The Canadian Press
TORONTO — There has been much speculation across the CFL over the last week about who will take over as the Ottawa REDBLACKS offensive coordinator.
When the news broke that Jaime Elizondo was stepping down as the team’s OC, the clock started ticking for the REDBLACKS to find a replacement before the season gets started in just over a month.
Two names that were floated around as possible candidates were quarterbacks Henry Burris and Ricky Ray.
The Waggle Episode 152: Life after Elizondo
Burris told TSN 1200 in Ottawa that he wasn’t interested in taking the position if the team offered it to him. Instead, he wants to continue to spend time with his family.
“For me now, no,” Burris said. “It’s very intriguing and trust me if that was a call that was to be made and trust me guys I’ve had sleepless nights dreaming of walking on the sideline with a hat on my head and a headset, I’ve had those dreams and it’s something down the road I would love to do.”
Davis Sanchez and Donnovan Bennett discussed the possible candidates on this week’s episode of The Waggle Presented by Sport Clips. They said Ray could be a viable option but perhaps he wouldn’t be able to take his on-field success to the sidelines as easily as it may seem.
Ray has yet to determine his football future after he missed almost all of the 2018 season and became a free agent in February.
“Ricky Ray is interesting because he’s currently not on a football team to play football,” said Bennett. “Could he transfer into coaching right away? I don’t know. I’m just afraid that this would be Anthony Calvillo 2.0 because he’s a guy who was a great quarterback and called his own plays and understands more about offensive football that I’ll ever know. You assume that he can an offence and it’s a totally different skill set.”
“Although it might be a good transition for him to be working in the league once again in a different capacity,” Bennett continued. “It might be too much pressure because of the name.”
Rick Campbell told CFL.ca’s Chris O’Leary earlier this week that he wants to hire someone that has quarterback experience to take over the offence. With Dominique Davis and Jonathon Jennings under contract, two young pivots, having someone to mentor them would be extremely beneficial.
“(They have) two young, talented quarterbacks who haven’t mastered any of the offences they’ve been in yet,” said Sanchez. “You want to have a guy that knows quarterbacks. That can help this transition.”
