Ticats' head coach/general manager Kent Austin's contract extension is logical

When the Hamilton Tiger-Cats brought in Kent Austin as head coach and general manager back in December 2012, it looked like a significant gamble; Austin had no CFL personnel experience and only one season as a CFL head coach (although he did win a Grey Cup there), and his NCAA stints weren't overly inspiring, including an 11-19 record at Cornell in the three years before he came to Hamilton. Bringing him in in a dual role with that much power seemed potentially problematic despite his oft-stated confidence. Three years later, though, the extension (of undisclosed length) the Tiger-Cats announced for Austin Tuesday seems like a no-brainer given the success he's had. While he's only 29-25 in the regular season during his three years, that's despite an incredible laundry list of injuries (especially at quarterback this year). Even more importantly, he's taken his team to three East Finals and two Grey Cups in that span. How has Austin managed to pull this off so far, and will he be able to keep it up?

Austin's three Ticats' teams have been quite different, with the 2013 and 2014 ones particularly contrasting. Despite making it to the Grey Cup in 2013, Austin pulled the trigger on a remarkable offseason makeover, including signing Zach Collaros at quarterback and releasing Henry Burris, but also turning over a high percentage of the roster. That created early-season growing pains, but led to success in the end. The offence was the strength of the 2013 team, posting 373.1 yards and 299.7 passing yards per game (second in the league), but 2014's team also had a good offence (yards dropped to 330.8 and passing yards to 269.7, but that was in the context of a league-wide decline, and those numbers were fourth and second respectively) while dramatically improving on defence (314.2 yards allowed per game, second-best in the league and well ahead of the fifth-place 352.3 from 2013). The regular-season record in 2014 was actually a little worse (9-9 versus 10-8), but that team got substantially better as the year went on and was a flag away from winning the Grey Cup (unlike the 2013 trouncing at the hands of Saskatchewan). As Austin's sophomore team, it was a more-realized understanding of his vision than his debut season given the extra time he had to remake and tweak the roster, and it was a promising one, showing that he can find success with more than just the passing offence that's been his trademark at both CFL and NCAA stops.

On one hand, 2015 was less successful for the Tiger-Cats, considering that they didn't make the Grey Cup for the first time in Austin's career there. On the other hand, it's amazing that they pulled together a 10-8 record and an East Final appearance despite losing starting quarterback Zach Collaros for the season in September and having to go to third-stringer Jeremiah Masoli after backup Jeff Mathews got hurt. The defence stood strong, placing third in points allowed (21.7), and the passing offence was good despite the injuries, posting 286 yards per game (second in the league). While it wasn't a perfect year for Hamilton, it was another solid one, and another suggestion that Austin has this team headed in the right direction.

That isn't to say that Austin's regime has been perfect so far. The 2013-14 housecleaning was probably a bit too dramatic, and it led to some good talent being cut loose and more struggles than were probably necessary. The regular-season record also isn't stunning, and the Ticats have had the advantage of playing in a division that's seen all of its teams face significant struggles (especially in 2014). Some of Austin's decisions can be questioned, both on the personnel side and the coaching side, and he hasn't yet got this team to a Grey Cup win, so it's too early to anoint him as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Still, he has done an impressive job so far, and has built this Hamilton team into a consistent East Division contender; he's also done so despite substantial adversity. The future looks pretty good for the Ticats, too; Ottawa has turned into a tough opponent, but Toronto and Montreal both are facing more questions than Hamilton, and there's a lot of good talent on the Ticats' roster (plus solid coordinators and schemes). Austin has found excellent success to date in Hamilton; if he can keep that up and build on it further, this extension will look like a very good move indeed.