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Roughriders fire GM Brendan Taman, HC Corey Chamblin, abandon '13 Grey Cup team

Sunday's game prompted Chamblin, Taman firings: Roughriders CEO

Less than two full years after winning the Grey Cup, the Saskatchewan Roughriders are blowing it all up. The team announced Monday night that they'd fired not just head coach Corey Chamblin, whose job status has been threatened all year but was perhaps particularly so after Sunday's 35-13 loss to Ottawa dropped Saskatchewan to 0-9, but also general manager Brendan Taman. The Taman and Chamblin-led Riders lifted the Grey Cup in 2013, so this is an abrupt reversal of fortune for both. The key questions now are were these firings deserved, will interim head coach Bob Dyce and interim general manager Jeremy O'Day make things better this season, and will these moves help Saskatchewan become better in the long run?

The Chamblin firing is relatively easy to defend despite his recent Grey Cup success. Yes, many of the Riders' issues weren't necessarily his fault; the aging roster is more about Taman, and the injuries to quarterbacks Darian Durant and Kevin Glenn weren't anyone's fault. However, Chamblin can be solidly blamed for the defence, which has been Saskatchewan's biggest issue to date. He essentially fired previously-successful defensive coordinator Richie Hall (who had been a key part of that 2013 championship) in December, stripping Hall of his DC responsibilities and only offering him a lesser role (Hall eventually left for the DC job in Winnipeg) in favour of an "aggressive" approach that saw Chamblin mostly running the defence himself (with some help from new addition Greg Quick, Montreal's former linebackers' coach).

That approach didn't work out at all. To date, the Riders have allowed a league-worst 294 points and sit at the bottom of many defensive categories. Chamblin perhaps sealed his fate even more with a lack of discipline amongst his players, and he also made a series of curious in-game decisions. Pulling promising rookie quarterback Brett Smith for unsuccessful veteran Tino Sunseri Sunday was particularly egregious. There was mounting evidence that he had lost the team and turned into a less-than-effective head coach. Thus, firing him can be justified despite his Grey Cup win and despite the challenges with changing head coaches midseason.

Axing Taman is more questionable, though. Sure, the Roughriders' roster had its issues this season, but it also had plenty of impressive Taman finds, including star receivers like Ryan Smith. Yes, this set up as a potential down year, but there isn't much evidence to suggest that his ability to find players was drying up, and even significant gambles like signing well-travelled veteran QB Kevin Glenn paid big dividends. This may have been about Taman refusing to fire Chamblin (something suggested earlier this year, but the contrary was suggested later) and paying the price himself as a result, or it may have been about the Riders' board and new president and CEO Craig Reynolds electing to make drastic changes amidst this 0-9 start. Either way, it's highly unusual for a general manager to be fired before he can hire a second coach, and it's highly unusual to see one fired two years after winning a championship. Parting ways with Taman is certainly a drastic move, and it could backfire.

It seems highly unlikely that interim replacements Dyce and O'Day are going to make things significantly better this season. Yes, the Riders could win some games under them; sometimes, a change lights a fire under players, and it's possible that could happen and that other teams could underestimate Saskatchewan. Changing plans midseason is always difficult, though, and there really isn't time to blow the team's schemes or depth charts up and start over; any midseason changes will have to be more tweaks than wholesale overhauls. At this point, it seems highly unlikely this team's playoff-bound, making wins this year not all that important anyways.

What about these new figures? Dyce is a long-time CFL coach who was currently the team's special teams coach, and he's been an offensive coordinator before, but stepping up to the HC role will present new challenges for him. Similarly, while O'Day's been praised for his work as an assistant general manager, stepping into the GM's chair isn't easy either, especially midyear. It's possible that these moves will benefit Saskatchewan down the road, with Dyce, O'Day or both seizing their roles and doing well in them, or with the Riders able to find quality permanent people for one or both spots in the offseason. Chamblin and Taman both had their strengths, though, and they managed to win a Grey Cup in Saskatchewan. We'll see if that can be said for the next coach/GM pairing.