March 30, 2017

Moon: Campbell’s coaching ascent no surprise

REGINA — When you’re with a team for six years, there are things you get accustomed to seeing.

As he won five Grey Cups in a row with the Edmonton Eskimos, Warren Moon came to know where all of his teammates would be on the field at any time in any situation. He knew every inch of Commonwealth Stadium and the Eskimos’ practice grounds. Thirty-four years after he’s left Edmonton, he still remembers watching a young Rick Campbell growing up in front of him.

“Rick was a young kid when I was in Edmonton. I don’t even think Rick was in high school yet,” Moon recalled on Thursday evening after his appearance at Mark’s CFL Week with fellow quarterbacks Anthony Calvillo and Mike Reilly.

Rick Campbell was eight-years old when he first met Moon, who of course was playing for Rick’s dad, Eskimos’ coach Hugh Campbell. The Campbell family left Edmonton in 1983 when Hugh pursued a USFL opportunity, then reunited with Moon in Houston with the Oilers, where Hugh was the head coach for the 1984 and 1985 seasons.

“He was always around practice, he was almost like a gym rat,” Moon said of Rick Campbell. “It didn’t surprise me that he got into coaching, following his dad’s footsteps.

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“I followed his career when he got into coaching and all the different moves he made. Me and Hugh Campbell are still close and we always talk about what our families are doing. He always kept me up to speed on what Rick was doing, on what Molly (who works for the Calgary Stampeders) was doing and just about everybody in his family. It’s great that he’s having that type of success and it doesn’t surprise me because the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Now 44, Rick Campbell is heading into his 17th year of coaching in the CFL, his fourth as the head coach of the Ottawa REDBLACKS. He steered his team through a historic upset in the Grey Cup last year, as the REDBLACKS stunned the Calgary Stampeders 39-33 in overtime, behind a 461-yard, three TD performance from QB Henry Burris.

Moon had his own close call with an Ottawa team, in the 1981 Grey Cup. The Rough Riders were 5-11 that year and the worst team to ever make it to the championship game. The Eskimos had won a then-record 14 games that year and, like the Stampeders were in the 2016 Grey Cup, were heavy favourites.

Except Ottawa built up a 20-1 halftime lead and Moon was benched before the half in favour of backup Tom Wilkinson. He returned in the second half, got his game back together and led the Eskimos to a comeback win. He thought about that when Campbell’s Grey Cup win is brought up.

The Canadian Press

“He was always around practice, he was almost like a gym rat. It didn’t surprise me that he got into coaching, following his dad’s footsteps.”

– Former Eskimos QB Warren Moon

“If Ottawa would have beat us the year we came back, that would have been the biggest (upset) but this one (last year) definitely would have been the biggest. They were able to pull that game out,” Moon said.

“What a great accomplishment, not only for Rick being in his first Grey Cup, but for Henry too, being in his last game. What a way to leave the CFL and leave your career, winning the Grey Cup and being the MVP.

“I was happy for him because I’d known Henry a long time. I went to some of his camps in the summer that he had for kids in Calgary. He’s moved around to a lot of different places, but to end your career like that, that’s the way you want to walk off. You want to walk off as a champion and walk off healthy.”

It’s the kind of exit that everyone wants, but so few get to enjoy.

“Only a few,” Moon said. “John Elway did that and Peyton Manning did that, but not many others are able to walk off the field that way and end their career.”