WATCH ABOVE: Squire Barnes discusses the firing of Benevides on the Noon News
After three years and no playoff wins, the Mike Benevides era has come to a close.
Four days after they were eliminated from the playoffs, the B.C. Lions announced head coach Mike Benevides had been fired.
“Today, we made the very difficult decision to relieve Mike Benevides of his duties as head coach of the BC Lions,” said Wally Buono, GM and VP of Football Operations in a statement. “Our football team experienced a very tumultuous season. Still, we believe as an organization that the team we had assembled was capable of more than what we accomplished in the regular season and in the playoffs. In short, we underperformed and failed to meet both our own expectations and the expectations of our fans.”
Benevides was named head coach after the 2011 season, the last time the Lions won the Grey Cup. In his three seasons, the Lions had a 33-21 regular season record, making the playoffs in all three season.
But the team was winless in the playoffs under Benevides, culminating in last weekend’s blowout 50-17 loss to the Montreal Alouettes.
READ MORE: Buono ‘shocked, devastated’ by Lions’ loss
“They had gotten progressively worse in the last three years,” said Squire Barnes, explaining the decision to fire Benevides.
Barnes also said there were stories of the players tuning Benevides out.
The day after the game, Buono said he was “in a state of shock” over the loss, and pledged that changes would come.
“What did I learn about our football club? I learned the fact that we’re not good enough and I learned the fact we have to do something about it.”