Jarious Jackson will be the B.C. Lions' new quarterback coach.

On many levels, Friday's announcement that Jarious Jackson will be the B.C. Lions' new quarterbacks coach makes plenty of sense. Jackson was a valuable backup for the Toronto Argonauts last season, filling in successfully at times when Ricky Ray was injured, but he didn't dazzle, and his offseason release wasn't entirely unexpected. Jackson may still be able to play, but there aren't a lot of quarterbacking jobs in the CFL, and most teams would probably rather develop young talent in the backup role instead of acquiring a guy who's turning 36 in May. He's often been viewed seen as an insightful guy and a solid mentor for younger quarterbacks, though, so a job as a quarterbacks' coach is a logical one, and B.C.'s a reasonable destination considering his past history with the organization; general manager Wally Buono and head coach Mike Benevides both know Jackson well and can anticipate what he'll bring to the table. (It's notable that the Lions didn't have a dedicated quarterbacks coach before this: going to one is a smart move, and Jackson could be a good fit in this role.) However, what's interesting about this move is that the main player Jackson will have to work with, newly-extended starter Travis Lulay, was starting ahead of him just two seasons ago. Will Jackson be able to make the change from former backup to coach?

The roles of backup quarterback and quarterbacks coach carry some similarities, of course, but there are substantial differences as well. Backups, especially veterans like Jackson, are often called upon for advice, mentoring and support, and those are obviously elements of the quarterbacks coach's role as well. However, a coach has more authority and has to tell his players when they're doing something wrong, not just sit there and encourage the way you'd often expect a backup to do. Essentially, Jackson's gone from being Lulay's former backup to being his direct boss. That isn't necessarily the easiest transition to make.

Laval will be hosting the Vanier for the 3rd time in 5 seasons (Nathan Denette, The Canadian Press)

This is what Canadian university football's signature showcase has come down to — if the CFL doesn't want the Vanier Cup, then Laval will just take it.

With respect to Laval, which will be named host of the 2013 Vanier on Thursday, there should be confidence, fully completely, that the fleur-de-lis sporting flagship football franchise will be a great host. Unfortunately for anyone who cherishes university football, what won't be asked is how Laval hosting the championship game for the third time in five seasons actually helps grow the greater university game. None of the other 26 football-participating universities in Canadian Interuniversity Sport apparently bid.

There should be some conversation over what it means that decision-making process for where to hold a great, uniquely Canadian event has been boiled down to a simple three-step process?

— Step 1: Can the CFL accommodate us? (This year it cannot, since Regina apparently doesn't have the hotel infrastructure to lodge Vanier-only fans.)

— Step 2: That's OK, Laval can do it.

— Step 3: Who are we kidding? There is no Step 3.

It might sound, at first blush, like a best-of-both-worlds deal for CIS. Folding the Vanier into the Grey Cup festivities in 2011 and '12 gave great exposure to university football, although it's tough to prove whether that directly led to more media coverage and fans at games from late August through early November. McMaster's overtime shootout win over Laval in the 2011 Vanier in Vancouver was a most gripping contest; the "best game ever!" label that TSN analyst Duane Forde put on the Marauders' 41-38 win certainly had some stickiness. (Digression: it was not even the best university game of the last five seasons, but merely a really good game that was broadcast on TSN.) A record crowd of 37,098 turned out for their rematch at Rogers Centre last November, when Laval painted Southern Ontario rouge and pushed

Brampton's David Knevel (committed to Nebraska) is one Canadian player heading to the NCAA.A number of Canadian high school football players officially committed to NCAA schools on Wednesday's National Signing Day, and that's certainly notable. It continues a trend we've seen of rising Canadian talent and NCAA schools more willing to look north, and what's particularly interesting is that more Canadians are being seen as key pieces at big NCAA programs; top offensive linemen like David Knevel (Nebraska) and Josiah St. John (Oklahoma) are prominent Canadian high school talents heading to established powerhouses, something that hasn't always been the case. However, amidst all the commotion over Knevel, St. John and others (TSN has a good roundup here of Canadians who made their NCAA commitments official Wednesday), it's worth remembering that there are likely substantial numbers of other top future CFL players from this year who will choose other routes than the NCAA.

The CFL's appeared in a surprising number of U.S. TV shows, from 30 Rock to The Simpsons to Modern Family and The League, but Monday saw one of the most detailed CFL references yet on American television. Unsurprisingly, it came from CBS' How I Met Your Mother, which has long played up character Robin Scherbatsky (played by Cobie Smulders, who's from Vancouver)'s past as Canadian pop star "Robin Sparkles". The execution was brilliant, though, featuring a MuchMusic "Underneath The Tunes" segment where every Canadian celebrity from Alex Trebek to Paul Shaffer to Geddy Lee and Jason Priestly comments on how things went south for Sparkles when she turned into "Robin Daggers" at the 1996 Grey Cup halftime show. Here's the segment:

Some particularly stellar highlights from that:

Argos' head coach Scott Milanovich is one of three finalists for the 2012 CFL Coach of the Year award.

The Annis Stukus Award for CFL coach of the year is always notable, as it's the CFL's lone major season-long award that's handed out well after the season. Nominees Mike Benevides (B.C.), John Hufnagel (Calgary) and Scott Milanovich (Toronto) were announced Wednesday, and all are deserving candidates. It will be interesting to see who picks up the prize at the award luncheon Feb. 28 in Regina, but all of these coaches deserve recognition for what they pulled off in 2012.

Benevides' instant success with the Lions was rather remarkable. Many thought there might be a rough early transition period after Wally Buono gave up his coaching role to focus on serving as general manager, but that didn't happen; the Lions won their first two games, were 3-2 after five (much better than the 0-5 start they got off to in 2011) and put up a league-best 13-5 record on the year. They allowed a league-low 354 points (no one else conceded less than 400) and put up a respectable 479 points (third-best in the CFL). B.C. eventually fell to Calgary in a close West Final, but had plenty of chances to win that. Yes, this was a talented team with high expectations, but it's easy to underachieve in this league, especially after a coaching change; the Lions didn't, and Benevides should be credited for that. All in all, it was a great first year for Benevides, and that probably speaks to the value of his long experience with Buono and B.C.; he served as the Lions' special teams coordinator and linebackers coach from 2003-07, then as their defensive coordinator and linebackers' coach from 2008-2011). His performance so far definitely suggests he's a solid successor to Buono as B.C.'s head coach.

Can Jerome Messam (23) recapture his 2011 success in Montreal?

It's been 14 months since the Edmonton Eskimos traded franchise quarterback Ricky Ray to the Toronto Argonauts, a move that altered the destinies of both franchises; Ray led the Argonauts to the 2012 Grey Cup, while the Eskimos struggled to a 7-11 record, fired general manager Eric Tillman and brought in Ed Hervey to replace him. Hervey appears set to follow in Tillman's footsteps in terms of controversial trades, though, sending Canadian running back Jerome Messam to the Montreal Alouettes for just a sixth-round draft pick. The question is if this sequel will work out any better for the Eskimos than the Ray deal did. From this corner, the signs aren't optimistic.

50 years after he started in the CFL as a player, Bob O'Billovich is leaving the league.

Half a century's a long time to spend anywhere, but it's particularly remarkable to spend that long around one league in the often-changing world of football. Bob O'Billovich managed that, though, officially announcing his retirement Monday 50 years after he started in the CFL as a player. He worked as a player, scout, coach and executive over the years, and left a prominent impact wherever he went.

O'Billovich most recently served as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' general manager, but was dumped from that position in December to pave the way for Kent Austin to take the roles of both head coach and general manager. The Tiger-Cats offered O'Billovich a consultant role, but as he told Drew Edwards Monday, it felt like time for him to move on:

"The last two weeks seemed like every day's been like Saturday," O'Billovich told Edwards. "I don't think it's sunk in yet. I came to a big decision, my family and I discussed it while we were away, and I just think it's time for me to spend some more quality time with my family right now."

LeBron James with the Grey Cup at Toronto's Real Sports Bar and Grill.

The Grey Cup's been in plenty of unusual situations over the years. It's been used in celebrations on B.C. mountaintops and in Toronto strip clubs, it's survived Taliban rocket attacks in Afghanistan, and it was even stolen and briefly held for ransom in 1969. Thus, being held by Miami Heat stars LeBron James and Dwyane Wade is far from the weirdest thing that's ever happened to the trophy. It's probably the weirdest thing that's happened to it so far this year, though.

What led to the photos of these Heat stars holding the Grey Cup at Toronto's Real Sports bar? Well, the Heat are in town for Sunday's game against the Raptors, and some of their players apparently decided to head out to the opposition's bar the night before. (Real Sports is owned by Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which also owns the Raptors.) There, it sounds like they ran into a bunch of Toronto Argonauts who were celebrating with the Grey Cup; the photos here come from Argonauts' receiver Mike Bradwell, who was part of an Argonauts' group that was honoured at the Maple Leafs' game the previous night. (We've now mentioned the Raptors, the Leafs and Real Sports in this post: hurrah for MLSE synergy!) You can see LeBron with the trophy up top; here's another photo Bradwell took of Wade holding it.