Dave Chidley/CFL.ca
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are less than two weeks away from opening training camp and are hoping to pull off something that, in theory, sounds very difficult.
The Ticats are hoping to take the high note their season ended on — a 6-4 finish that made their 0-8 start feel like ancient history — and carry it over through a six-plus-month off-season.
They’ll do so with most of the catalysts of that change back and looking for more. Head Coach June Jones gets the luxury of a full season to implement his systems and has hired assistants that he’s familiar with. Quarterback Jeremiah Masoli will go into training camp as the team’s starter; the first time he’s had that kind of opportunity in his six-year CFL career.
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Jones and Masoli took part in Tuesday’s season-preview conference call to talk about the 2018 season. Here are five things that we learned about the Ticats on that call:
June Jones is a big Jeremiah Masoli fan
“We were 0-8 and I just took over the head job and as I said at that time, the guys that get fired are the head coach and the quarterback. So what I said to Zach, we’re just going to make a change,” Jones said of his decision to start Masoli last season.
“They already let Kent go, he’s working in the front office and we just need a change. I have a lot of good feelings for Zach. I think he would have played well in what we were doing also, it’s just that hey, timing is everything. Jeremiah was on cue when he got his chance. He didn’t have one game where I even thought about putting in Zach in the game, he just kept getting better and better. That’s how it is sometimes in life. He wasn’t in the right place at the right time and Jeremiah was.”
Masoli is ready to tread new ground as a starter
“We’ll see,” Masoli said of what’s ahead of him this season. “This is my first time going into the thing as ‘the guy’ but I don’t think a whole lot is going to change, (other than) stepping up the leadership role more.
“We’ve got a lot of vets on the team and I think we’ll be able to manage ourselves on the team really well. We have a lot of competitive guys on the team, a lot of familiar faces that have been there for a while. We all know each other and get along with each other really well. It’s no pressure on me in that aspect, it’s just like coach said. It’s time to perform.”
Jeremiah Masoli is shrugging off the pressure that comes with being a full-time starter (David Chidley/CFL.ca)
Terrence Toliver should be ready for training camp
After tearing his ACL in the first game of the season last year, receiver Terrence Toliver is expected to be back and ready to make an impact.
“I’m going to see him for the first time, I’ve talked to him on the phone,” Jones said. “I believe he’s pretty close to being 100 per cent. I’m looking forward to getting to know him and meeting him and seeing what exactly he can do for us and what we can help him do.”
Jones said that in watching tape of Toliver, he was intrigued by his 6-foot-5 frame.
“I really like his size,” he said. “I was talking with the quarterbacks and other people who have said that he’s really intelligent. You have to have that to be able to play.
“He looked like he played a lot of spots from the film, the year before. I didn’t get to watch much of him last year, other than the first game, but he seems like he’s got a lot of talent.”
Toliver, 30, had 1,036 yards and nine touchdowns in 2016 with the Ticats.
Masoli’s learning a lot from Dan Morrison
A late-season addition last year (he came to the team as an offensive assistant and QBs coach on Oct. 3), Morrison will be here for the full ride this year, working solely as the QBs coach.
Through a 16-year NCAA career, Morrison worked twice with Jones, first at Hawaii (1999 to 2007), then again at Southern Methodist University (2008 to 2014). He helped quarterbacks at both schools learn and thrive in Jones’ run and shoot offence. Masoli’s stats in the second half of last season suggest the same is happening in Hamilton.
Masoli says he’s leaned heavily on quarterbacks coach Dan Morrison (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
“Coach Dan has worked with coach June for a long time and he’s been partly responsible for a lot of the success that that offence has had,” Masoli said. “I learned a lot from him. He covers a lot of the details, a lot of the smaller points that we may not be able to cover in our main meeting. He just pulls quarterbacks aside and tells us what he sees.
“His experience and the stuff that he’s seen over the years is so valuable to me, as far as executing the offence. He’s been through it a million times and seen it a million times. His input is so valuable for us.”
Orlondo Steinauer is learning a new side of coaching
Jones has enjoyed working with Orlondo Steinauer over the last couple of months since he was brought on as assistant head coach.
“I’d heard all of the players and Scott (Mitchell, the team president and CEO) and I talked eight months ago about this guy I’d never met, Orlondo,” Jones said.
“So (Mitchell) asked me, ‘Would you entertain talking with him? I know that he would like to come home, he’s played up here, coached up here and done a great job for us.’ So over Christmas, over the holidays, I had a chance to sit down with him and I see why he’s a successful coach.
“He pays attention to detail, he knows what’s going on up here in this league, about as good as anybody in the league, from being a player and coaching. He wanted to further his career and one day be a head coach, but he’s never spent any time on offence.
“I felt like with Jerry (Glanville) coming up, Orlondo would be able to give him answers on a whole bunch of things. Then at the same time, Orlondo spending time with the receivers and the offence and how we coach our stuff, it’s going to make him a better head coach one day.”
