July 24, 2016

Landry: Stubler’s hallmark remains true

Asking Rich Stubler questions is a little like being a green-on-the-vine quarterback who fixes his eyes on the intended target too long.

He gets where you’re going and he jumps the route on the question, even as you’re finishing it up. At this point, after nearly three decades of coaching in the CFL, Stubler’s heard pretty much everything and can read and react like a veteran corner. Once he gets his defensive unit hammering on all cylinders, it will presumably function as efficiently as Stubler’s verbal response reflex.

“I see the Argos are middle of the pack in a lot of defensive categories,” I begin, setting the stage for the query to come. “So I wonder if you’re satis….”

Stubler picks it off.

“We’re in the middle of the pack in most but we should be in the top end in most,” the Argos’ defensive coordinator says. “We’ve given up, I don’t know, five or six big plays. Which should not ever happen.”

I stay the course and follow up.

“But with a lot of new players and all the injuries,” I wonder if those stats…”

“No. No,” Stubler says. My stat is that we’re two and two. My job is to keep them (opponents) at one less than the offence can score.”

Stubler’s interview style is kind of like the way he wants his defenders to play. Recognize and react accordingly. On that front, the 2016 Toronto Argonauts, in the middle of the pack in defensive categories such as rushing yards given up per game, passing yards given up per game, sacks, and takeaways are not where he wants them to be. “We’re about halfway there in understanding what we’re doin’,” he says. “It’s a work in progress.”

“But that’s been the same with any team I’ve ever coached. You have a base that you start with and then you move forward.”

The Argos defensive unit has been up and down so far, showing its teeth in victories over Saskatchewan and B.C. in weeks two and three, then showing its vulnerabilities in losses to Hamilton and Ottawa in weeks one and four. It’s been asked to carry more of an early season load, perhaps, than was expected. With quarterback Ricky Ray shaking the competitive cobwebs of playing very little football in the last year and with Toronto’s receiving corps suffering a number of injuries to key players, points haven’t been as plentiful as they might have been.

That’d be fine if the Argonauts defence came into the season with a veteran, familiar group and if they’d been healthy themselves. They didn’t and haven’t been, though. The team entered the 2016 season with a largely rebuilt defensive line, a new middle linebacker and having second year corner A.J. Jefferson missing training camp as well as the first three games of the regular season. The new middle linebacker, Marshall McFadden, was injured in the first game and hasn’t played since. Now that Jefferson has returned, the Argos’ other second-year corner, Akwasi Owusu-Ansah has been added to the 6-game injured list.

There’s been a bit of a musical chairs thing going on with the halfbacks, again due to availability.

“It takes some time to do what we do and we haven’t been able to line up with the same group (every week),” says Stubler, who realizes the importance of continuity. Still, he didn’t particularly want to use it as the sole reason for any mistakes that have been made in executing his defensive game plan.

“What we taught was in training camp and every kid we’ve had went to training camp,” he says.

Stubler’s hallmark has long been that of defensive units that give up the smaller stuff in forcing the opposition to string together drives made up of those morsels knitted together. Make a mistake on second down and you’ll be punting. Make a mistake on first down and here comes the heat on second down.

Stubler’s defences – when successful, which they have been a lot – have had one rather crucial characteristic in common. A stinginess when it comes to giving up big plays. That is a personality trait that the Argos’ defence needs to acquire and while Stubler thinks it will, he believes those kinds of mistakes are what led to losses to Hamilton (week one) and Ottawa (week four.)

“We played real well in weeks two and three and then didn’t play as well in one and four,” he says, before agonizing over two big pass plays in the Ottawa game that led to Toronto’s downfall.

“In (week) four we gave up two long throws (both to receiver Greg Ellingson) for, you know, sixty yards, which is crazy. Can’t make those mistakes,” he says, remembering that one of those receptions came in double coverage and the other after missed tackles followed a short hitch-screen pass. The Argos were up 13-nothing prior those big plays, in a game they would go on to lose 30-20.

Stubler says they can’t have those kinds of breakdowns against the Montreal Alouettes on Monday night and that will pose a challenge for the Argos secondary. Veteran quarterback Kevin Glenn will be back in the Als’ line-up after missing a week with an eye infection. He’ll have one of the league’s best bombs away receivers in Duron Carter to target.

Stubler’s a fan. “The Carter kid’s a great big play receiver,” he says.

“He catches the ball in a crowd, takes hits, gets up. He’s special.”

As always, Toronto’s D.C. is looking forward to the challenge and to seeing how his charges react to the task of keeping Carter and fellow receivers Sam Giguère, Nik Lewis and B.J. Cunningham from burning them for big plays. The Argos have given up nine big passing plays (30 yards or more), just one less than Winnipeg’s league-worst ten, heading into week five.

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Mistakes like those of week four will become fewer and farther between as the season goes along, provided the Argos do get a little continuity, leading to familiarity and flow. Communication will get clearer, as will recognition.

“We discuss everything that could happen and how we’re gonna play it,”

Stubler says. “That’s where we’re still in the infancy stage. But we’ll get there.”

“For me, it’s seeing the right things together and we get better at it each week.”

“I see,” I say. “Does that –”

“I’m excited about those prospects,” Stubler says, picking off another one.