Making sure his players maintain their confidence.
That’s the biggest challenge facing B.C. Lions Head Coach Rick Campbell as he tries to get his football team back on track after five consecutive losses.
The most recent defeat was Saturday in Ottawa, where the Redblacks beat the Lions 34-27 in a game which B.C. led 17-12 at halftime but couldn’t finish.
“I think their spirits are good but it will test your confidence when you don’t have success in a while. That’s when you’re at risk of losing your confidence. I just want to make sure they don’t lose their confidence or their belief because the way we got to where we are, it’s a five-game winning streak and a five-game losing streak. It’s not like kind of bouncing back and forth between wins. So that’s the biggest thing,” explained Campbell during a Monday morning interview at the Lions Surrey practice facility.
Even though B.C. lost in Ottawa, Campbell saw some positive signs in the game.
“We played like a team that can compete with anyone we play. I would say we played more like ourselves. And if we do that, we’re going to win some games coming down the home stretch. The reality is we are right in the mix with everybody else with seven games to go, so there’s a lot of reasons to want to keep going. We’re right there,” said Campbell, whose team is part of the logjam in the CFL’s West Division.
B.C. (5-6) is tied for second in the West with Winnipeg (5-6) with both teams trailing first-place Saskatchewan (5-5-1) with Calgary (4-6) and Edmonton (3-8) also in the mix.
There really isn’t much to choose from any of the teams in the West, or the CFL for that matter.
The 2024 season has been extremely competitive with 27 of the first 48 games being decided by one score or less. This past weekend saw all four games decided by a combined 15 points – or 3.75 points per game.
Campbell is known as a head coach who maintains an even-keel approach throughout the season. He doesn’t get too high after the wins nor too low after the losses and asks his coaches and players to do the same. A five-game losing skid could test that resolve but he sees too much talent on this team for it to be an issue.
“I don’t have to do too big of a sell job. There are times when you’re on teams that aren’t quite good enough and you have to really try to get them to rally every week and keep fighting. We need to rally and keep fighting, but we’re a good enough team, and I don’t think I have to sell people on that. We’re the same team that won five games. The proof is already there - they know the potential is there – it’s something that I talked about after the last game,” said Campbell.
Campbell is confident in his team’s character and believes it will make a difference.
“It’s not like we’ve never won. We have good coaches and good players that are solid people. And in my experience, if you have some character and some toughness about you, then you’ll ride through the ups and downs of the season. So that’s what gives me hope - that we have pretty high character people. In my experience, that usually helps you out at the end of the day,” said Campbell.
One point that stuck with me from the approach Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet had last year was that he preached that his players needed to get used to playing in pressure situations and to be confident in those type of games.
It’s something that I brought up with Campbell.
“I think when you haven’t had success in a while — which we haven’t — maybe you question that but it’s going to be tight. I actually have said that from the start — even when we were winning games,” noted Campbell.
“I’ve always said that it always comes down to the end and we had that knack to make plays. That was why we were 5-1 because we were the team making plays late in the game when it was close. And that’s the reality of the CFL this year. You can look at the game between Edmonton and Montreal (on Sunday). It came down to the last play of the game. You can easily argue that Montreal is the best team in the league and what’s Edmonton? 3-8? It came down to the last play of the game, so you better embrace those close games because that’s just the reality.
“That’s the way the league is this season.”
When it comes to the West, it’s entirely possible a team wins three or four games in a row, gets into the playoffs with 8 or 9 wins, and then continues that run into the post-season. Getting on a heater in October will probably punch your ticket to the Grey Cup.
If you want an example of that, all you have to do is look at last year’s Grey Cup champion Montreal Alouettes. The Als were below .500 in mid-September, sitting at 6-7, before going on a five-game win streak to end the regular season.
“I think you can argue that any team is still in it. Hamilton is up against it just from a win-loss scenario in the Eastern standings but they played Winnipeg tough last game. You can argue any team has a chance to do it and that’s what I see,” said Campbell.
There is an old adage in sports – it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish – and you can probably apply that to the CFL this year.
That being said, Campbell hopes that his team is playing their best football at that time.
Time will tell if they are but first there is the matter of snapping this skid.
OVERTIME
* Campbell doubts that injured quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. (knee) will play in the rematch against Ottawa this Saturday in Victoria. “I don’t think he’s 100% in talking to him today. He’s definitely getting very, very close, and we’re going to see if he can practice this week. But he’s not going to be an option until he is 100% and feeling good. There’s no reason to throw him in there until he’s feeling totally good. I’m hoping that he practices this week and we’ll see how that goes,” explained Campbell.
* Touchdown Pacific celebrations kickoff midweek which means the Lions will fly out after practice on Wednesday in preparation for the game against Ottawa (Saturday 4 p.m.; 980 CKNW, TSN) at Royal Athletic Park while the Redblacks arrive in Victoria on Thursday.
* Kicker Sean Whyte’s consecutive field goal streak was snapped at 47 when Ottawa’s Jovan Santos-Knox blocked a 37-yard attempt on the first play of the second quarter in Saturday’s game.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob “the Moj” Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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