What’s Next For The Montreal Alouettes?
By Jared Book
After losing in the East Semi-Final to the Hamilton Tiger Cats, the Montreal Alouettes get started on what should be a very interesting off-season.
There is some certainty around the head coach as this will be the first time in three years that the Alouettes will have the same head coach as the previous season. However, there could be some changes among the assistants.
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Defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe is likely to get some interest from the BC Lions who have a head coach opening. Thorpe, a Vancouver native, led the Alouettes defence the last three years. He was thought to be the Alouettes head coach-in-waiting until they hired Tom Higgins.
There is no doubt the Alouettes defence was their strength and losing Thorpe would be a big blow.
Jeff Garcia is also a possibility to move West. It would be closer to his family who live in California and he made his CFL debut under Wally Buono who is the general manager in BC. He could be an offensive coordinator and get a promotion after his success with the Alouettes.
There are also a couple of major free agents for the Alouettes in Chip Cox and S.J. Green. Cox is one of the best defensive players in the league and will expect to be paid like it. The Alouettes dealt with the loss of Shea Emry last year with the emergence of Bear Woods. I’m not sure they can replace Cox even with the emergence of Winston Venable.
Green was the Alouettes second best receiver after Duron Carter this season, but he was incredible in the East final, scoring three touchdowns. If the Alouettes lose Carter to the NFL – which is all but a certainty – Green will need to be kept around or the Alouettes offence will have a really rough time next year.
The full list of free agents is usually released in February right before the free agency period. The Alouettes cleaned out their lockers yesterday at Olympic Stadium.