Alouettes surround new coach with CFL vets
Montreal taps quarterback coach to take over as the offensive boss
Last Updated: Sunday, December 30, 2007 | 6:50 PM ET
The Canadian Press
He might not have any CFL coaching experience, but Montreal Alouettes head coach Marc Trestman is certainly making sure his co-ordinators do.
A source requesting anonymity said Sunday the Alouettes have decided to promote quarterbacks coach Scott Milanovich to offensive co-ordinator. He would replace Marcel Bellefeuille, who is reportedly poised to become the Hamilton Tiger-Cats offensive co-ordinator.
Montreal GM Jim Popp has tabbed quarterbacks coach Scott Milanovich to run the Alouettes offence.
(John Wood/Canadian Press)
Bellefeuille would become the third Montreal assistant to leave the club this off-season.
Special-teams coach Noel Thorpe signed with Edmonton shortly after the season ended while Chris Jones, who served as the Alouettes' defensive co-ordinator for five seasons and interviewed for the head coaching job that went to Trestman, left to become the Calgary Stampeders' defensive co-ordinator, replacing Denny Creehan, who was fired in October.
Ironically, Creehan could emerge as Jones' replacement in Montreal.
Another league source said the Alouettes have spoken to Creehan as well as former CFL head coach Jim Daley about their vacant defensive co-ordinator's job.
And it seems Montreal is also looking to the past in order to fill the position. The source added the Alouettes have also spoken to Dan Daniel, a former defensive assistant with the Edmonton Eskimos during their unprecedented run of five straight Grey Cup wins, about the post.
Trestman hired earlier in December
The Alouettes hired Trestman as head coach earlier this month to replace Jim Popp, who served as the CFL club's head coach and GM this past season. Montreal finished with an 8-10 record and third in the east before losing to Winnipeg in the conference semifinals.
Afterwards, the Als relieved Popp of the head-coaching responsibilities, allowing him to concentrate on being the club's full-time GM, a post he has held since the franchise's relocation to Quebec from Baltimore in 1996.
The hiring of Trestman was somewhat surprising because Als president Larry Smith had said Popp's successor would be someone with CFL experience. While Trestman does have 17 years of pro football coaching experience, it has been with five different NFL teams.
Milanovich joined the Alouettes last season following four years as a coach in NFL Europe.
