Chamblin's future as Argos head coach to be determined during off-season
GM Pinball Clemons to meet with other staff Monday after 4-14 campaign
Corey Chamblin is still the Toronto Argonauts head coach.
General manager Mike (Pinball) Clemons said Chamblin's future will be addressed this off-season as Toronto's braintrust examines all facets of its football operation following a disappointing season.
Clemons met with reporters Sunday, less than a day after the Argos (4-14) ended their miserable season with a 21-18 road loss to the arch-rival Hamilton Tiger-Cats (15-3).
Chamblin completed his first season as Toronto's head coach after serving as the Argos' defensive co-ordinator in 2017 when they won the Grey Cup. In 2013, Chamblin led the Saskatchewan Roughriders to a CFL title.
"It's a process here," Clemons said. "You don't want to go through a difficult season like this and not learn from it.
"We want to be a professional organization that does the right things time and time again. That's why process is so important here, that's why we do need to take the time and learn from the mistakes."
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Clemons assumed GM duties Oct. 8 replacing Jim Popp, who was fired in his third season with Toronto. So it will be the amiable Clemons — who's won championships as an Argos player, coach and executive — who'll be front and centre in the franchise's rebuild.
And while process and treating all with respect remains of paramount importance to Clemons, the bottom line remains winning. Toronto hasn't made the CFL playoffs since its '17 Grey Cup victory.
Chamblin isn't worrying about his future because there's still much to do.
"At the end of the day, I'll still be working the next couple of days and if I'm the coach I'll be here and if I'm not, I won't," he said. "It (uncertainty) isn't going to change my mindset . . . which is to wrap this up with the coaches, take a brief break and after that start finding a way to have a successful 2020."
Own worst enemy
Chamblin could only chuckle when asked if he thought he'd be back in 2020.
"It doesn't matter what I think," he said. "I thought we'd win the Grey Cup and we fell well short.
"It's football and if it's football it can be fixed. I've seen teams go from [being] sub-par teams one year to winning the championship the next. It's really about putting the pieces in place and things you need to have in place at all three levels to make sure you're winning football games."
The Argos continually were their own worst enemy this season with untimely penalties, turnovers and letdowns in play. Saturday's loss was a prime example of that as kickers Zach Medeiros and Ronnie Pfeffer both missed chip-shot field goals that went for singles and kept Hamilton close despite committing five turnovers (four interceptions, one fumble), including Shaq Richardson's 89-yard pick-six.