It hasn’t taken Chris Jones long to make an impact with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ defence.
The unit has forced 10 turnovers in three games under Jones, Hamilton’s senior defensive assistant. Six (three interceptions, two fumble recoveries, downs) came Saturday in the Ticats 37-21 win over the Ottawa Redblacks.
“We’ve been emphasizing getting the ball, making big plays and doing our thing,” said Hamilton defensive end Nick Usher, who had a fumble recovery and two forced fumbles versus Ottawa. “Chris Jones has been (giving) us opportunities to make plays and get the ball.”
Jones took over Hamilton’s defence when defensive co-ordinator Mark Washington was fired following a 47-22 loss to the Edmonton Elks on Aug. 17. The Ticats are the sixth different CFL team the well-travelled Jones has been associated with.
Jones has enjoyed much success in Canada. He’s a four-time Grey Cup champion and in ’18 was the CFL’s coach of the year as the Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach/GM.
Jones began the season as Edmonton’s head coach/GM but was fired July 15 following its 0-5 start. The Elks surrendered an 18-point lead in their season-opening 29-21 loss to Saskatchewan, then dropped each of the next four games by a field goal.
Jones, a 56-year-old Tennessee native, has a well-earned reputation as a defensive guru and innovative coach. He often thinks outside the box with his schemes and packages, many times doing the unexpected to either confuse an offence or create a mismatch on the field.
That includes dropping a defensive end back into coverage to either create a different look or bring a linebacker or defensive back from elsewhere on the field to create added pressure on the quarterback.
“I do a little bit of everything,” Usher said. “Position change now but it’s all good.
“I’m definitely enjoying it just learning a new defence and now to see the field in a different light. I’m definitely thankful to Chris Jones for giving me the opportunity to do that.”
A Jones-led defence might surrender yards but points are often harder to come by because offences must sustain drives in order to score. And the slightest hesitation created by a unique scheme or look can result in a drive-ending sack, incompletion or turnover.
Hamilton has won the turnover battle in each of its last three games. And although Zach Collaros’s late 10-yard TD pass to Kenny Lawler earned Winnipeg a 26-23 home win Aug. 23, the Ticats had three interceptions in the contest.
Hamilton (4-9) has since earned important wins over Toronto (31-28 on Sept. 2) and Ottawa (8-4-1) to remain in the East Division playoff hunt. The Ticats visit the Argos (7-6) on Friday night.
Usher said Jones’s approach is an easy one for players to understand.
“I like his philosophy, we’re going to make everything simple and fast,” Usher said. “If everything is simple, we’re going to play fast.”
But veteran quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell said practising against Jones’s defence has benefited Hamilton’s offence.
“In my career, I’ve never done so much competitive ones versus ones,” Mitchell said. “It’s always been carded looks, ‘Here’s what they’re going to run, here’s what we expect.’
“You go out to practice and you’re 12 of 13 (passing) and everything that’s been drawn up works and you’re telling the defence how to run the other team’s defence, how to run their coverages and, ‘Hey we want you to drive this.’ It gives you almost a false sense of security sometimes.”
That’s certainly not the case in Hamilton these days.
“Scott (Hamilton head coach/offensive co-ordinator Scott Milanovich) gets on the headset and says, ‘OK, this is against our defence, it’s competitive so it might not be the same read (but) find the completion,'” Mitchell said. “That’s how it is 90 per cent of the time when you’re in a game.
“If you see us get the exact look we want, it’s going to be a touchdown, it’s going to be a big play. (But) 90 per cent of the time you don’t get the look you’re expecting. You go out there and you’re trying to attack a defence but you’ve really got to attack a problem, see what you see, trust your eyes make a throw and they’ve got to make a catch.”
Mitchell, 34, has locked horns with Jones many times over the years. But he appreciates being on the same sideline now as the veteran coach.
“We’re getting a lot of turnovers on defence right now, we’re making it tough on quarterbacks,” he said. “I have to go against him every day in practice and I can tell you this, it’s fun being on this side of it now.”