Memo to Als coach: Winning cures all

MONTREAL ? As the senior adviser to the head coach, Doug Berry has a simple piece of advice for Dan Hawkins: Just win baby.

?There?s nothing that cures any ill on the field more than a victory. What we have to do is get back on the winning track and get the momentum going,? Berry said following Tuesday?s Alouettes practice at Stade H?bert.

Berry?s name figures to be mentioned more prominently in speculation should the Als not start getting their act together, beginning with this Friday?s home game against the Calgary Stampeders.

?I?m working as hard as I can to get us wins. That?s all I?m doing,? said Berry, who spent seven seasons with the Als as an assistant before departing the organization in 2006, named head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

A year later, the Bombers went to the Grey Cup, losing to Saskatchewan. Berry eventually moved to the Roughriders for portions of two seasons in 2010 and ?11 as the assistant head coach under Greg Marshall and offensive coordinator.

Berry has never worked for Hawkins, nor had the two met. But given Hawkins?s lack of Canadian Football League knowledge, general manager Jim Popp undoubtedly felt it was paramount Hawkins had some assistants familiar with three-down football.

How much Hawkins listens to Berry isn?t known by the media but, for Hawkins?s benefit, he and offensive coordinator Mike Miller both should be tapped into Berry ? and listening ? following last week?s offensive debacle against the Bombers. Berry, quite simply, understands what it takes for a Canadian offence to work. It behooves both Hawkins and Miller to use him as a resource.

?We talk all the time as an offensive staff, and I bring things to the table,? Berry said. ?I try to. I?m here in an advisory role.

?I know that (stuff) happens in a game. It happens,? he added. ?What you never want to have happen is (for it to) show up two weeks in a row like that. That?s why it?s so important for us to come back with a win this week.?

If Miller ? who, like Hawkins, has no CFL experience ? is feeling any pressure this week, he?s not showing his hand.

?If you play long enough, you?re going to have games like that,? he said. ?We?re all invested. As a coach, I always blame myself first.

?Nobody feels sorry for you,? Miller added. ?We keep working and trying to find the best way we can prepare and be efficient. I think we?re confident we?re still doing the right things. I feel okay with what we?re doing offensively.?

Miller hopes the lines of communication between himself and quarterback Anthony Calvillo become more open. Calvillo said little to Miller during last week?s game. Indeed, Calvillo was repeatedly caught by television cameras throwing his arms up in disgust following one botched play after another, following repeated two-and-out series.

After the game, Calvillo made it clear the coaching must improve, although he did his best to distance himself from those comments earlier this week.

While Miller said he didn?t take the veteran QB?s reaction personally, he admitted they had a candid conversation on Saturday, when the team assembled for meetings and film review.

?Those (types of on-field reactions) aren?t good situations for the team,? Miller said. ?Or the offence namely.?

It isn?t clear whether Miller and Calvillo talked as peers or whether the coach decided to lay down the law, which would have been justified. It?s the coach who must always hold the hammer in these situations, although Miller might have been loath, given his lack of CFL experience.

?Let me just say this, everybody always knows where they stand with me,? Miller said. ?I have an open-door policy. I use it. The players use it.

?Bill Cowher (former Pittsburgh head coach) once told me if a player has a tough question, he has to get ready for a tough answer. I keep everything over the table. That?s said without ego.?

Many have second-guessed the coaches for drastically changing the Als? offence. Not only did the plays fail to work last week, Calvillo was sacked seven times, bringing the total to 11 through two games.

Miller said there are plenty of short-yardage, high-percentage plays that remain part of the team?s package ? plays that worked well under former head coach Marc Trestman.

?It?s a learning process we?re going through. An adjustment period,? Miller said. ?We?re in the middle of that. It depends on how you respond. It?s a question of execution, dialing up the right schemes at the right time.?

Miller said the coaches continue seeking ways to improve and refine the preparation each week, while welcoming input from the players.

?Being efficient, continuing to learn and get better,? he said. ?That will continue to change until we all find that comfort level.?

Miller, who interviewed for the Als? head-coaching position, comes to Montreal following numerous seasons in the NFL, first with Pittsburgh, then Buffalo. He joined Arizona in 2007 as wide-receivers coach before becoming passing-game coordinator, eventually promoted to offensive coordinator in 2011.

In two years in that capacity, the Cardinals went 8-8 followed by 5-11. The team scored 312 points in 2011, but slumped to 250 in 16 games last season.

Source: http://o.canada.com/2013/07/09/memo-to-als-coach-winning-cures-all/

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