran Eddie Davis quarterbacking the group, Austin sees no worries with this unit.
“That’s a tremendous starting point for us,” praised Austin.
“Through the leadership of a guy like Eddie Davis and organizing those guys back there and keeping them calm, cool and collected I think we’ll be in good stead.”
One off-season topic that has captured the attention of two provinces is the Jason Clermont saga. The B.C. Lions slotback and Regina native becomes a free agent following the 2007 season, and there have been rumours of Saskatchewan’s interest in landing the hometown product.
“The reality is that Jason is under contract,” said Tillman. “He’s a guy that has strong roots in this community. We know he can play his backside off for B.C. as he does every year because of the character guy he is.”
“We understand the speculation that’s there because of the type of player and person he is, but we’re focused on 2007 and 2008 will take care of itself.”
The Roughriders kickoff the 2007 pre-season June 15 against the Lions in Vancouver in a rematch of the 2006 West Championship.
