paulwoods13 wrote: ↑Wed Nov 05, 2025 9:23 pm
Dru Brown to Toronto and Kelly to Ottawa? Probably not, but not out of the question IMO.
Have to wonder who RD might want to poach from the Argos - coaches & players ?
Dru Brown is a decent game manager / short passing QB; accurate passer short, but little mobility. RD seems to like lots of intermediate to deep passing game and Kelly is far superior there. RedBlacks have some good receiver talent for sure but several of them (Addison, Lewis & Hardy ) are getting on in mileage. RD might be able to coach-up Crum as a good starter - he made some good progress as a passer last season IMO and like Kelly has good mobility / run threat. As an Argo fan, Brown might be Ok; maybe better than Arbuckle but maybe not; hope a young gun like Duggan might get a shot to compete if Kelly is not there.
Putting together a decent D might be more the challenge for RD there. McManis would be a very good start.
GM/ HC is a tough dual role IMO; good luck to RD after his awesome 3 year in particular Argo run, but he might be in tough there; pretty ambitious though.
Antwon wrote: ↑Wed Nov 05, 2025 8:48 pm
Yep not sure what went on this year.
Maybe there was a power struggle between RD and management. The weird stuff with Kelly returning\not returning was too much. And he definitely called out players a fair bit this year. So maybe he was losing the room.
I have to wonder if this was the case. Was he feuding with certain players? We’d never seen him calling out players like he did this year, on several occasions. It was inappropriate and seemingly out of character, and it suggested a lot more was going on behind the scenes. Maybe this was becoming a problem so big that the team encouraged him to find employment elsewhere.
Especially in an off-season when Mike O’Shea was becoming a free agent. When O’Shea left for Winnipeg it was widely suggested and maybe even understood that he would be back one day to coach the Argonauts. He’s Mister Argo for heaven’s sake, and He and Pinball have both known it for the last 12 years, but the situation finally aligns now with RD’s fall from grace. And we know for sure that Osh would never call out his own players like RD did. He’s the consummate pro, he’s a winner, and I think he’ll he be Argo coach for many years to come.
I wish RD well. He came out of nowhere as a positional coach with zero HC experience and quickly became the best at his profession in Canada. He brought excellence, and consistency to the oldest and most successful professional team in North America.
It is a shame he is moving on and does not want to be here anymore given the legacy he was building. Barring a power play against Pinball which I can't excuse, I don't fault him for wanting to leave. The ownership and senior executives of this team need to look in the mirror and ask themselves what it is they want to do with this storied franchise. If they don't care about it, they need to do the right thing and find someone else who does and sell it to them. You cannot actively want to give away 3 home games and at the same time say you care about your team. Those two things are not equal.
one of the 3downnation guys suggested exactly this could happen earlier... was hoping it was just rumor.
I Just wonder if Keith P. and Rogers is a dis functional ownership group ... at least with respect the ARGOS ....
Maybe this is a good time to Bring in some young players.... do a significant rebuild.... RD was a real good coach... should bring out the best in Drew Brown and Dustin Crum ... definitely been a tough year... maybe time to change it up with some new young players... since we are on the road anyways....
Hopefully we can get through the World cup and hit the ground running.... Go ARGOS !!!
If anyone has any last minute Christmas ideas I recommend the book I'm writing called...
POACHED! How the 2020-2025 Toronto Argonauts became the most successful football team in Canada while simultaneously being the most raided for talent.
OV Argo wrote: ↑Thu Nov 06, 2025 10:44 pm
Reading rumors of Chris ego-Jonestown being a possible Argo HC or GM candidate ?
WTF ? - how is this even possible? - oh wait, it's the brainiacs at MLSE in charge.
60 plus years of Argo fandom down the drain.
He does find talent. I would let him scout/gm in the USA only or be defensive coordinator. I would never hand him the keys to the franchise or let him be my Head Coach. He was excellent in 2012 here in bringing talent in.
RD in his presser yesterday in Ottawa, said that being GM/Coach/OC in Ottawa will be less workload than what he was doing in Toronto.
I believe him.
We all have lamented that the Argos have a thin player personnel dept. They have not replaced talented staff like Magri when they leave.
RD was a GM here without the title, and likely saw that the cupboard was not bring restocked year after year of getting poached.
Comes back to dollars and cents from ownership. In Rogers case we're talking about pennies. If they are not going to run a legitimate front office than the decline on the field can accelerate. How is a Mike O'Shea who doesn't have that problem in Winnipeg going to want to come here without reassurance from Pelley.
