Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
Rick Campbell is scrambling like he’s back in the white and blue of his high school alma mater, the Harry Ainlay Titans in Edmonton.
This isn’t what he wants to be doing, hustling on April Fool’s Day, scouring back through a lifetime of football connections to replace an offensive coordinator that when he went into work on Friday morning thought he had under contract for another year.
Given the tone of their press release on Monday, it’s not the kind of work the Ottawa REDBLACKS organization wanted to embark upon this late in the off-season either with training camp set to open in six weeks’ time.
But this is where Campbell and his team are. Jaime Elizondo has left the REDBLACKS for Marc Trestman’s Tampa team in the XFL, adding another prominent name to a talented list of off-season departures. As tough as it was to watch them go, Campbell could prepare somewhat for Trevor Harris, Greg Ellingson, William Powell, Diontae Spencer and SirVincent Rogers to leave in free agency.
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» Jaime Elizondo leaves REDBLACKS to pursue other opportunities
Elizondo celebrate with Trevor Harris after the team’s Eastern Final victory over Hamilton (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
Losing your offensive coordinator of the last three years at this point in the off-season? It’s like having your flight veer off course an hour before you’re supposed to land.
“I can’t remember one that happened this late, five or six weeks from training camp,” Campbell said on Monday afternoon.
“We’ve got to adjust on the fly here. There was no indication that this was coming. (He) kind of sprung it on me Friday afternoon and it was the end of the day. He had just been meeting with our offensive staff like normal, as far as getting ready for the season and all of that.
“He’s doing what he’s doing and he’s taking another job. The key for us is to be able to adjust and wanting to bring somebody new in. That’s what I’ve been working on over the weekend and we’ll see how that process plays out.”
The timing puts Campbell in a tough spot. Staffs across the league have been set for weeks.
“There’s not a long list (of candidates) this time of year,” Campbell said.
“I’m using all of my resources, I’ve been in football for a while. I’m trying to think outside of the box a bit. I’ve got to make sure I bring in the right guy and not just any guy. I’ll be working on that until we get this problem fixed.”
Campbell doesn’t see himself as the right guy for the situation, even for just this one season. This will be his 19th year of coaching in the CFL and while he’s been a defensive coordinator and a special teams coordinator, he won’t venture onto the offensive side of the ball.
“I need to make sure that the guy coming in is a quarterback expert,” he said.
“My background is with defensive/special teams and I just want to make sure we have a guy that’s hopefully familiar with our offence and coming in and adjusting to us, since we’re so far down the road with what we want to do and what our offensive staff and players are expecting. We’re looking for a guy that can come in and fit in with us and go from there.”
With the off-season clock ticking away, time will be of the essence for Campbell in his search, but he still wants it to be a far-reaching one. That could include a coach from the U SPORTS ranks, Campbell said, without wanting to limit the size of his net.
“It’s definitely easier if someone’s familiar with the CFL,” he said. “I just don’t want to limit it in any way. Sometimes a good coach can come in and hasn’t been in the CFL and they can adjust.
“Ideally it’d be someone with CFL experience, or at least know our game really well. I’m going to keep an open mind.”
“We’ve got to adjust on the fly here. There was no indication that this was coming. (He) kind of sprung it on me Friday afternoon and it was the end of the day.”
Rick Campbell on Jaime Elizondo’s departure
Rick Campbell says he won’t take over offensive duties in 2019 (Chris Hofley/OttawaREDBLACKS.com)
CFL.ca’s Marshall Ferguson pointed out that even while the U SPORTS season starts later in than the CFL’s, a coach from that level would still be hard to come by at this time of year.
“It’s tough right now because a lot of U SPORTS staffs are set and your typical hot shot, up-and-coming offensive minds have found good fits,” he said, pointing to Stefan Ptaszek going back to McMaster, Ryan Sheahan landing at Guelph and Steve Snyder going to Queen’s.
“For someone to swoop in from U SPORTS right now, there would have to be a home run candidate that we could all obviously see was ready to take that next step to the pros and all of the unique challenges that come with that. I just don’t think that fit exists in Ottawa’s current situation.”
Whoever the hire will be, Campbell will look to his offensive staff — O-line coach John McDonell, receivers coach Winston October and running backs coach Beau Walker — to help ease the new hire’s transition and to learn the offence.
“We’re really comfortable in what we’re doing, in the terminology — Dominique Davis knows that from last year — and our players,” Campbell said.
“We’re going to have someone come in and adjust to our players and coaches and not change everything for one guy.”
