Less than 24 hours after Saturday’s loss on home field to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers by a score of 30-3, the Edmonton Eskimos announced that special teams coordinator Cory McDiarmid had been fired.
McDiarmid had been in charge of the Eskimos special teams since head coach Jason Maas arrived for the 2016 season. Current special teams assistant Dave Jackson will take over the Eskimos special teams for the rest of the season.
“It was a gut feeling,” Maas said Monday afternoon.
“It just comes down to, on special teams I don’t think we are good enough. It’s my job to look at everything as a football team and try to make us better. It’s a tough decision because I love Cory had him here for two and half years. Our relationship is good, nothing to do with that. I respect the man, he worked hard”
The numbers tell the story to a certain extent for the Eskimos special teams. They went into this Saturday’s game last in punt return return average at 7.7 yards – that’s almost six yards less than Saskatchewan who lead the league with a 13.5 yard average. Same story in kick off returns — the Eskimos are 9th at 19.6 yards a return – five yards back of league leading B.C. at 24.8 yards.
LISTEN BELOW: Head coach Jason Maas talks about the decision to fire Cory McDiarmid
It sounds like the return game was a big part of the decision for Maas
“It’s not all scheme it’s not all on the coaches, some of it is the players and executing and all that stuff but when you don’t have hope that you are gong to get better thats where it gets bad”
Jackson had five punt returns for 30 yards (a 6.0 average) and six kick off returns for 112 yards (18.7 average). The Eskimos also had a punt blocked in the game on Saturday.
Until Jackson’s arrival two weeks ago, the Eskimos were the only team in the league without a “big play” kick return this season.
Jackson had a 30 yard punt return in Ottawa on Sept. 22. Montreal and Toronto are the only other teams that do not have a kick return TD in a game this season.
Dave Jackson is in his third season with the Eskimos, the Regina native has been coaching at the high school, USports, Junior Football and in the CFL since 1998. Along with the last three seasons with the Eskimos, his CFL resume has coaching stops in Winnipeg and Saskatchewan in 2014 and 15.
“He’s got great attention to detail, he will work extremely hard, he is in the building all the time and he is accountable. He runs some of our meetings already so I know he is capable of that. I feel it’s just going to be spark and its going to make us better,” Maas said.
Maas also had an update on the health of receiver Duke Williams who left Saturday’s game with what looked like a shoulder injury.
“I don’t think it’s super severe. Whether or not he will go this week or not — right now we don’t know, but it is definitely not severe enough to keep him out for the year.”
Maas knows that the CFL’s leading receiver with 1,337 yards plays a very tough game and it takes a lot to take him out.
“If Duke can run and he can catch he will play and deal with the pain that comes with that.”
The Eskimos will return to practice Wednesday to begin on field preparations for their next game on Thanksgiving Monday in Regina against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
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