Saskatchewan Fires Head Coach Marshall, Berry

[LordCC]

REGINA -- Greg Marshall's first stint as a CFL head coach has ended mere months after it began.

The struggling Saskatchewan Roughriders fired Marshall on Friday after a dismal 1-7 start to the season.

Offensive co-ordinator Doug Berry was also relieved of his duties in the wake of Thursday's 24-18 road loss to the Toronto Argonauts.

Roughriders vice-president of football operations Ken Miller will take over coaching duties and lead Saskatchewan into its next game, Sept. 4 at Mosaic Stadium against the high-flying Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Miller led the Riders to back-to-back Grey Cup appearances -- both losses to Montreal -- before moving to the front office this past off-season. He declined to say whether or not he was returning to job permanently.

"I'm not going to address next year right now," said Miller. "Right now my primary goal is to get this team playing the way it needs to play, get this team into playoffs, win the dang Grey Cup. That's what my goal is.

"And then when that's done, then we'll evaluate."

He originally joined the Roughriders in 2007 as the team's offensive co-ordinator.

After patiently waiting 17 years for his first CFL head-coaching position, Marshall lasted just seven months on the job after being hired in January. The Riders never seemed to get into synch under his watch, continually plagued by turnovers, bad penalties and missed opportunities in compiling a league-worst record.

"We go back a ways and I've seen how hard (Marshall) worked to be a head coach," said Riders general manager Brendan Taman.

"It was tough. It was really tough. He took it like a pro, like he is, and he understands this is the business, but it's disappointing to everybody in this organization that we didn't succeed with Greg and it surprises all of us that we didn't."

The Riders dominated the game Thursday night against Toronto, registering more first downs (27-19), rushing yards (99-95), passing yards (384-169) and total yards (468-248) while holding the ball for over 33 minutes.

But Saskatchewan committed four turnovers, had two long Tristan Jackson punt returns and an interception negated by penalty while rookie kicker Christopher Milo missed 2-of-3 field goals.

And despite all that, the Riders scored two four-quarter TDs to pull to within 24-18 and had the ball at the Toronto 22-yard line with 23 seconds remaining. Quarterback Darian Durant, who threw for 384 yards, took two shots into the end zone for the game-winning TD, but Toronto's defence turned them away to preserve the victory.

The Riders trumpeted Marshall's hiring in January to replace Miller, a three-time finalist as the CFL's coach of the year, who stepped away from the sidelines to concentrate on his duties as the Roughriders' vice-president of football operations.

And with good reason. Marshall spent 17 seasons as a defensive co-ordinator in the CFL biding his time for a head-coaching gig. He applied for many -- six or seven, depending on who you talk to -- but was always bypassed.

That changed when the Riders came calling, and it appeared like a good fit: one of the CFL's most respected assistant coaches taking over a club that had won the West Division title the last two years before losing hard-fought decisions to Montreal in the Grey Cup.

However, Marshall's selection wasn't unanimous. He was hired by Miller but GM Brendan Taman's preference for the job reportedly was Corey Chamblin, the former Calgary secondary coach who replaced Marshall as Hamilton's defensive co-ordinator.

Also in the running was Scott Milanovich, the Montreal Alouettes offensive co-ordinator.

Yet Marshall signed a three-year deal with the Riders and arrived with a reputation of being a players' coach with a calm, laid-back demeanour. An imposing figure who stands 6-5, Marshall does possess a volatile sideline disposition.

And while the Riders' post was his first as a CFL head coach, Marshall did have previous head-coaching experience with the American Football Alliance's Ottawa Bootleggers as well as the CJFL's Ottawa Sooners.

Marshall spent nine seasons as a defensive lineman with the Ottawa Rough Riders before starting his coaching career at age 37 as Saskatchewan's defensive line coach in 1994. Two years later he added the defensive co-ordinator's job to his resume and remained with the Riders until 1999.

He subsequently had CFL coaching gigs with the Edmonton Eskimos (2000-04), Ottawa Renegades (2005), Winnipeg Blue Bombers (2006-08) and Hamilton (2009-10).

When Ottawa returned to the CFL in 2002, Marshall emerged as a leading candidate for the head-coaching job, but the Renegades hired Joe Paopao.

When the Edmonton Eskimos fired Tom Higgins the following year, Marshall interviewed for the position, but it went to Danny Maciocia.

Marshall also applied for the head coaching job in Winnipeg but the club hired Berry instead. Marshall was in the running for the head job in Montreal in 2008, but Marc Trestman got that position.

He also threw his name in the hat at Hamilton, but the Ticats went with veteran Charlie Taaffe. And when Taaffe was fired, the club promoted Marcel Bellefeuille as Taaffe's replacement.

[riviera1992]

Well it's about time. What a poor excuse for a football team.

Ax the kickers too. A bunch of players from NFL cuts will be available soon. Time to reload for next season.

[cptkirk321]

Originally Posted by riviera1992

Well it's about time. What a poor excuse for a football team.

Ax the kickers too. A bunch of players from NFL cuts will be available soon. Time to reload for next season.

What next season this is the CFL, and they are only one game out of the playoff race right now. We have seen this time after time after time in the CFL that if you get hot at the right time anything can happen in the playoffs and we have seen it from this same Riders team in the past.

[JohnnyMapleLeaf]

Originally Posted by cptkirk321

What next season this is the CFL, and they are only one game out of the playoff race right now. We have seen this time after time after time in the CFL that if you get hot at the right time anything can happen in the playoffs and we have seen it from this same Riders team in the past.

Probably be able to get a nice future price on Miller and the Riders right about now.

[LordCC]

Unless they get Fantuz back & a few more WRs, I don't see this team going anywhere. They are not the same team from prior years, their defense is atrocious in my opinion. But they can make the playoffs & that is all that matters at the end of the day.