New Bulldogs coach fired, hired and fired in middle of Flint water crisis

The Hamilton Bulldogs have announced John Gruden as the team's new head coach.

The announcement was made at a news conference on Friday morning at FirstOntario Centre. 

Gruden, a native of Virginia, Minnesota, spent last season as the coach of the OHL's Flint Firebirds, but was fired in February along with two assistant coaches.

He replaces long-time Bulldogs coach and general manager George Burnett, who was fired in April. In a bit of a switcharoo, Burnett has since been picked up by the Flint Firebirds to become their new general manager.

Fired, rehired and fired again

In November last year, Gruden was fired from the Firebirds and then rehired the next day after a bizarre situation that saw owner Rolf Nilsen admit he made an "irresponsible mistake." 

Although Gruden denies it in following media reports, there was speculation that Nilsen originally fired Gruden over the amount of playing time given to his son, Hakon Nilson. Following that firing, each player, including the owner's son, handed in his jersey and quit the team in response. Gruden was hired back the following day.

During the conference on Friday, Gruden said he was excited to be part of the Bulldogs' organization where he hopes he can help the young men develop not only as hockey players, but as productive members of the community.

Gruden said his first act as head coach will be getting to know the players, who they are and what they're about as individuals. He said getting to know each of the players as young men will help him bring them together to play as a team. 

Coaching in Flint, a city in crisis

The drama that unfolded with Gruden's firing and rehiring was small in comparison to the larger water crisis that was playing out in the City of Flint at around the same time. 

In a bid to save around $5 million over two years, the industrial town of Flint cut ties with the Detroit Water and Sewerage system and instead hooked up its municipal water system to the Flint River in April 2014. The water from the Flint River is more corrosive than the Lake Huron supply, and left untreated, the water ate away at the municipal pipes, resulting in lead that eventually leached into the tap water.

We knew there was a water issue before it became a national story, Gruden said. 

"We had bottled water always available. We never used the water there," he said. "When they put our new locker room in, they put a filtration in, for that locker room and it was never an issue."

Young children and babies living in Flint are most affected by the lead in the tap water, he said.

Most of his players lived in a suburb outside of Flint and didn't have to deal with the city's water issues, he said. When they came in to the arena, all the necessary steps were taken by the facility to ensure the water was safe to drink.

Changing the culture of the team

Bulldogs president and general manager Steve Staios said the search for a new head coach was "long and arduous," with close to 80 applicants throwing their hats into the ring for leadership roles on the team.

"There was an onslaught of very, very qualified candidates," he said during the conference, but in the end, Gruden was chosen as head coach based on his values, his competitiveness and his character.

Staios said looking back at previous years, it was clear to him a great deal of improvement needed to be made around the team's culture and the environment. 

"I was looking for a candidate who could come in and change that right away," he said. 

The new coach needed to be able to hold the players accountable, creating a "culture of discipline" while at the same time encouraging their development.

"The person I was looking to bring in had to have a presence but also had to have an understanding of how to communicate, how to relate to these young players nowadays," he said. "The environment has changed with our young players now and coaching's become more complicated."

Staios said Troy Smith, the associate coach and assistant general manager with the team, also hit all the right targets in terms of what a new head coach should look like. In the end, however, Staios said Smith was best suited to remain in his current but expanded role, working with the team's defense and adding in what he can as the assistant GM.