Even though most Canadian Football League experts placed the Montreal Alouettes dead last — when it wasn’t tenth! — in their pre-season predictions, Danny Maciocia is not surprised by his team’s 11-7 record. Even though he expected it.
“I wrote on a piece of paper “11-7,” he said while his players warmed up near the Olympic Stadium on Tuesday. I believed we could win 11 games, but I didn’t share it with anyone. I felt like we had something good on our hands. However, I didn’t know if it was going to be enough to win the section, second place or a crossover in the West. But I felt it. »
The predictions of CFL observers have not served as motivation this season. He had other fish to fry when they were done anyway.
“We were so busy with other things that we didn’t have time to read or listen to what was being said about us. But I understand it. They put us there because of the uncertainty around the team, Maciocia admitted. For a few days in January, I even wondered if the CFL wasn’t going to play an eight-team season. We had just hired a head coach, but we didn’t have an owner, we didn’t have the resources to hire free agents. There were so many questions and doubts that you didn’t know what to expect. »
“I started to believe it at camp. These three weeks and the two preparatory matches, the interaction between the coaches, with the players; I felt that we had something interesting, that we would have a competitive team. That doesn’t mean I thought we were going to win the Gray Cup, as I can’t say that to this day. But I knew we were going to be competitive and that was the goal. Hats off to the entire organization. Everyone participated in this big project in which there were more questions than answers. »
We must also look back at the difficult context of last winter, when Trevor Harris, Eugene Lewis and Jake Wienicki, to name a few, had just deserted the team. Having secured a budget to work with just hours before the free agent market opens, we can understand the reluctance of some.
However, this was without counting on the talent of the Alouettes’ team of recruiters and player development.
“When things are going well, we say that the general manager and the coach are doing a good job and when things are going badly, it’s because they aren’t doing any. But we must praise Jean-Marc Edmé, Pier-Yves Lavergne, Éric Deslauriers, Byron Archambault, Allyson Sobol. All these people had a huge impact on recruitment, Maciocia stressed. And we must not forget the draft. Look at the number of our players that we have drafted. »
Maciocia never misses the opportunity to highlight the contribution of head coach Jason Maas. He reiterated how this was his best hire.
“It’s flattering to hear that. I am filled with gratitude to him, said Maas. The conditions of my employment would have been difficult for everyone. But I was very happy to come and work here, under his orders. I always had confidence in him and wanted to work with him again. »
“He did a lot of work. To be the GM, to become the coach, to lead the team to the playoffs, to find his seat and hire a new coach, then to find the players that he found to come play here, build this culture , it’s colossal,” Maas did not fail to praise it.
Both men are not satisfied with their 11-7 record, however.
“I’m not sure I would have liked it if I had been offered this record before the season, to concede seven defeats,” admitted Maas. That’s not how I’m made. I would have asked to be allowed to play these matches to see what we had in store. »
“We are built on a competitive spirit, we never want to lose, not a match, not a rehearsal, not a video session, not a game of pickleball in our locker room! So, I don’t think I would have been comfortable saying at the start of the season that we were going to lose seven games. »
“My family often accuses me that I am never satisfied in life, because I always say that we are never satisfied,” Maciocia added. There is a match this weekend and we want to win it. We didn’t make all these efforts, all these sacrifices, to settle for an 11-7 record. That’s the attitude we have on this team and it starts with our head coach, with the way he prepares the team. »
“However, defeats are part of the learning process,” Maas conceded. You accept them and move forward. I’m not surprised though that we were hosting a playoff game: those were the expectations placed on us. With the players in place, I felt like we could be successful right away. This is what I am most proud of. Not the 11 wins, but the way we worked together as a group. »
It remains to be seen where this edition of the Alouettes will end.