Edmonton Eskimos head coach Jason Maas is a good coach. His record proves it.
As offensive coordinator of the Ottawa Redblacks, he helped guide that team to the 2015 Grey Cup game.
Weeks after that Grey Cup loss to the Eskimos, he became Edmonton’s head coach. Since then, thanks to five wins this season and two more trips to the division finals, only the Calgary Stampeders’ Dave Dickenson has more regular season and playoff wins.
Maas is as firery, emotional and passionate a coach or athlete I have ever dealt with. His desire to win and be successful with his team is as strong as you will find.
Sometimes that gets him in trouble.
There have been a couple of 15-yard penalties, headsets and Gatorade jugs tossed. He has had many emotional conversations with coaches, players and referees on the sideline. The way he conducts himself leads many to believe he is part of the reason his team leads the league in penalties. Maas counts himself in that camp.
“I haven’t done a good enough job since I have been here,” he said Monday night on The Eskimos Coach’s Show with Jason Maas on 630 CHED.
“We have been one of the worst teams in the league at penalties since I have been here. It’s my fault and I am going to take the blame.”
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Maas knows that if he wants his players to have better discipline he, as their leader, has to show better discipline.
“It starts with me: the way I approach the game, the way I am is going to change. I am going to make sure that I change so that when I look at players and talk about discipline, they understand that it’s everybody and it starts with me as the head coach.”
LISTEN BELOW: Jason Maas talks about the Eskimos’ penalty troubles
Saturday’s game on the Brick field at Commonwealth Stadium against the Montreal Alouettes will mark the halfway point of the season. Right now the Eskimos lead the league in penalties with 84 and penalty yards with 895. That’s an average of over 10 penalties a game for over 110 yards — a full football field a game.
Maas said that’s the reason changes are coming for the biggest offenders.
“We’re going to start kicking guys out of practice for messing up,” he said. “We are going to start taking game time away from guys that continue to take penalties. They understand it and they know it.
“It’s about holding ourselves accountable and it’s gotten to the point where we can’t tolerate it anymore. It will stop and if not, we will find other people that can do it.”
The Eskimos are a good football team, currently tied for second place in the west and overall in the standings at 5-3. Maas believes correcting the penalty issue could take them to the next level.
“I’ve looked myself in the mirror I haven’t been good enough. I haven’t been good enough on the field with it, I haven’t been good enough with my attitude at times. There’s things that I need to change and I’m going to.”
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The Eskimos announced several moves Tuesday to the roster.
Activated from the six-game injured list — linebackers Adam Konar and Christophe Mulumba-Tshimanga
Signed — linebacker Doug Parrish and long snapper Tanner Doll
Released — receiver Sam Giguere, linebacker Jeremiah Kose and offensive lineman Kelvin Palmer
The Eskimos will host the Montreal Alouettes on Saturday. Game time is at 7 p.m. MT with the Countdown to Kick Off on 630 CHED starting at 5:30 p.m. MT.
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