MONTREAL — The Montreal Alouettes are shaking things up less than one week before they begin their CFL season.
Alouettes general manager Kavis Reed said Saturday that the team and head coach Mike Sherman "mutually decided" to part ways, citing Sherman's "slow adjustment to the CFL game." Offensive co-ordinator Khari Jones will serve as interim head coach, combining both positions.
Montreal opens its regular season on Friday at Edmonton.
"It's very hard during the winter time to see what is going to happen once the team is together, and not having the opportunity to have a spring camp this year may have played a factor in this decision being delayed," Reed said in a conference call. "But we feel right now, mutually, is the better time to do it, simply because it's at the start of the season.
"We have an opportunity with a good team and a very good coaching staff and support staff to get this season started off very well."
Sherman, who guided Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers to three division titles as head coach in the early 2000s, had a long coaching history in the United States when he was hired by the Alouettes in December 2017.
He also spent time as the offensive co-ordinator of the Seattle Seahawks (1999), Houston Texans (2006-07) and Miami Dolphins (20012-13). But 2018 was his first year coaching north of the border.
The Alouettes went 5-13 under his guidance.
Reed wouldn't get into specifics when asked which areas of Sherman's adjustment to the CFL were slower than expected.
"There are a number of things that we discussed mutually that he felt that he needed more time and that it probably would have held the organization, mainly the team, back," Reed said. "Would prefer to not get into specifics but would like you to know that Coach Sherman recognized that the adjustment was slowed."
Jones will be starting his second season with the Alouettes. He worked with the team's quarterbacks last year.
The 48-year-old from Indiana began his coaching career in 2009 with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, where he led the quarterbacks in his first two seasons before being promoted to offensive co-ordinator the following year. He coached the Saskatchewan Roughriders' QBs in 2012 and 2013, winning a Grey Cup in his second year.
Jones spent 11 seasons as a CFL quarterback, playing for the B.C. Lions, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Calgary Stampeders, Edmonton Eskimos and Tiger-Cats.
Reed said the team decided to look inward when promoting an interim coach, and landed on Jones because he's "a veteran CFLer who has won as a player and coach."
"He's innovative, has tremendous communication skills and a commanding presence," Reed continued. "We feel strongly that he will be able to lead us and continue the progress we have established."
Jones said on Saturday's conference call that he didn't feel like merging his old role with his new one would present too heavy a workload.
"The main thing for me, I knew if I ever got in this position I knew I'd probably want to do it this way, to be the offensive co-ordinator as well," Jones said. "I have great help around me on the offensive side and the defensive side, I feel like we have a really good coaching staff. So I don't think I'll be spread too thin. There's always that possibility but I'm very confident.
"I'm going to trust the people around me to do what they need to do and it will allow me to do what I need to do."
The Alouettes wrapped up pre-season play Thursday with a 20-20 tie against the Ottawa Redblacks.
Sherman had yet to name a starting quarterback between Antonio Pipkin and Vernon Adams Jr., after Thursday's game and Jones kept that decision under wraps Saturday.
"We will name our starting QB this week," he said. "I have a very good idea of who that person is going to be and I'm very confident in it. I would just like to talk to our quarterbacks first before we put it out there. But I was very happy with the quarterback competition. I thought all the guys played well and did some good things out there.
"I'm very happy with the choice we made and that will come out this week."
The Canadian Press
