Montreal Alouettes Add Anthony Calvillo To Coaching Staff
By Jared Book
The Montreal Alouettes added future hall-of-fame quarterback Anthony Calvillo as an offensive coach today, while also announcing other significant coaching decisions for the next year.
Calvillo’s role will be up to the new offensive coordinator, which is the other bit of news. Ryan Dinwiddie will no longer be the offensive coordinator. Tom Higgins said it is not necessarily a demotion for Dinwiddie, which can be seen as he was never going to be the long-term coordinator.
One name that I think makes sense here is George Cortez. Cortez was the fall guy in Saskatchewan but has always had success in the league and can help turn around this offence and nurture the young staff. There are other candidates as well, but Cortez is one name I want right now.
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With the news of the addition of Calvillo and re-assignment of Dinwiddie is the news that Jeff Garcia will not return. On the surface, it’s not surprising. It was always going to be Calvillo or Garcia because they would fill similar roles in tutoring quarterbacks.
I feel it’s a no brainer for the Alouettes to bring Calvillo back into the fold but there’s no denying Garcia’s knowledge and tutelage. He has a brilliant football mind, and has worked with some very good quarterbacks and made them better.
I’m not sure if – short term – this is a gain for the Alouettes, depending, of course, who is brought in as the offensive coordinator. Long term, I don’t doubt Calvillo devoting himself to becoming the best coach he can be and we have seen what his former backup Marcus Brady has already done with Montreal and then Toronto.
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This is an off-field move as much as it is to help the coaching staff on the field. But there is no denying the positives that Calvillo can bring to this team. One thing Calvillo is not is a coaster. He will work to a very good coach and that is a good thing for the Alouettes as he may outlast Tom Higgins and Jim Popp in this organization.
But, another factor is that this will be the third straight season the Alouettes will enter with a new offensive coordinator. Add in the two that were fired the last two years, and that makes six different offensive coordinators in three seasons. No matter who is brought in, it has to be a long-term solution.
On a positive note, the entire defensive coaching staff that led the dominating Alouettes defence will be back. That is a good thing as Noel Thorpe has been thought of as a future head coach and it is good that he will lead the unit for a third year.