MONTREAL – The Alouettes’ general manager, Danny Maciocia, is convinced that Jason Maas will be able to lead the team to the promised land.
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Watch the full press conference in the video above.
This is what he repeated several times on Tuesday, during the introductory press conference of the 27th head coach in the history of the organization.
“When I look at the state of our football team right now, I see that Jason is the perfect candidate to take us to the next level,” the GM said confidently.
“I did a lot of background research on everyone I interviewed and Jason Maas was by far the best candidate.”
Maciocia and Maas have known each other for more than two decades. It is however the opinion of the players who rubbed shoulders with the new head coach of the “Als” that made the difference.
“Mike Reilly, a quarterback I never coached, told me his three years with Jason Maas were the best three years of his career. That’s saying a lot, considering he won a Gray Cup with another head coach.”
Trevor Harris, who has worked behind the Alouettes’ center for the past two seasons, also praised Maas. This was also the case for Ricky Ray, Henry Burris and Almondo Sewell.
For his part, the newcomer said he was lucky to get a second chance to be a head coach in the Canadian League.
“I look forward to working with Danny and everyone in the organization to build on the successes they had last year,” said the 2016 Edmonton Eskimos driver. to 2019.
Everyone stays, except Bolduc
Recall that Maas was the only one of the five candidates who was not a member of the “Als” coaching staff in 2022. The other four were André Bolduc, Byron Archambault, Noel Thorpe and Anthony Calvillo.
With the exception of the first, they will all be back with the Sparrows in 2023. Maciocia confirmed this and explained that Bolduc had accepted a position with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
“I think he got to a stage in his career where he wanted to experience something else,” Maciocia said of the man who had been assistant head coach for quite a while in Montreal.
“He is going to have a great experience and I wish him success. We would have liked to keep him in our organization, but he got a great opportunity elsewhere.
Trust
Thorpe will continue to serve as defensive coordinator, while Calvillo will perform the same offensive duties. However, the former Alouettes star player will no longer call offensive plays in 2023, as was the case in 2022. Instead, Maas will take on this responsibility.
Archambault will again be in charge of special teams, but has obtained a promotion. Indeed, he now has the title of assistant head coach.
It’s pretty rare in the world of football for a driver to land and keep virtually all the same staff in place.
“It’s a matter of trust,” Maas said. Considering what kind of man Danny is and the kind of person he trusts, I know these are quality people. I also saw them work from afar last year. I have seen their success and their way of working.”
Since his appointment last Saturday, Maas has taken the time to meet with all the coaches individually. He also gave his agreement to Maciocia to offer them new agreements. For the moment, only the offensive line coach Luc Brodeur-Jourdain does not have a contract in his pocket for the 2023 campaign. Both Maciocia and Maas have however indicated that they would like to see him return.