Dear Joe Letter

Note: This is an Email I wrote to a friend to be forwarded on to Ottawa Renegades head coach Joe Paopao. As you could see I was a tad bit frustrated with the performance of my Renegades.


Hi Jeff,

Could you please forward this message to Joe Paopao for me? I don't have his email address....thanks...

Hi Joe,

I'm a loyal fan and longtime follower of the CFL. I noticed that you seem to be a little confused with the nuances of the sport so I thought I would send you some suggestions. If you are wondering about my qualifications, I worked for two years as offensive coordinator for the Mont Bleu Panthers under Wayne Daly, who, as I'm sure you know, is a legend on the other side of the river; albeit not necessarily for his coaching knowledge. On top of that, Patrick Kirkham is a very close friend of mine and a successful high school coach who has imparted much football knowledge onto me these past 10 years. I also spend a lot of time drinking beer with some of the areas great football minds: Jim Colton, Jeff Avery, Mike Balenko and Jim Clarke. Actually Mike Balenko didn't drink at all for a while and then started drinking red wine but I think he's back on the beer. Wayne Daly sometimes participates in these discussions also, but he drinks Ginger Ale.

As you can see, I am highly qualified. Here are my suggestions to help you get through the rest of the campaign:

1 - You keep stating that you need to get the ball into the hands of your "playmakers" such as Donnie Ashley (see point 2) yet when Toronto gave up that safety in the first quarter Saturday you chose to take the ball at the 35 instead of having them kick into the wind. You see Joe, this is the perfect opportunity to get the ball into the hands of your playmakers. Make them kick it!! Even if you only get the ball back to the 30, who cares....at least you had another chance to make a play. This happened on a couple of other occasions and again you chose to play it safe and scrimmage from the 35. Remember Joe, 20,000+ people are paying good money to watch this stuff.

2 - I've heard all year that Donnie Ashley is a "playmaker"; a game breaker if you will. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think in order to be identified as a "playmaker" you should have to make at least one play during a season. This guy has done absolutely nothing this year...nothing...he has not made one play!! Besides that, he's a smurf!! As my good friend Sean Kelly said at the game on Saturday "when the scouts said he was a 4-3 receiver they must have been referring to his height not his 40 speed". And don't get me started on all his dropped passes!!! Get rid of this guy, I've seen enough!!

3 - You see Joe here's the thing......hitch passes are a good thing every once in a while to take advantage of a soft defense. It's a safe play and usually ends up with a positive gain. A steady diet of hitch passes however just isn't going to cut it in this league. When you have no vertical threat, the defense just eats that stuff up. The ball must be thrown downfield in the CFL if you wish to compete (see point 4). I realize that you may not have a whole lot of confidence in your QB's right now, given Chuck Clements' horrible performance on Saturday, but you just have to take some risks and throw the ball downfield. When it's second and 15 and you throw a hitch pass for 3 yards (Winnipeg game) you are basically conceding the ball to the other team for fear of making a turnover. Just throw it Joe......when it gets picked off we'll understand, trust me.

4 - The next point is very important Joe so read this one twice if you have to. It's quite simple actually: Please use the center of the field in your passing game. The reason you cant get the ball downfield is that all your throws, and I mean all of them, are to the sidelines. The defensive backs only have to cover 1 third of the field. The safeties are having a field day......Take advantage of the intermediate passing lanes down the center of the field Joe, trust me on this one. Use big interior receivers and send them down the center...you'll be amazed at how the passing game opens up. Watch a Steve Spurrier offense and see how he opens things up by using the whole field. He doesn't even need great players....it's all strategy and attitude...

5 - So far the Renegades attack has been like a pair of those new cotton Dockers.....no wrinkles. Throw in some wrinkles Joe!! Fake a punt...reverse a kick return...something...anything to keep the other team honest. Come on Joe, lose the cotton Dockers....

That's it Joe, I hope this helps. Good luck the rest of the way. If you need any more advice you can contact me at the Val Tetreau Tavern in Hull every Wednesday from 9 pm to 11 pm.

Sincerely,

Johnny Kennedy