While the Edmonton Eskimos lost a coach, Richie Hall lost a mentor.
Renowned CFL strategist Jim Daley resigned as the team’s defensive co-ordinator and defensive line coach after one season with the Eskimos, the club announced Wednesday.
“It’s tough to lose a person of his caliber,” said Hall, who is heading into his second season as the Eskimos head coach. “He gave me the opportunity to start coaching back in 1994.
“He’s a good coach, he’s a good person, he’s a good man. It’s just an unfortunate situation right now.”
Daley’s resignation wasn’t strictly a football decision, Hall added. “It was coach Daley’s. We had kind of talked about it a week, week and a half ago regarding some family and personal situations.
“His reasons are his personal reasons with him and his family. We respect his privacy regarding that, but I think it’s a loss to the Edmonton Eskimos organization just because he’s a quality person and a quality coach.”
Hall said health was not a concerning factor for Daley or his family.
Last season, the Eskimos ended up in a three-way tie in 2009 for second last in the CFL in points allowed, along with the B.C. Lions and Toronto Argonauts.
Although the Eskimos defence gave up the fewest rushing yards next to the Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes, they were the only team to give up more than 5,000 yards in the air to the opposition, placing them dead last in that category.
“When you look at the statistics and our play defensively – just like our football team – we were inconsistent,” Hall said. “There were times when we had stellar performances and we played very well, there were times when we didn’t play well.
“Defensively, as the season progressed I think our play became more consistent and we began to shape into the form that we think that we can become a pretty good defensive unit.”
If there is any consolation, it is that Daley’s resignation didn’t come in the middle of the season, like last year when the Eskimos made a change at offensive co-ordinator.
“That’s probably the best situation just because now you have an opportunity to kind of take a step back,” Hall said. “Versus being on the run where things occur and all of a sudden we have an opponent in three or four days.”
But that doesn’t make Daley’s departure any easier to take.
“Who’s to say what’s the right time?” Hall asked. “For the most part, it somewhat caught me off-guard. For me, it’s tough just because he’s a good friend.
“I thanked him for coming onboard because he helped me out as a head coach – him being a former head coach – and just being able to bounce things off him regarding what I was going through because it’s been a totally new experience in the last 11 months for myself.”
Finding a replacement is the top priority for the Eskimos, who will soon be involved in off-season moves.
“The players situation, that’s 12 months a year,” Hall said. “Between now and February, we’re trying to solidify our staff. When you look at this time last year, it was trying to find a whole staff where now we’re just trying to find one person.”
