This wasn’t the kind of return to head coaching that Scott Milanovich envisioned.
Milanovich is 0-5 in his first year as coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats following a partial year as offensive play-caller for the CFL team and a five-year run as an NFL assistant — along with a stint as head coach of an Edmonton Elks team he never saw game action with because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Previously, Milanovich was the head coach of the Toronto Argonauts for five years, winning the 100th Grey Cup at home in his rookie 2012 season.
With all three other teams in the East having at least three victories heading into Week 7, it makes for a near-must-win situation on Saturday for the Ticats when they host Milanovich’s old team in the first Battle of the Queen Elizabeth Way this season.
“We talked today about how are we going to change the narrative and offered potential answers to how we’re going to climb out of this hole we’re in,” Milanovich said Sunday as the team returned from a bye week
“It starts with any time you’re in a hole, you (have to) stop digging first. That’s part of what’s gone on, we’re hurting ourselves. Secondly, we’ve tried to take ownership as coaches for what we’ve done that hasn’t helped and players have to take ownership of what they’ve done that hasn’t helped because we’re in this together. The only way we get out of this is together. I’m looking for that kind of unity going forward.”
It has been tough sledding for Milanovich, who has lost 16 of his 17 past games as a head coach dating back to his time in Toronto.
But Milanovich hasn’t forgotten how to coach by any means — that ’16 Argos team was slipping and he’s taken over a Ticats squad that has spun its wheels the past couple of seasons.
Milanovich, a quarterback as a player, has veteran QB Bo Levi Mitchell playing at a much higher level than he did the past two years. Mitchell is second in the league in passing yards and passing touchdowns.
There is a sense of urgency, though. A loss this week may be too much to overcome.
Perhaps that’s why Milanovich didn’t try to use the old ‘it’s-only-one-game’ line when asked about the rivalry between these two teams.
“I think our fans are particularly hateful of the group just up the road,” he said. “It means a lot, it means more than another game. That’s why it’s a rivalry. Sometimes, I think the media and others make more out of it than it is. I don’t think that’s the case in this one.”
Speaking of winless teams…
The CFL’s other 0-5 team, the Elks, fired GM/coach Chris Jones on Monday after the squad somehow lost its third game in a row by virtue of a last-second field goal.
Jones was 8-33 in two-plus years in Edmonton, so there was plenty of reason to go in another direction.
The only surprising aspect of it was that it came with the community-owned team in the process of trying to sell to private owners. Interim president/CEO Rick LeLecheur said he shared the decision with potential new owners before making the announcement.
LeLacheur obviously felt there was no time to waste in replacing Jones with interim coach Jarious Jackson, also the team’s offensive co-ordinator. The Elks lost Sunday against the visiting Ottawa Redblacks and have a short week before facing Ottawa again on Friday in the nation’s capital.
Jackson has said he’s sticking with veteran McLeod Bethel-Thompson as his starting quarterback, but added he’s looking for ways to get fleet-footed Canadian QB Tre Ford involved. Fans were chanting for Ford, who spent some time last year as Edmonton’s starter, to go in last week.
“I don’t want to divulge any of the secrets so to speak, but I’m definitely thinking of some things we can possibly do with him and try to help him get on the field,” Jackson said Tuesday.
Rough ride up front
The Saskatchewan Roughriders have had bad luck on the injury front.
Already down quarterback Trevor Harris (six-game injured list with a knee issue), the Roughriders lost their second key offensive lineman of the year to injury when they announced right tackle Jermarcus Hardrick will be out long term because of quadriceps issue.
A CFL all-star in 2021 and ’23 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Hardrick was one of the team’s key signings this off-season. He joins fellow O-lineman Philip Blake (quad) on the sidelines.
The Roughriders, who lost their first game under first-year head coach Corey Mace last week in B.C. after opening the season with four consecutive wins, now will face a serious depth test.
Game of the week
The Blue Bombers have won two in a row after an 0-4 start and now go into Saskatchewan for a rivalry game against an injury-riddled Roughriders team. Winnipeg opened as a small favourite, which could offer some motivation to young QB Shea Patterson and the home side.
The crowd count will be interesting as the Roughriders had the smallest crowd since Mosaic Stadium opened in 2017 -— 23,923 — for their last home game, which was two Thursdays ago against Toronto. Thursday nights are not a good date for the Roughriders, who attract fans from all over the province, but it still was not a flattering number for a team that often is considered the league’s flagship franchise.
Mace, hired this off-season following two seasons in which the Roughriders missed the playoffs, put out a message on social media after that game in an effort to get a bigger crowd for Friday’s showdown with Winnipeg.
Here’s a look at the full Week 7 schedule.
Friday, July 19: Edmonton Elks (0-5) at Ottawa Redblacks (3-2), 7 p.m. ET
Friday, July 19: Winnipeg Blue Bombers (0-4) at Saskatchewan Roughriders (4-1), 9:30 p.m. ET / 7:30 p.m. local
Saturday, July 20: Toronto Argonauts (3-2) at Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-5), 7 p.m. ET
Sunday, July 21: B.C. Lions (5-1) at Calgary Stampeders (2-3), 7 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. local