CFL Camp Countdown: Tiger-Cats taking care of business, on and off the field

Here's the final instalment of our CFL Camp Countdown series of training-camp previews, based off Monday's conference call (full audio available here) with Hamilton head coach/director of football operations George Cortez and team president Scott Mitchell.

— Most of these calls have been quite focused on the on-field product, but with the Tiger-Cats, there are lots of interesting off-field business issues to dive into as well. Hamilton was second-last in average attendance last season, and the business issues of the team and their southern Ontario counterparts in Toronto have been identified as the CFL's chief challenge, to the degree that the league has committed $1 million to be split between the Argonauts and Tiger-Cats and used for marketing and grassroots initiatives. There are positive signs on the business front in Hamilton, though; the team finally hammered out a deal to renovate Ivor Wynne Stadium last year, and this season will be their final campaign at the old Ivor Wynne before it's closed for renovations until 2014. While those renovations pose challenges, including finding a place to play in 2013, they also carry opportunities; the team's worked out a deal with Tim Hortons to "present" the final season at the old Ivor Wynne, and Mitchell said their sponsorship situation overall is extremely healthy.

"We've had by far the best offseason we've had," he said. "We're essentially sold out of corporate partnerships."

— The Tiger-Cats did two particularly notable promotions last season. One was a brilliant partnership with UFC star Mark Hominick that included him wearing team shorts in the ring in Toronto and his involvement in a "MMA Night" at Ivor Wynne during the season. Mitchell said they were thrilled with the response there, and will be working with Hominick again this season.

"Mark's one of the most prominent fighters in the UFC," Mitchell said. "We will again have a MMA day."

— The team's other intriguing 2011 promotion wasn't as well-received from this corner; their "Your Team, Your Rules" initiative let fans vote on a wide array of elements for an October game, including the first passing and first running plays. While an interesting initiative, it carried plenty of problems, including potentially informing opponents about the team's playbook, goals, reads and progressions. Mitchell said the initiative won't be back, which fits in with the more low-key, business-like approach the team seems to be taking.

"Coach Cortez wasn't willing to sign his contract unless he was sure we weren't allowing fans to call plays any more," Mitchell said (with a laugh). "We're engaging the fans through a lot of different methods."

— Another notable offseason business move was the league-wide introduction of new jerseys. The Ticats' impressive new outfits seem to be going well with the fans, too.

"Our new jersey launch with Reebok was a huge success," Mitchell said. "We've sold more than four times the number of new jerseys we usually do."

— Overall, the business picture for Hamilton's reasonably promising. As Drew Edwards writes, it's a long way from where they were, and the club's looking to become profitable sooner rather than later.

— The on-field picture relates to the business, too, but from a different perspective. Cortez comes off as a guy who's very focused on keeping his cards close to his chest, unlike many CFL coaches and executives, and he certainly didn't divulge a lot about his plans for the team, even delivering some John Tortorellaesque non-answers and sounding like a guy who only talks to the press when he has to. Still, he'll be judged by what he does on the field, not how he handles the media, and he did let a few interesting tidbits slip. One was that, unlike many teams, he doesn't plan to be locked into one particular season-long setup of Canadian and American positions.

"We're not tied to how the ratio is going to be set," he said. "We'll look at a variety of combinations during training camp to make a decision on what fits best for us. It may not always be the same — maybe one week it fits best one way, the next way it fits best another way."

— Cortez also offered what seemed to be very limited support for quarterback Henry Burris, who the Tiger-Cats traded for this offseason.

"Henry was here before I was hired, so I didn't really have anything to do with that," Cortez said.

— However, when asked if Burris would be the starter, Cortez responded "Either him or [Green Bay Packers' star] Aaron Rodgers." He added that the starting job is Burris' to lose.

"He's there until somebody beats him out," Cortez said.

— Cortez doesn't expect Burris to have a tough time getting used to his new team and system.

"I think Henry's always done a pretty good job of adjusting," he said.

— The biggest off-season move the Tiger-Cats made was signing Canadian free agent receiver Andy Fantuz. Cortez said he's excited to be working with Fantuz.

"Andy's a very good player, a very productive player," he said.

— The Tiger-Cats now have a lot of high-profile receivers under contract, including Fantuz, Dave Stala, Sam Giguere, Chris Williams, Aaron Kelly and Bakari Grant. Cortez didn't really discuss the specifics of how he plans to use them, but said he thinks they'll be able to handle being in an offence where they have to split touches.

"You never keep all the guys that handle the ball happy," Cortez said. "They have to understand they'll get their opportunities, there's only one ball and only one guy can have it on any given play. But we in the past have had very good players playing together and they've always managed to co-exist because they understand one of the reasons they can be successful is that other good players at other positions take the emphasis off of the defence being able to take away a guy. They have to take away more than one guy."

— Hamilton's also signed three rookie import quarterbacks, Nick Fanuzzi, Tate Forcier and Sedrick Harris. Forcier's by far the highest-profile, if not for the best reasons, and Cortez's comments on him were certainly interesting.

"He has an enormous ability to make plays in clutch situations," Cortez said.

Yeah, he showed that a bit in 2009, but every move Forcier's made since then doesn't exactly speak of someone who handles pressure well.

— For all the talk (or lack of talk), though, the key for the Tiger-Cats this season will be what they'll be able to do on the field. Given Cortez' apparent general lack of enthusiasm for media discussion Monday, it's not surprising he's looking forward to ending the talking and getting on with the game.

"We're very excited about finally getting started."