Will Khari Jones be in charge of the Alouettes at the start of the next season? This is the question that remained unanswered at the end of the end-of-season report of the Montreal team which was held Thursday at the Olympic Stadium.
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Jones and general manager Danny Maciocia have been bombarded with questions about it. All possible angles were covered by the journalists present.
“There is a desire for it to continue and for it to work, but we have work to do,” said Danny Maciocia. It is very important to find solutions in the next few days.
“There is a desire that Khari Jones and all of his assistants are back. This year was the first time that we lived a full season together. ”
On the other hand, we have already felt Maciocia more convincing in his words. Discussions between the two men, which will take place in the coming days, will be decisive. They need to see if their plans and visions for the 2022 season can tie together.
There are some aspects of the Alouettes’ performance that have bothered Maciocia this season.
“The indiscipline and the way we played on special teams hurt us,” added Maciocia. In most of our seven losses, it was more of us who escaped games.
“We’re going to work directly with Khari. The answers can be found as a team. We also lacked opportunism on several occasions in the attack. It’s happened on several occasions that we have had long stretches on the pitch that ended with a placement. ”
Photo QMI Agency, Joël Lemay
Jones is not worried
A few feet from Maciocia, we found Jones who showed great confidence under the circumstances. It must be said that he still has one year left on his three-year contract which he signed in 2019.
“I’m not worried about it,” said Khari Jones. I have never had any concerns at this level. I’m the coach of this football team and I’m going to be coach to the best of my ability whether I’m still here for 10 years or for a week.
“I let things work out on their own.”
Since arriving in Montreal, Jones has been appreciated by his players. He is smiling and he likes to have fun with them on a daily basis.
Has Jones been tough enough on his players this season?
“I am a coach who is close to his players,” he explained. I will always be like that. What I want to be above all else is a winning coach who wins football matches.
“Even though I’m smiling and having fun, I can get angry. My players have seen this a few times. This season it was not a problem and I assure you it will not be in the future. “
Indiscipline pointed out
On several occasions in 2021, indiscipline put the Alouettes in a difficult position. We had a good example when we lost to Hamilton last Sunday.
“If we want to get rid of these penalties, it has to start at the start of the season,” Jones said. It’s a side of my team that I’m not proud of.
“In 2022, I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen again by putting fines, cutting their playing time or even freeing them. I take responsibility on my own behalf and that of the coaching team so that my players are in the best possible position to avoid these penalties. “
Will his good intentions convince Maciocia to keep him in office? We will have the answer by the holiday season.
During the checkup, quarterback Matthew Shiltz announced that his mother had died in a car crash in Texas. Sad news for the 28-year-old athlete.