What do you think of Tom Higgins?

[OzSome]

What is wrong with Coach Tom Higgins? So far this early season he seems to be making bad decisions. As a head coach, he should have the final say on the play. There are way too many questionable call this season so far. Here are some of the things that I noticed.

#1. Last season, we have by far the best RB in Joffrey Reynolds in the CFL. He came in second in league rushing behind Roberts. He could have won if it wasn't for the Stamps abandoning the run most of the time. This season, Reynolds was not a factor and I cannot blame the guy. In order for a RB to be successful, he must touch the football more. For some reason, he is the forgotten man. The Stamps seems to abandon the run after the first quarter. Tonight's game, how many touches he's got? A measly 5 I believe. Yes, it's good to do a fake hand-off to make the defense think but it seems like most of Burris' play that involves Reynolds was a fake hand-off. Come on Higgins and Cortez, why not run some more to take pressure off Hank/Frank Burris.

#2. The Stamps have the most talented receiving corp in the league, so why not use them all? We have one of the best receiver in the league in Copeland and he was playing backup in the first game. An explosive Nik Lewis sitting out one game. One of the best Canadian receiver last season in Thelwell and the guy only played a few series one game. Granted, the others such as Brett Ralph was playing better. Yes I agreed benching Lewis helped but for how long can this guys put up with the revolving door. Lewis already sat out, then Rambo and tonight it was Boerigter's turn. Who is sitting next? Reynolds? Copeland? Use them all for pete's sake!

#3. Questionable calls. Higgins' decision-making seems to be questionable this season. Challenging calls that it's not even close to being overturned or not paying attention to what is going on the field. One good example was the Edmonton game. I was so surprised and was mad when he threw the challenge flag on one play. I am talking about when the Stamps got a double penalties on one play. One I believed is unneccessary roughness, and a pass interference that already gave the Esks an automatic first down no matter if the receiver catch the ball or not. Yes, he won the challenge but it did not matter anyways. The excuse was he did not hear the pass interference call. Don't tell me the other coaches did not hear the call as well.

I am not saying the Stamps should fire the coach or whatever but I am just wondering what is wrong with Tom Higgins. Is he getting too uptight? It seems that the players are so uptight as well. I miss the TD dance or players celebrating for their great plays. Yes, last season was excessive but as long as the players are playing better I don't care. Higgins should let his players express their feelings after their good plays. Taunting or not, some fans enjoys it.

Anyways, I hope Higgins should use his firepowers more often most especially use the best running back in the league.

[JiriHrdina]

I don't follow closely enough to assess him really as a coach but with specific regards to the receivers they tried a rotation system early in the year where all them were in each game and it was a disaster.

[moon]

The guys who have sat have all come back to have strong games afterwards and the drops that were occuring early in the season seem to be gone, except for Thewell.

I am not sure if this is the reason, but Copeland, Lewis and Rambo have all played better since they have sat.

[JBR]

My issue is with the play calling and clock management. Several times over the past 2 years, the Stamps have crapped the bed near the end of the 1st half and left without any points. Sure, Ralph fumbled the snap yesterday, but it should never have gotten to this point. That fumble was karma... 1st and goal on the 3, 10 seconds left and 1 time out. Easily enough time to run twice with a time-out in the bag and still have enough time to kick a field goal if they can't punch it in with Reynolds.

Bad decisions all around. Why not challenge Thelwell's catch that would have given them a 1st down near Montreal's 30 in the 1st half? Time count violations without reason. The entire offence looks like it is out of synch. No flow whatsoever....

I'll get over it, but have already given away my tickets to Friday's game.

[Bench Warmer]

Questionable calls and decision making have dogged Higgins for his head coaching career. One of the reasons he was canned in Edmonton was his decision to go for a failed fake punt in the WSF against the Riders in 2004. The Riders got points off it and the Esks lost the game.

But I agree with Oz, Reynolds should be used way more. Play action only works if you actually run the ball consistently. Copeland and Lewis are both overrated IMO and weren't making plays earlier in the year so I don't disagree with the moves he's made there but I'd be throwing the rock to Boerigter alot more but he sits out last night. I don't know - maybe it's taking a while for the receivers to mold into a unit in Cortez's offence?

[Bench Warmer]

Originally Posted by JBR

My issue is with the play calling and clock management. Several times over the past 2 years, the Stamps have crapped the bed near the end of the 1st half and left without any points. Sure, Ralph fumbled the snap yesterday, but it should never have gotten to this point. That fumble was karma... 1st and goal on the 3, 10 seconds left and 1 time out. Easily enough time to run twice with a time-out in the bag and still have enough time to kick a field goal if they can't punch it in with Reynolds.

Bad decisions all around. Why not challenge Thelwell's catch that would have given them a 1st down near Montreal's 30 in the 1st half? Time count violations without reason. The entire offence looks like it is out of synch. No flow whatsoever....

I'll get over it, but have already given away my tickets to Friday's game.

I can't believe they kicked there. I thought for sure there would be time for a quick out to the sideline of the end zone. Better safe than sorry I guess but then when you don't get any points, it looks 10 X worse.

[octothorp]

I like the approach of sitting one receiver each week... keeps them hungry and a little bit on edge, and at the same time avoids the need for a rotation.

Fully agree with what`s been said about Reynolds. I love the simplicity of the play-action schemes, but they do not use it effectively. Every play, Burris sees something he likes and fakes the handoff. He needs to be a little less eager and understand that he needs to make sure Reynolds gets his touches. The swing pass to Reynolds was also effective the one time they used it. I feel like we are back in the Jenkins era again.

As for the botched FG, I was actually expecting them to fake there, so I was not surprised to see Sandro hold up and Ralph to take off with the ball, although it became pretty clear that Ralph had no idea what he was doing at that point. I know Dickenson is a good special teams coach and he always makes a big deal about how they have trick plays in there all the time that they are just waiting to get the right looks for. However, in a situation like that where you are so close to the endzone that there will be no opportunity for a return, there should always be a plan B, a guy with decent hands in a spot where the holder can look for him and get him the ball on a botched snap.
On the subject of special teams though, I thought coverage was by far the best part of the team tonight. Kept the no-yards penalties to a minimum, and kept Montreal out of good field position all night.

My biggest concern is still the level of mental focus on this team. It is unacceptable to have a timecount violation on the simplest possible play imaginable, and as much as some of that goes go Burris, that sort of mental mistake is all to common with this team and not limited to any one player. Gotta place that on the shoulders of the head coach.

[Cowboy89]

My perception of Higgins is that he's in a tough situation with a lot of big heads on the coaching staff and the team. Creehan was mentioned at one time as being disapppointed that he wasn't hired as head coach. Cortez is a well-established coordinator in multiple leagues and probably considers himself a top candidate should Higgins leave any time soon. Combine that with a bunch of recievers with heads 8 times bigger than their skill level and I imagine it would be tough to keep everyone on the same page going in the same direction. The misfirings of the team thus far seem to indicate that. I personally think Higgins isn't a tough enough guy to keep everyone in line. They need a coach who clearly establishes himself as the boss.

[flip]

IMO higgins is a soft coach. he looks like ned flanders and i think he probably acts like him too. he's lost the room and he's only been there for what 2 or 3 years. the day i knew he was a bum was when he made a quote in the newspaper to the effect of 'i want the players to stop the endzone dances' and the quotes from all the receivers was to the effect of 'screw higgins were going to do what we want'. if one of my players disrespects me as a coach like that i release them the next day to make a statement to the rest of the team to show them who is in charge. oh that and he doesn't know that he has the best RB in the league getting like 4 carries a game. in that respect he reminds me of former (and worst ever) riders coach danny barrett. if the team was down like 6-0 he'd get the mentality that you can't run when you're down because you need to go to the air game to get back into the game. priority #1 every game should be establishing the run. then get henry into a groove. that being said let him f it up all he wants cause im a rider fan.