In his first game at the helm of the Alouettes last week, Danny Maciocia found himself in a special situation.
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The one who also holds the position of general manager had a headset with his team’s game plan in his hands. We saw him chatting with his coordinators Noel Thorpe, Anthony Calvillo and Byron Archambault during important moments.
“My role is a bit of being a game manager and making the big decisions like in third down situations,” Danny Maciocia said of his return to the sidelines. It is my coordinators who will call the plays during the matches.
“From time to time, I might come up with an idea. In the first game, they did a great job. On offense, they have four touchdowns in five appearances in the pay zone. I was so happy for Anthony (Calvillo).”
For those who know Maciocia, he is not the style of coach to have an unobtrusive role in the games he leads.
“It’s just a temporary position. I’m lucky to have the assistants we have in place. They are the ones who will manage, but I am always present in the meetings and I ask questions.
“Am I used to this role? Not at all. I found it a bit difficult, but it is part of the current situation.
We must not forget that he is responsible for the presence of the three coordinators with the Alouettes. Three men in whom he has great confidence.
A transfer of penalties
Once again, indiscipline was one of the factors in the Alouettes’ loss. Maciocia’s men gave the Edmonton Elks 180 yards on a silver platter.
The soccer man brought a different perspective to this situation.
“The thing we did was we took over-roughing penalties and transferred them to interference penalties on opposing receivers,” Maciocia said.
“The good news, we avoided the 15-yard penalties. The bad, you have to be able to play the ball better when it’s in the air.
“It leaves yards to the opponent and we can’t afford it. It’s a new system for our defense.”
However, he does not throw the stone at the defensive back against Wesley Sutton who received several costly penalties against Edmonton.
The killer instinct
The players have not given up, but they know they have to play better.
“We don’t like having a 1-4 record,” said Kristian Matte. We have lost by one point, but we have not played a match where we have been good in the three phases of the ball at the same time.
“We lack the killer instinct a bit. We have it maybe for two or three quarters, but not for 60 minutes. You have to try to always play the right way, regardless of the score that is on the scoreboard. You can’t take it easy. In the Canadian League, that can change very quickly.”
The offensive lineman believes players need to look in the mirror for their current performance.
“We often shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties, breakaways and interceptions. It’s not just one person, it’s the 12 guys on the pitch. That’s what’s killing us right now.”
