Dave Campbell
CFL.ca
Desperate times call for some desperate measures, and right now the 2-8 Edmonton Eskimos are indeed desperate to turn around their recent run of futility. On Tuesday, the Eskimos named Eric Tillman as the team’s new General Manager.
“Eric has an outstanding record of success as a General Manager in the Canadian Football League,” said Eskimos President and CEO Rick Lelacheur. “Over his 10 years as a General Manager with four different teams, he’s appeared in the Grey Cup four times and has three Grey Cup rings with three different teams.”
Nobody else in the CFL has accomplished that feat.
Hiring Tillman as a football man was the easy decision. What made the move difficult was what happened in the last two years. While serving as the G.M. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Tillman was charged with sexual assaulting his 16-year old babysitter.
In January of this year, Tillman was granted an absolute discharge after the judge reviewed the circumstances of the case and determined Tillman was remorseful and the incident was isolated and out of his character. Still fans in Edmonton have some reservations about Tillman and Rick Lelacheur says the decision was very difficult.
“In terms of the community response, it’s been a very tough and difficult call,” said Lelacheur. “Do I believe this community believes in giving people a second chance? Yes I do, and I’ve seen it. Do I believe that Eric Tillman deserves that chance? Yes I do. Will people in this community give him that chance? We’re asking them to and Eric is committed to doing everything possible to earn their support.”
Eric Tillman didn’t pass the buck; he didn’t minimize the very toxic nature of this hire and the public perception. Tillman simply said the onus is on him to prove he’s a man of good character and he feels grateful to Rick Lelacheur for giving him another opportunity.
“The easy thing for Rick to do is just to say no,” said Tillman. “He was committed to winning; I think he believed that I could help make a difference combined with a lot of other people. But he had to have a complete comfort level. He made it very clear what’s expected, what the mandate is, that there is a second chance, they’re will be no third chance.”
Lelacheur admitted during the news conference that by his rough count, 60 to 65 per cent of fan responses oppose the move. When Danny Maciocia was fired on July 31st, Lelacheur cited the negative fan reaction as part of the reason for his dismissal.
On the surface its looks like a double standard but you just can’t ignore the resume of Tillman. The Eskimos need to get back to their winning ways of contending for Grey Cups and finishing first or second in the West, something they did on a regular basis during their 34 year consecutive playoff streak. If the club was 5-5 say at the 10-game mark, then Tillman likely doesn’t get hired or any G.M. for that matter until the end of the season which was the original plan. The team simply couldn’t afford to wait, the reloading needed to begin now.
Tillman says his actions on that August day in 2008 were the result of taking too many pain medications for a bad back. He was sent home from work and the incident lasted in his words for a few seconds but by no means does that minimize the event. Tillman has faced and is still facing adversity from his circumstances and he says he accepts full responsibility for his actions and says he’s remorseful for them. He’s grateful for the grace and forgiveness the victim’s family, the judge, and his wife has shown him. He says he hurt two families through this, the Rider Nation, and the CFL which he says is a league he has the privilege of working for and that it isn’t a right.
Back to the football side, the Eskimos have the worst record in the CFL at 2-8, and the crazy thing is they’re only two points out of a playoff spot in the West Division. In the CFL, all you have to do is make the playoffs and who knows what can happen. While this move is very much about next year, there’s still a major focus on this season.
Tillman’s plan for success is four-fold. First, improving the Canadian talent. Second, having better depth at the quarterback position. Third, employing a strong kicking game, and last but not least, having a strong coaching staff.
Richie Hall is safe for the rest of the season it appears, some tweaks will continue to be made to the roster but the major overhaul won’t happen until the off-season.
Eric Tillman is now the General Manager in the toughest market in the Canadian Football League. Tillman though isn’t looking at Edmonton as a challenge but as an opportunity. An opportunity both on the field and, more importantly, for him personally off the field.