Dave Campbell
CFL.ca
Richie Hall spent 20 years with the Saskatchewan Roughriders as a player, assistant coach and a defensive coordinator. You couldn’t help but rub your eyes a few times when he was named head coach of the Edmonton Eskimos in December of 2008. “Is that an Eskimo hat he’s wearing? That just looks weird.”
After a full season under his belt, Richie Hall looks and talks like a man who firmly wears the colours of the Green and Gold and not the Green and White. So much so, he won’t mention the Saskatchewan Roughriders by name anymore (at least before this article was written). Now, the Riders are referred to by Hall as, “that other team I used to work for”.
“Everyone associates me with the Saskatchewan Roughriders even though I was here last year as the head coach, they still referred to me as a Saskatchewan Roughrider,” said Hall. “That will always be in my heart but I’m no longer a Saskatchewan Roughrider, I’m an Edmonton Eskimo”.
Last season, the Eskimos made two trips back to Regina, the first on July 25th. As the Eskimos were being introduced onto the field, as expected, a chorus of boos rang out through Mosaic Stadium. The last man out of the tunnel was Richie Hall, who was greeted with a standing ovation by the capacity crowd. The gesture moved the Eskimo head coach to tears. The Eskimos ended up winning the game 38-33, erasing an early 22 point deficit in the process. Two nights before the game, Hall took part in a special gala honouring the 1989 Saskatchewan Grey Cup team. Hall fully admits 2009 was a big adjustment for him.
“Everything was such an emotional time for me regarding Saskatchewan last year” explains Hall. “Going back for the first game, every time I went back there to some degree it was home. 2010, it’s no longer home, there’s nothing there expect for my girlfriend.”
In fact, the new attitude is rubbing off on Hall’s boss, Eskimos general manager and director of player personnel Danny Maciocia who arrived in Edmonton in 2002 as the team’s offensive coordinator. He would later go to become the team’s head coach, winning a Grey Cup title in 2005.
“In our meeting with the players the other day he referred to the other team that he was with which was Montreal.” said Hall. “He was in the same situation. He’s from Montreal, he grew up in Montreal. It’s just our own little way of disassociating ourselves with the past where our feet are firmly planted into the future and the present”.
Last season, it didn’t feel like Richie Hall’s team to begin with. He admitted in training camp he was just trying to find out where to stand. Slowly, Hall began to take some ownership. Take Week 3 for example. The Eskimos were embarrassed 40-22 at Commonwealth Stadium by the B.C. Lions. Hall gave his club a stern tongue lashing, something out of character for the soft-spoken coach. Then after a 32-8 loss to the Calgary Stampeders in the Labour Day Classic, he fired offensive coordinator Rick Worman and replaced him with Kevin Strasser.
Fast forward to training camp in 2010. Richie Hall sent a clear message after day one wrapped up. He explained how pleased he was with the execution by his football team, but was clearly annoyed by the number of times players went offside as well as the occasional drops by his receivers. The message from Coach Hall was simple. He was not going to accept the inconsistencies of the 2009 season.
He’s now the Eskimos defensive coordinator replacing Jim Daley. Hall enjoyed tremendous success with “that other team he used to work for,” as a defensive coordinator, running a defense noted for its physical play and speed.
The Eskimos play their first game in Regina on July 17th and Richie Hall says the emotion won’t be there, it’s a business trip.
“Its just like when I went back last month for my golf tournament, I felt like a visitor, I felt like a stranger because so much has happened” said Hall. “I don’t even keep track of what’s going on back there. So when we go there on July 17th, our focus is to go there, win a football game, get out and get ready for the next week”.
Before he leaves Regina he should probably remember to give his girlfriend a kiss.
Welcome to Modal Window plugin Testing!!