Toronto Argonauts head coach Jim Barker holds his head while playing against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats during second half CFL action in Toronto on Friday, October 15, 2010. The Tiger-Cats defeated the Argonauts 30-3.Nathan Denette
Jim Barker thrives on offensive football and it has bugged him to no end that the Toronto Argonaut team he is in charge of has struggled so badly all season when it has possession of the football.
After Friday's embarrassing 30-3 setback to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in front of an increasingly frustrated home-town crowd at Rogers Centre in which the Argos could do no better than 194 yards in total net offence, Barker knew he had to make a move.
With just three games left in the CFL regular season, including Saturday's game in Winnipeg against the Blue Bombers, Barker is turning to the only person he trusts to jump-start the offence back to life - himself.
Barker insists he remains confident in the abilities of Jaime Elizondo, whom he brought on as his offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach when he was hired earlier this season as the Toronto head coach.
But Barker said from here on in he will have more than just a passing interest in how the Argos conduct themselves when they possess the football.
"I was waiting and waiting and hoping the passing game would get better, and it hasn't," Barker said on Tuesday. "I'm an offensive guy. The last two times I've been an offensive co-ordinator we've won Grey Cups. That's what I do.
"But I also have a young co-ordinator that needs to feel his way and needs to learn and there comes that point of when do you go and give him help. And 30-3 is an indication that it's time to go in and get help, whether you want it or not."
So there was Barker on Tuesday marching hither and yon around the Argos' Mississauga practice field trying to school the offence in the finer points of running pass routes.
The Argos, led by rookie quarterback Cleo Lemon, rank dead last in the CFL in most of the key offensive categories, including touchdowns (21), points a game (19.1), first downs (273), and yards a game (314.2).
That contrasts sharply to the Calgary Stampeders, the most admired of the CFL's offensive units, who rank first in the CFL in touchdowns (51), points a game (33.7), first downs (367), and yards a game (430.5).
It's no wonder that Calgary is in first place in the West Division with an 11-4 record while the Argos are in third in the East at 7-6 and still in need of one more victory to clinch a playoff spot.
"I'm an offensive guy that really hasn't been involved in that phase of it, and that's my fault," Barker said. "I should have had a better grasp of things. It's not a slight on Jaime Elizondo. He's growing and Jaime does a great job game planning and he's going to be a great coach.
"But there are some issues right now and my job as the head coach is to go in and figure out what those issues are and get them solved."
Both Barker and general manager Adam Rita said that Lemon, despite his struggles as the Argo quarterback, will remain their guy for the remainder of the season.
Rita appeared almost dumbfounded when a reporter asked him if the team even discussed the possibility of bringing Casey Printers on board after the quarterback was cut loose by the B.C. Lions last week.
"No, why would we?" Rita said.
When it was suggested that Printers, at least at one point, was a proven CFL commodity, Rita's response was "He is?"
"We're looking toward the future, not the past," Rita continued. "We're going to progress with the guys that we have with the season we still have and see how far we can go."