Sophomore shining as defensive leader
Published Friday November 27th, 2009
CALGARY - The Montreal Alouettes liked what they saw of Shea Emry so much as a rookie last season they made him their starting middle linebacker.
Now the 23-year-old from Richmond, B.C., is one of the rare Canadian players at that position in the CFL and will get his big test when the Alouettes take on the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the Grey Cup game on Sunday.
"The coaches kind of took a leap of faith in giving me the job right out of camp and I jumped at the opportunity and did my best," Emry said Thursday. "Mostly at the beginning of the year, I just wanted to fulfil my role on the team and not mess up.
"I just wanted to make sure my teammates respected me for my game. Once I started making a couple of plays, that's all I wanted to do. And gradually I got better and better."
The Alouettes wanted better man-to-man coverage this season and part of that was to change the group of linebackers. Only Diamond Ferri stayed put, while Emry moved into the middle and former defensive back Chip Cox became a linebacker, with rookie Ramon Guzman slotting in with Emry and Ferri during games.
They contributed to a defence that was best in the league this season, leading in 21 of the 25 statistical categories that the CFL keeps.
"He's done a great job for us," said Alouettes defensive co-ordinator Tim Burke. "I think he's by far the best Canadian linebacker and one of the best linebackers, period, in the league."
Emry, drafted seventh overall by Montreal in 2007 from the UBC Thunderbirds, played almost all of last season on special teams, but worked hard on his game over the off-season and impressed the coaching staff in training camp enough to win the job.
"I'm really impressed by Chip this year, too," said Ferri. "I didn't think he'd be as physical as he was.
"The same with Shea. Call him a dumb rookie or whatever, but he didn't play like one this year."
Meanwhile, Eric Tillman's keen eye for talent and knack for recognizing potential head coaches are two big reasons why the Roughriders are seeking their second championship since 2007.
But the general manager isn't the centre of attention here in Calgary this week. Instead, he's become a forgotten man, remaining in Regina on paid administrative leave waiting to stand trial in January on a summary charge of sexual assault involving a 16-year-old girl in August 2008.
Riders president Jim Hopson says Tillman, 52, made the decision not to accompany the team to Alberta for fear of becoming a distraction.
"Eric and I had talked about it and he actually said, 'I don't think it would be good if I was there,' and I said I had to agree with him," Hopson said Thursday. "Given everything that has happened this year I think it would take away from it because he'd become the focus rather than the players and the game."
The 2009 season has certainly been one to remember for the Roughriders (10-7-1), who finished atop the West Division for the first time since 1976 before dethroning the defending Grey Cup-champion Calgary Stampeders in a thrilling 27-17 conference final to secure a second Grey Cup berth since '07.
But the Riders made headlines for all the wrong reasons in February when news of Tillman's charge became public. The club placed Tillman on a paid leave but he has been involved in its operations. He hasn't been allowed to visit the club's offices or speak with reporters.
"We communicate almost daily by telephone," head coach Ken Miller said. "I have seen him periodically at his home but most of our communication has come through the telephone or email.
"We've been able to work effectively and I've been pretty much in charge of coaching the football team and it's worked successfully."
Tillman has pleaded not guilty to the charge and is scheduled to stand trial Jan. 4, 2010.
Hopson said while the Riders have enjoyed a successful year on the field, he admits it's been a challenge off of it.
"It has been an usual year and I'd be less than honest if I said it hasn't been challenging at times," Hopson said. "We went through a difficult year in some ways with Eric basically working from home and not being able to talk to the media.
"But I think the way we handled it has worked well for his situation and us because it never became a distraction for us at any point in the year. Eric was able to do his job of finding players and Kenny and the coaches were able to do the job of coaching the team and running it day to day. Brendan Taman (hired in July as director of football administration) was also a big asset. Yeah, it's highly unusual."
There's no denying Tillman has played a big role in the Riders' recent success.
Tillman took heat shortly after joining the Riders for hiring a rookie head coach in Kent Austin and making many difficult personnel decisions to shave more than $600,000 in payroll to get Saskatchewan under the then league-mandated $4.05-million salary cap.
But the Roughriders responded by posting a 12-6 record - second-best in the CFL - to secure their first home playoff game since 1988 en route to their first Grey Cup title since '89. Tillman also did a solid job of trading for such stalwarts as receiver D.J. Flick, offensive lineman Wayne Smith, kicker-punter Jamie Boreham and running back Wes Cates to replace the veterans the club either released or lost to free agency.
And when Austin left Saskatchewan to become the offensive co-ordinator at Ole Miss, his alma mater, Tillman raised eyebrows again when he hired Miller as the club's head coach. Again, the move paid off as Miller has compiled a 22-13-1 overall record and led the Riders to the playoffs in both of his seasons on the sidelines.
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