Coach of the year nominees Austin, Chamblin and Hufnagel each have strong, different cases

The CFL announced the nominees for the Annis Stukus Trophy (the league's coach of the year award) Monday, and the three candidates picked by 58 voting members of the Football Reporters of Canada aren't terribly surprising. Corey Chamblin led the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a Grey Cup win, while Kent Austin turned around the Hamilton Tiger-Cats from a 6-12 season to a Grey Cup appearance even while playing a season in Guelph and using over 90 players during the regular season (a league record) thanks to injuries and turnover, and John Hufnagel's Calgary Stampeders posted a league-best 14-4 regular-season record despite critical injuries of their own. All did terrific jobs of coaching in 2013. However, the cases for each coach are notably different, and that makes the eventual winner difficult to predict. Here's a look at the case for and against each, in alphabetical order by last name:

Kent Austin:

In his favour: Coach of the year awards often reward turnarounds, and Austin has a strong case on that front. Unlike the others here, he's in his first year as the coach of his current team (mirroring the circumstances when he won this award before after leading Saskatchewan to a Grey Cup in 2007), and they improved markedly under him, going from a 6-12 2012 campaign season that saw them miss the playoffs to a 10-8 one that saw them host a playoff game and make it all the way to the Grey Cup. That's even more impressive when you consider the numbers of injuries they had to work with and that they played their home games in unfamiliar surroundings in Guelph.

Against: Austin's team achieved a high level of success, but both 14-4 Calgary and 11-7 Saskatchewan were better in the regular season, and the Riders beat his team handily in the Grey Cup, winning 45-23. Moreover, Austin had some luck on his side. While the Tiger-Cats had numerous injuries, they were the only team that had their starting quarterback (Henry Burris) healthy all season long. Plus, while that record number of players enhances Austin's case a bit, it was partly self-imposed, as he's the team's general manager as well. Some of those numbers were thanks to injuries, but he also kept remaking his roster during the season, some of which may not have been purely necessary.

It's also notable that the Tiger-Cats' offence actually declined under Austin, at least from a statistical standpoint. When George Cortez (who wound up as Saskatchewan's offensive coordinator this past season) was the head coach in 2012, Hamilton scored a league-high 538 regular-season points and led the league in passing yards per game (298.2). Under Austin, the Tiger-Cats scored just 453 points during the regular season (25.2 per game, a sharp decline from the 29.9 they put up in 2012), sixth in the league. They were better from a yardage standpoint, recording 373.1 yards per game (second in the league), but that was also a step back from the 378.3 they put up in 2012. The team's defence certainly improved under Austin, conceding 468 points instead of 576, but even with that, the Tiger-Cats were still outscored this year. His case has plenty of merit, but there are some weak points in it.

Corey Chamblin:

In his favour: Chamblin's team claimed the league's highest prize, and that's tough to top. They went on a great playoff run and also turned in an impressive regular season, one that was a notable improvement over their 8-10 campaign in 2012. When in their best form, the Roughriders were a dominant team, and Chamblin deserves plenty of credit for moulding them into such. Saskatchewan was fearsome on defence, where they allowed a league-low 22.1 points per game, and they were impressive on offence as well, leading the league in first downs and placing second in scoring (28.8 points per game) and third in yardage (371.7). He was also under intense pressure to win this year with the Riders hosting the Grey Cup, and he handled it very well.

Against: The Roughriders went into a remarkable mid-season slump, losing four straight games, and that slump only broke once star running back Kory Sheets returned to the lineup. Some might argue that shows a dependence on Sheets and a lack of adaptability. Moreover, some voters will undoubtedly find Saskatchewan's improvement from a good team to a great team less remarkable than Hamilton's turnaround or Calgary's regular-season dominance, and there's a reason this is a vote rather than just a coronation of the Grey Cup-winning coach (although seven of the last 10 winners did win the Grey Cup that year). Chamblin would be a deserving winner, but there are strong cases for the other nominees too.

John Hufnagel:

In his favour: Hufnagel's Stampeders proved perhaps the league's most resilient team during the regular season, running up a league-best 14-4 record despite having to use three different starting quarterbacks and innumerable receivers (amongst other injuries). They dominated the stat sheet too, putting up a league-high 383.4 yards of offence per game and a CFL-best 30.5 points per game while allowing just 320.3 yards of offence per game (third-best) and 22.9 points per game (second-best). Despite significant adversity, they were the CFL's most consistent team.

Against: Plenty will cite the West Final loss at home to Saskatchewan as a reason why Hufnagel shouldn't win this, and there's a point there; his team didn't make it to the final game. Moreover, while they improved during the regular season this year (from 12-6 in 2012 to 14-4 this year), they didn't get back to the Grey Cup game. Of course, the playoffs are a small sample size where anything can happen, and that shouldn't invalidate Hufnagel's year-long work, but it certainly will cause at least some voters to go with the other candidates.

We'll find out who wins at the luncheon on Feb. 5 in Ottawa.