CFC reporter Rahim deMolitor was tasked with getting to the bottom of the CANADIAN QUARTERBACK CONUNDRUM.Ā This multi-series story digs deeper than ever and includes interviews with many Canadian Football experts including a variety of journalists including Kirk Penton & Andrew Bucholtz; coaches including Danny Maciocia & Warren Craney; former players including Duane Forde; Quarterbacks including Brad Sinopoli,Ā Giulio Caravatta and Michael Faulds and many, many, many more.Ā And of course, we encourage you to join in the discussion, and forward these great stories to your friends.
Where is the Pro-Style Offence?
Canadian quarterbacks and the disconnect between college and the pros
PART 1Ā includes comments from Danny Maciocia and Brad Sinopoli
PART 2 – CLICK HERE includes comments from Giulio Caravatta, Warren Craney and Michael Faulds
Part 3 – CLICK HERE includes comments from Billy McPhee, Brad Sinopoli, Michael Faulds, Giulio Caravatta, Kirk Penton and Richard MacLean
Part 4 – CLICK HERE includes comments from Jamie Bone, Kirk Penton, Giulio Caravatta and Brad Sinopoli
Part 5 – CLICK HERE includes comments from Duane Forde, Andrew Buchotlz, and Kirk Penton
Part 6 – CLICK HERE includes comments from Kirk Penton and Andrew Bucholtz
Part 7 – CLICK HERE includes comments from Lowell Ullrich, Giulio Caravatta, Michael Faulds, Brad Sinopoli, Billy McPhee and Duane Forde
Part 8 – CLICK HERE includes comments from Danny Maciocia, Giulio Caravatta, Duane Forde, Brad Sinopoli, Andrew Bucholtz and Michael Faulds
Part 9 – CLICK HERE includes comments from Danny Maciocia, Andrew Bucholtz, and Duane Forde
Part 10 – CLICK HERE includes comments from TSNs Farhan Lalji
Part 11 – CLICK HEREĀ includes comments from Christian Audet, Pat Boies, Cherif Nicolas
Part 12 CLICK HEREĀ includes comments from Danny Maciocia and Brad Sinopoli
The CFL. Itās uniquely Canadian.
You have 65-yards from sideline-to-sideline, an oasis for the most-agile. Behind the uprights, 20-yard end-zones offer more real estate than some of the countryās richest neighborhoods. Each piece combines to encapsulate 150-yards of mammoth football field that delivers enough greenery to make any outdoorsman feel right at home.
But make no mistake, when you hear those three letters C-F-L ā you are talking about the pinnacle of football competition in this country.
South of the boarder, Division-1 NCAA acts as a breeding ground for NFL quarterbacks. Look no further than Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson or Robert Griffin III. In the United States, signal-callers are nursed, groomed and fattened with knowledge before bidding the eventual farewell on draft day.
Here in Canada, the transition isnāt quite as smooth.
CIS quarterbacks are not making that jump to the next level. Whether itās Kyle Quinlan, Danny Brannagan, Brad Sinopoli or Eric Glavic ā CIS stardomĀ Ā is not translating into CFL success.
Whatās causing this break in the chain?
Why canāt our college system develop professional quarterbacks?
Many CIS coaches have said āwe run a pro-style offenceā and that schematics are on-par with the CFL.
But according to former Edmonton Eskimos head coach Danny Maciocia — this is not the case.
āYou need to experience the CFL in order to make that comment,ā he said. āItās not by going to a clinic or a training camp that lasts a week. You need to live it to understand it.
āTo say that teams (in the CIS) are running a pro-style offence today is a farce; thatās pushing the envelope.ā
ThisĀ apparent lack of offensive complexityĀ is leaving CIS quarterbacksĀ stunted when they chase the CFL dream: plays that used to work — donāt, reads that used to be there — arenāt, the internal clock — you better speed it up.
The CFL game moves at a faster clip, and mentally, CIS quarterbacks are finding it hard to adjust.
āComing out of Ottawa I had no worries whatsoever about protection, it was basic,ā said former Ottawa Gee-Gees quarterback Brad Sinopoli. āYou just identify the defence; there are no progression reads; itās based offĀ a top-down approach.ā
Before switching to receiver, SinopoliĀ auditioned at quarterback for theĀ Calgary Stampeders. But despite his natural talent, the learning curve was steep ā an overhaul CIS football had not prepared him for.
Ā āWhen I got to Calgary, everything was reversed,ā he said. āIt was bottom-up; you never pass up an open guy, even if itās in the flat. In terms of how you read the field itās completely opposite — you need to have quicker feet, make quicker reads and get the ball out of your hands a lot faster.
āAt Ottawa, I was able to hold the ball a lot more.ā
Next up is the CFL playbook.
Running a professional offence is like a scene in Memento, except here, your memory resets on a weekly basis. New plays, new adjustments, new scheme — you have to approach each game like a new season.
āFrom week to week there are a lot changes — and I mean a lot ā so thatās where the challenge comes,ā said Sinopoli. āAt first it was a lot to take in; each week you have a different set of protection rules, different reads and different plays that make (the game) a lot more complicated.ā
Unlike the CIS, NCAA coaches also transition from college to the NFL: Jim Harbaugh, Pete Caroll, Chip Kelly. Two of which led their teams to playoff appearances in their first season.
But in Canada, this doesnāt happen.
And according to Maciocia, itās because coaches in the CIS simply don’t have that ability.
āI donāt think we can ask our coaches who have never coached at the CFL level to walk in there and start coordinating on the offensive side of the ball,ā he said. āWe have to show some respect to people like coach (John) Hufnagel, Wally Buano and Marc Trestmen. Itās two different worlds.ā
John Hufnagel: Tom Bradyās quarterback coach in 2003.
Wally Buono: Five-time Grey Cup champion head coach.
Marc Trestman: Current Chicago Bears head coach.
Maciocia may have a point.
āEven coverage wise and scheme wise on the defensive side of the ball, (the CIS) is not as sophisticated as what Iāve seen in my 14-years as a coach in the CFL.ā
āWe are not even in the same area code here.ā
According to Maciocia, this is the argument. If coaches themselves canāt make the jump to the CFL, how can they develop a CFL quarterback?
Having been on both sides of the coin, he has credibility; currently the head coach of Montreal Carabins, Maciocia said even he has scaled back his approach to the game. Heās not in the CFL anymore ā and he canāt coach that way either.
Ā āThere is only so much you can get (CIS quarterbacks) to process. Conceptually, some stuff they have never seen before, so you have to water it down to get it executed,ā he said.
āNow, āhas the level of play in the CIS picked up in the last 10 years?ā Without a doubt.”
But still, “we canāt prepare a quarterback to play at the CFL level right now.ā
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