CFL president/COO Michael Copeland says he doesn't want commissioner's job, leaving a vacuum

When CFL commissioner Mark Cohon announced in August that he wouldn't seek a third term and would step down in the spring of 2015, Michael Copeland seemed like the natural candidate to replace him. The long-time league chief operating officer had been with the league since 2006 (even before Cohon came on board), had shone in a variety of roles (including TV contract negotiation, CBA negotiation, cap development and implementation and more) and had been promoted to president as well as COO in 2013. However, TSN's Dave Naylor reported Wednesday that Copeland has declined to seek the commissioner's job, and CFL director of communications Jamie Dykstra confirmed that report. That means there's now no obvious succession plan for Cohon, and that could be problematic.

There are still internal candidates who could be considered, of course. Beneath Cohon and Copeland in the league's staff directory, there are six executive members (all listed as league vice-presidents). Vice-president (officiating) and former referee Glen Johnson would seem an unlikely candidate for a promotion, as he just got that job this year, but any of the other vice-presidents could conceivably apply to move up. Vice-president (marketing) Sara Moore, vice-president (football operations) Kevin McDonald and vice-president (communications) Matt Maychak in particular are all well-known and respected in league circles; vice-president (finance and business operations) David Cuddy and vice-president (broadcast and media assets) Christina Litz might be interesting contenders as well. Any of them would bring some experience with how things are done at the league, and that could be a useful asset, especially as Copeland may be leaving altogether. (The reports don't indicate if he'd be willing to stay on in his current role, but a new commissioner might want their own choice of second-in-command, and a new internal candidate in particular would be someone who used to work under Copeland, which could be a problem. That doesn't mean he's gone for sure, but his departure along with Cohon is a definite possibility.)

Of course, there will be external candidates vying for the commissioner's job as well, and some of them might be quite promising. The CFL's in perhaps the strongest position it's ever been in terms of revenue, particularly on the TV side, and it's got an incredibly favourable labour deal that should secure labour peace for at least the next two years and likely the next five. There are still issues to be addressed, particularly in Toronto, but even those don't look insurmountable, and the news that the Bills are staying in Buffalo for the foreseeable future diminishes the threat of the NFL coming to Canada. With the league in such great shape, the role of CFL commissioner now looks like one of the best and highest-profile sports jobs in Canada rather than an impossible task to take on, and that means there will likely be a deep pool of qualified candidates who want it.

Thus, Copeland removing himself from consideration for the CFL's top job isn't a crisis. It's quite possible the league will still find a great candidate to fill Cohon's shoes. At the very least, they'll have lots of options, both internally and externally. However, Copeland was likely the front-runner here, at least from an outside perspective, so his decision to drop out means that the succession may not be as orderly as it once potentially looked. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and it may open the door for some bold new ideas of how the CFL should do things. It does mean that the selection of a new commissioner just got much more unpredictable and much more interesting, though.