View from the Cheap Seats is kind of an extension of the newsroom. Whenever our three regular reporters, Calvin Daniels, Thom Barker and Randy Brenzen are in the building together, it is frequently a site of heated debate. This week: Should Corey Chamblin be fired?
On probation
I am not quite at the point of firing Corey Chamblin yet, but if I was running the Roughriders right now, he would be on probation.
Let’s look at the statistics, shall we? Total offence per game: 478.8 yards, first in league. Passing yards: 332, first in league. Rushing yards: 146.8, first in league. Points for: 143, first in league.
As they say, however, there is only one statistic in any sport that matters and after five games the Riders have zero wins.
Why? Because our defence sucks, period. And who is our defensive coordinator? Corey Chamblin.
When Chamblin first came to Regina, I instantly became a big fan because he was a disciplinarian. It takes discipline to be a great football team and he didn’t put up stupid penalties or sloppy play. If you took a dumb penalty, you were on the bench. If you missed a makeable tackle, on the bench. Drop the ball, bench.
He turned us into the least penalized team in the league and in his second year, we won the Grey Cup.
There are those who would give Chamblin excuses. Wah, I lost my starting QB. Wah, I lost two games in overtime. Wah, I lost my backup quarterback.
None of these wash. Glenn stepped in and is currently the top ranked quarterback in the league. Those games never would have gone to overtime if our defence played even halfway decently instead of sucking totally.
In the game against Hamilton Sunday, I had never seen such sloppy tackling. Again, players on the defensive side of the ball took ridiculous penalties that hurt us.
When it became obvious we were going to lose, the camera turned to Brendan Taman and one of the announcers said something about him looking for players.
No!
Hire a damn defensive coordinator before we start hollering for Chamblin’s head on a platter.
- Thom Barker
Close call
The axe is being sharpened in Riderville and fans wonder when it will fall to chop coach Corey Chamblin as head of the Saskatchewan Roughriders?
More than a few would suggest the axe should have fallen Monday after the ‘Riders dropped to 0-and-5 on the young Canadian Football League season.
Certainly the start is not one fans expected. It leaves the team as the only winless franchise in the otherwise very competitive league this season. Only two points separate the remaining eight teams.
The sad thing about the lousy start is that it should have been better.
The Roughriders have scored more points than only one team this season, 24 more in fact, which is enough to nearly win a game itself.
As a result Saskatchewan has been in every game. They lost by four to Winnipeg in week one, after losing starting pivot Darian Durant.
Week two it was a two point loss to the Argonauts in OT.
Next was a three-point loss to B.C., again in extra time, followed in week four by another three-point loss to the Leos.
The worst loss of the season coming Sunday as Hamilton outscored the team by 10, a game in which Kevin Glenn was lost late, forcing the ‘Riders to their third QB, never a recipe to win.
It’s hard to fire a coach based on two OT losses, and two other losses losing the starting pivot to injury.
But there is a problem in Riderville.
The issue is the 165 points allowed, and that falls to the defence.
Chamblin said goodbye to Richie Hall as defensive co-ordinator after last season, and the ‘D’ has suffered since.
The ‘D-line’ has not generated much pressure. They are tied with the lowest sack total in the league at five.
They have tackled poorly as a team, allowing a league-worst 137.8 yards against in the ground this season.
They have managed only two defensive turnovers this season.
While Chamblin might get a pass on keeping things close, with enough ‘could have wins’ to save his job, he has to take the blame for a defence that is not getting it done at all.
Reasonably, Chamblin likely has the next two weeks against an Eskimo team that sits tied atop the CFL West but with its own quarterback questions to get the Roughies back on track. If he doesn’t get at least a split, he should be seeking a job elsewhere.
- Calvin Daniels
Off with his head
When asked if Corey Chamblin should be axed after the Riders’ 0-5 start, my answer, quite simply, was yes.
I mean, if you or I had such a horrible performance at our respective jobs then we’d surely be fired quicker than Hulk Hogan after a racist rant.
So why does Chamblin still have his job?
The only reason that Corey Chamblin is still the head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders is because he coached the team to the 2013 Grey Cup.
If not for that, he’d be the assistant coach at Grambling State or some NCAA Division III school in Oklahoma (or worse, the Colchester Gladiators).
In reality the 2013 season was a fluke. The team finished 11-7; a decent record to be sure, but nothing impeccable.
The season before that, Chamblin led the Riders to a below .500 record at 8-10 and then last year took them to a 10-8 record.
Now they’re 0-5 and the defence – which was supposed to be one of the strengths – is their biggest weakness, all because of Mr. Chamblin.
So yes, he should most definitely be wished well in his future endeavors.
With that being said, I really hope he stays.
After all, I’m an Edmonton Eskimos fan and having Chamblin at the reigns of the Riders is nothing but wonderful for me!
- Randy Brenzen
