Jason Maas reported as new Eskimos' HC, Benevides and McDiarmid as coordinators

Only a couple of weeks after coaching against them in the Grey Cup, Jason Maas appears set to become the head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos. Maas, currently the Ottawa Redblacks' offensive coordinator, has long been rumoured as the top candidate for the Eskimos' job left vacant when Chris Jones headed off to Saskatchewan after the Grey Cup, and Sportsnet's Arash Madani and Justin Dunk reported Sunday that  Edmonton's finalizing an agreement to hire him as their new head coach. TSN's Dave Naylor added further confirmation that the Eskimos have decided on Maas later Sunday. Madani also mentioned that Maas and the Eskimos have a couple of likely coordinator hires lined up:

Maas is an interesting pick for Edmonton's top job, as he has much less coordinator experience than your typical head coach. He's only spent one year as a CFL coordinator, this past year with Ottawa. He did a great job, though, helping revitalize a Redblacks' team that went 2-16 the year before and leading them to a 12-6 record and a Grey Cup appearance. Maas' offence was a key part of that success, especially through the air; 40-year-old quarterback Henry Burris threw for a league-high 5,703 yards this season and set a CFL record with 481 completions en route to selection as the league's Most Outstanding Player. How much of that's specifically attributable to him and how much is Burris, the great group of receivers, and Redblacks' head coach Rick Campbell is up for debate, but Maas certainly oversaw an impressive unit.

Maas also has three further years of coaching experience in an impressive offence, serving as Toronto's quarterbacks coach from 2012 to 2014. Before that, he was a solid CFL quarterback from 2000 to 2011, including stints with Edmonton from 2000-2005 and 2008-2011. That's still less experience than the majority of head coaches, but Maas' teams and units have performed well. While the relatively small sample size and limited time as a coordinator means he isn't a sure thing, he certainly does seem to have potential. He looks like a good fit for the Eskimos, too, especially considering his familiarity with the franchise from playing there, and perhaps even more importantly, his relationship with general manager Ed Hervey (who played for Edmonton from 1999-2006 and then worked with the Eskimos as a scout from 2007-2012 before being named GM in 2013). Hervey and Maas were long-time teammates and won two Grey Cups together in 2003 and 2005. It's vital for a team's GM and coach to be on the same page, and it seems likely that's the case with Hervey and Maas.

The potential coordinators Madani mentioned also seem strong. Benevides spent this season as a TSN analyst, but he was the B.C. Lions' head coach for three years before that, and a successful defensive coordinator and special-teams coach before that. McDiarmid, most recently a special-teams coordinator with Saskatchewan, has worked mostly in the CFL in a variety of roles since 2000, while also spending time as a defensive coordinator and assistant head coach with the University of Ottawa. Both have substantial experience, which should be an asset to a relatively-new head coach like Maas. It's going to be interesting to see what Maas does on the offensive side of the ball (will he still serve as offensive coordinator and call plays himself, or find someone else to do that, and what kind of assistants will he bring in), and it will be interesting to see how he adapts to being a head coach, but this looks like a relatively logical move for Edmonton if it plays out as reported. At the very least, it's a move with upside.