Click here to listen to Roger Currie’s commentary on consultants
I have met a few consultants in my time. In the radio world they’re referred to frequently as insultants or more properly a bad programmer’s best friend. Used to be they would sneak into town and camp out in a cheap motel with a radio in one hand, and a big note pad in the other. Now in the digital age, they can tune in from anywhere on the planet. Don’t get me started.
In business and government, a consultant is often described as “a person with a PhD and a suitcase”. Now the title is showing up more frequently in the world of sports.
In Hamilton, where the TigerCats are preparing for a football season without a home, head coach Kent Austin has hired his old pal Eric Tillman as a consultant. Why not? Six years ago they were responsible for a Grey Cup title in Saskatchewan, but the joy did not last.
Eric Tillman
In Edmonton last year, Tillman had the distinction of being the only manager anyone can ever remember who was fired before his team competed in the playoffs.
Back to 2007, the head coach that the Riders beat in that Grey Cup was Doug Berry of Winnipeg. The next year the Blue Bombers made an early exit in the playoffs, and poor old Doug was fired before the parking lot had emptied out.
Doug Berry
A couple of years later he shows up in Rider Nation as Offensive Coordinator, only to be fired, along with head coach Greg Marshall, before Labour Day in 2011.
Before moving to Winnipeg, Doug Berry was Offensive Coordinator with the Alouettes in Montreal. Where will he will be this year? You guessed it. In 2013 Doug will serve as an Offensive consultant in Montreal, under their new head coach, Dan Hawkins.
Dan is new to the C-F-L, but he’s probably off to a good start. If things don’t go well, he can blame the consultant and carry on.
I’m Roger Currie
