Only told GM Popp day before reporting
By Herb Zurkowsky,
Montreal Gazette
Alouettes assistant coaches reported to work last Monday to begin preparing for the coming season, although training camp is still three months away.
Conspicuous by his absence, however, was Steve McAdoo, the team’s offensive-line coach. And, to compound matters, McAdoo didn’t notify Jim Popp of his decision until Sunday night.
“As soon as I got the call … I figured he was going to tell me he couldn’t get here on time. But I never expected him to say (he was resigning),” said Popp, Montreal’s general manager and head coach.
“I’m not in his shoes. He might have debated the decision until the last minute. He said he had considered it for a while. But, if that was his consideration, I would have liked to know so I could have hired somebody. But I’m not him.”
McAdoo told Popp he was resigning for personal reasons. He didn’t return a message left yesterday by The Gazette at his winter home in Tennessee.
McAdoo was married before the start of last season but, because of the restrictions and time constraints of the profession, didn’t see much of his wife during the Canadian Football League season. It has been rumoured for months he wouldn’t be returning to the Als. There were also suggestions made by sources the team didn’t want McAdoo to return.
Indeed, this winter, McAdoo was one of five finalists for the head coach’s position at La Vergne High School in Tennessee. McAdoo said at the time he was approached to gauge his interest and insisted Montreal remained in his future, at least through this season.
McAdoo, who joined the Als coaching staff in 2003, also was listed last season as the co-offensive coordinator, in charge of the running game. Kevin Strasser, the team’s other coordinator (passing game) was fired after the season.
When Popp decided to remain Montreal’s head coach in December, he eventually named Marcel Bellefeuille as the team’s sole offensive coordinator, demoting McAdoo at the same time.
Popp refused to disclose McAdoo’s successor yesterday, when contacted by The Gazette. However, shortly after that conversation, the team announced the hiring of Charlie Carpenter, along with McAdoo’s resignation, on its website. Carpenter has eight years of CFL experience, having worked with Winnipeg, Ottawa, Baltimore, Toronto and British Columbia.
Notes – The Als, as has been reported in The Gazette, could have some interest in free-agent defensive-tackle Nate Davis after losing Adriano Belli to Toronto this week as a free agent. Preliminary talks have started between Popp and Gil Scott, Davis’s agent. Davis earned $130,000 last season at Saskatchewan, making him too rich for Montreal. But he would have a comfort level with the Als, where he would be reunited with Bellefeuille and new receivers coach Tim Kearse. “He would have to come at a lower base salary, if he wants to come to Montreal,” Popp said. “He’s out there, but we haven’t had hard negotiations.”
