Jaime Stein
CFL.ca
Welcome inside the Toronto Argonauts ‘War Room’. Today is draft day, it is the 2009 CFL Canadian Draft and the Argo draft team has invited me to witness the inner workings of their draft process.
The key players today include the Assistant GM & Director of Player Personnel Greg Mohns, Head Coach Bart Andrus, General Manager Adam Rita, Coordinator of Canadian Scouting Miles Gorrell and Football Operations Consultant Nick Volpe.
Mohns heads up the Argos scouting operation and leads the process on this day. He and his staff have created an elaborate grading system for all of the available players in the draft. This system will be used to select players throughout the day.
Here is a timeline of the day’s events:
10:32am – Draft Day gets off to a festive start when the Argo communications staff brings in a birthday cake for Mohns. Following a round of Happy Birthday for “G-Money” as Mohns is affectionately called, the mood remains light with less than a half hour until draft time.
10:42am – A sense of calm continues as Argo personnel swap stories and trade jokes.
10:45am – The talk starts to shift towards the draft a few minutes later. The discussion turns to the fact that the draft is on television and how that will give teams a little more time to pick their players during the first two rounds (8 minutes between draft picks).
10:49am – The Argos draft team starts to form around the draft table. Volpe, Gorrell, Rita, Mohns, and Andrus take their seats. Offensive line coach Ron Heller sits in an adjoining room while special teams coordinator Steve Buratto paces back and forth around the table, stating he prefers to stand.
10:55am – The remainder of the coaching staff begins to congregate in an adjoining room to the main draft room. The joking continues with five minutes to draft time. The Argos have already decided on who they will select with their first round pick and are waiting for the draft to get going.
10:57am – Nick Volpe dials into the league-wide conference call, which will be where the official draft picks are made.
10:59am – Ryan Janzen from the CFL’s league office gives instructions to all eight teams who are on the conference call. He explains how much time each team will have per round to make their selection. Teams will have eight minutes to make their picks in the first two rounds – the televised rounds – and then three minutes to make their picks in the subsequent four rounds of the draft.
11:01am – Assistant GM, Ian Sanderson, delivers a massive crate of sandwiches to the ‘War Room’ to go with the giant spread of food in the adjacent room where all the assistant coaches are hanging out. The room resembles a Grey Cup party for the moment – in a way, draft day is like the Grey Cup for player personnel directors.
11:08am – The waiting game continues for the Ticats to make the first overall selection. The Argos brass swaps more football stories while the wait.
11:11am – Bob O’Billovich gets on the phone call and announces that a fan will make the first pick for the Ticats. The fan announces that Alberta’s Simeon Rottier is the first pick in the 2009 CFL Draft, confirming both the CFL Scouting Bureau’s ranking and the beliefs of many CFL draft pundits.
11:12am – Argos get word that their pick – who will be announced in a few minutes – has landed at Pearson International Airport in Toronto and will be en route to the Argos practice facility shortly.
11:17am – Mohns clutches a black stopwatch in his right hand. “Two minutes left,” he says, giving the countdown until the Argos make their first selection in the draft.
11:19am – Nick Volpe’s first draft was in 1988. This marks the 21st consecutive time he has been part of the Argos ‘War Rom’. He picks up the phone states, “We are very pleased to selected #423, Etienne Legare, defensive tackle, from the University of Laval.” Excitement takes over the room as the Argos have their guy.
11:20am – Immediately following the Argos pick the BC Lions and Hamilton Ticats announce a trade. The Lions will now pick third overall.
11:21am – Dominic Picard, one of Toronto’s off-season signings and a Laval alumnus, comes into the ‘War Room’ and receives hugs from all the staff. He is at the facility to welcome Legare to the Toronto Argonauts. Rita dubs them, “The French Connection”.
11:27am – The BC Lions select Jamall Lee from Bishop’s University – so far the draft has gone as expected. The Lions have two more picks in a row and the Argos brass begin to discuss who the other two picks will be.
11:34am – The BC Lions select James Yurichuk with the 4th overall selection, a linebacker from Bishop’s University. Yurichuk shot up the draft table after his E-Camp performance.
11:35am – Buratto writes Yurichuk’s name on the Argos draft board. Ever so slowly the squares start to fill in for the first round.
11:37am – It is still too early for the Argos to figure out who their second round selection will be according to Mohns. He wants to wait and see who BC takes with the fifth pick to help clear the picture up a bit.
11:43am – The BC Lions use their third consecutive pick on Acadia’s Matt Carter. He is a native of British Columbia and that is made clear over the phone when the Lions make the selection.
11:45am – Legare arrives at the Argos facility with his girlfriend and meets all the coaches and staff. Legare is a bit tired after an early morning flight following their university prom the night before.
11:47am – Legare is taking promo photos with GM Adam Rita followed by a video ID for Argos TV.
11:52am – The Hamilton Ticats make the first surprise pick of the day, selecting FB/SB Darcy Brown from Saint Mary’s University. There was some speculation that Brown would go in the first couple of rounds of the draft, but sixth overall is a bit of a surprise to some in the room.
11:55am – Legare continues to get acquainted with members of the Argo coaching staff and is all smiles on draft day. He takes a moment to glance at the Argos’ draft board to see who else has been selected in the first round, before grabbing a sandwich and heading into Rita’s office to enjoy lunch with his girlfriend.
12:01pm – The Montreal Alouettes are on the clock and they select University of Calgary offensive lineman Dylan Steenbergen.
12:02pm – Mohns starts to mull over how the draft will play out as the Argos’ next pick gets closer. Calgary is on the clock and who Calgary selects will help paint a clearer picture for who the Argos will choose in the second round.
12:09pm – The Calgary Stampeders select Eric Fraser, a defensive back from Central Michigan.
12:11pm – With the first round complete, Mohns and Andrus mull over their draft cards and draft grades for their second round pick. Rita chimes in with his opinion on a couple of guys. The debate surrounds whether they should draft based on need, ranking or position.
12:16pm – Saskatchewan is on the clock with
the 9th overall pick. The Riders go local and choose Tamon George from the University of Regina. That puts the Argos back on the clock.
12:17pm – Toronto throws out the name of their second pick right away. There is consensus around the table. However, the Argos must wait the full five minutes before delivering the name of their draft pick to the league office to be announced on TSN.
12:18pm – Buratto writes, “Lambros, WR, Liberty” on the draft board. “We got two players out of our top five,” says Mohns. So far so good for the Argos draft team.
12:21pm – Volpe gets back on the phone and announces that the Toronto Argonauts have selected Matt Lambros, a wide receiver from Liberty University. Receivers coach Mike Jones is ecstatic about Lambros’ addition to the team. The Argos are impressed with his speed.
12:26pm – The Edmonton Eskimos select Gordon Hinse an offensive lineman from the University of Alberta with the pick. Hinse is a dark horse selection in the draft, chosen ahead of other linemen who were expected to go higher.
12:27pm – The second round brings more suspense than the first round. The Argos draft room starts discussing strategy and trying to predict who the Eskimos will take with their next pick. “It’s like a suspense movie,” says Rita.
12:31pm – With their second consecutive pick, the Edmonton Eskimos select Dee Sterling from Queen’s University, a defensive lineman.
12:36pm – The Ticats select Ryan Hinds, a defensive back, from New Hampshire. He is another “red shirt” player, who will not be available to the Cats for at least a year.
12:41pm – The Montreal Alouettes select Martin Bedard, a TE and long snapper from the University of Connecticut.
12:44pm – As hour number two of the draft draws to a close, the room has become quiet and the jokes and banter have subsided. The frequent trips to the buffet in the adjacent room have also become less frequent.
12:45pm – Rita and Mohns discuss their draft rankings. Several players remain in their second level of their rankings as the second round nears completion.
12:46pm – Montreal selects Matt Singer and offensive lineman from the University of Manitoba. Singer did not attend the CFL’s Evaluation Camp and his selection comes as a bit of a surprise.
12:51pm – The final pick of the round goes to the Calgary Stampeders. The Stamps select Toronto native Tristan Black, a linebacker from Wayne State.
12:54pm – Toronto is on the clock with the 18th overall selection. Volpe announces that Toronto selects James Green, a linebacker from the University of Calgary. The Argos look forward to his ability as a special teams player.
1:02pm – A few offensive linemen fall off the board. Mike Morris from UBC goes to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Matt Morencie from Windsor goes to the BC Lions.
1:03pm – The Hamilton Ticats select Scott McCuaig, a defensive lineman from UBC. “That’s a good one,” says Buratto.
1:05pm – The Argos start plotting their strategy for the fourth round as the picks continue to roll in for the third round.
1:07pm – A flurry of activity begins inside the ‘War Room’ as the time between picks has been shortened to three minutes. Mohns flies through his draft rankings while Rita and Andrus chime in with various thoughts. Buratto begins to write the picks up on the board at a faster pace while Gorrell provides little tidbits of information on each of the players selected.
1:10pm – The Argos take little time in making the 26th pick in the draft. After a debate on how to pronounce his last name, Volpe announces that Zach Pollari, an offensive tackle from the University of Western Ontario, will be the newest member of the Argonauts. A mystery remains how his name is pronounced as a different pronunciation is used on the draft call by the league office.
1:13pm – Mohns and Andrus conference together and discuss their potential next pick.
1:15pm – The BC Lions take the first timeout of the draft. Laughter erupts in the ‘War Room’ as the BC Lions are known to take a time out each year in the draft and the tradition continues.
1:17pm – Offensive line coach Ron Heller heads out of the room to call Pollari and welcome him to the team.
1:20pm – Mohns, Andrus, Rita and Gorrell watch the Lions take their man with the subsequent pick, so the discussion focuses on who the Argos should now take. Mike Jones, the receivers coach, is consulted. A debate swirls around whether Toronto should add a receiver or an offensive lineman – they have narrowed the choice down to two players.
1:23pm – Calgary selects Saskatchewan’s Scott McHenry, a receiver. He was the highest remaining player on Toronto’s draft list, rendering the previous discussion moot.
1:24pm – With little hesitation, Toronto makes their next selection. Gordon Sawler is their choice, an offensive lineman from Saint Francis Xavier University.
1:26pm – Mohns lists four players from which he would like to select two in the final round of the draft. The Argos have a pair of picks in the sixth round.
1:27pm – Winnipeg selects Peter Quinney, a fullback from Wilfrid Laurier University. The Argos choice of four players for the final round is down to three.
1:35pm – Montreal takes a timeout. The Argos ‘War Room’ is happy to have the extra time to discuss their final picks.
1:38pm – The Argonauts make their first pick of the final round, Anthony DesLauriers, a defensive back from Simon Fraser University. Mohns and Andrus debate who they should take with the next pick.
1:39pm – Rita states his opinion on the final selection and Toronto is ready to pick.
1:40pm – The Toronto Argonauts select Brad Crawford, a defensive back from the University of Guelph. Crawford’s older brother Bryan is also a member of the Toronto Argonauts. The Argos are excited for Brad’s arrival and hope he has the same motor as his older brother. This concludes the Argos draft day; however, there are still a few picks to go in the final round.
1:42pm – Buratto finishes filling out the draft board on the wall inside the Argos &lsquo
;War Room’. In blue ink the board reads: Etienne Legare, Matt Lambros, James Green, Zach Pollari, Gordon Sawler, Anthony DesLauriers and Brad Crawford.
1:47pm – The mood begins to return to the calm that existed at the start of the draft and the jokes begin to fly again inside the Argos ‘War Room’.
1:49pm – With the last pick in the 2009 draft, the Calgary Stampeders select John Kanaroski, a wide receiver from the University of Regina.
1:50pm – The 2009 Canadian Draft is officially over and the conference call has come to a close.
Following the draft, a flurry of activity begins. The Argos communications staff continues to make phone calls to the draft picks while updating their bios on the team website. Legare and Picard pose for photos in front of an Argo backdrop. Picard demands a retake because the pair does not look mean enough in the original photo.
As the day draws to a close, most of the food is gone from the adjacent room. Rita jokingly accuses Heller and Gorrell of taking more than their fair share. The former offensive linemen brush off the jokes they’ve heard before.
The table inside the ‘War Room’ remains littered with draft cards, notes, and rankings. A year of hard work has come to an end, only to start all over again in a couple of weeks when the CIS’s East West Bowl takes place in London, Ontario featuring the top players for the 2010 Canadian Draft.
Jaime Stein is the Canadian Football League’s Manager of Digital Media and the former play-by-play voice of the Toronto Argonauts.
