Wednesday 25 July 2012

Is Jeff Reinebold's coaching seat getting a little bit warm with the Montreal Alouettes ?

After four weeks of regular season play, it could be argued that the Montreal Alouettes current record is not indicative of their play. However, this is not in a good way.

As some media members have mentioned, the Alouettes were a Kevin Glenn interception away from being 1-3.

But is it time to slowly start pointing fingers? Already, they have released Aaron Hunt and some could ponder if there are future roster moves in the horizon.

Inside the Alouettes compound, I am sure the players will stay the course. But the sense among the media, fans, and outside observers is that so far the hiring of Jeff Reinebold as defensive coordinator has been a resounding thud.

Granted, the transition from the 4-3 to the 3-4 formation will take time for everyone to be comfortable in the system. It seems that the defense has looked out of position and have not been able to create an abundance of turnovers.

But everyone should look at the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles, where in the lead up to the 2011 season they made wholesale changes to their defense. This included switching offensive line coach Juan Castillo to head this unit.

At first, it looked ugly as the Eagles defense could not tackle a beach ball and gave up an average of 29.7 points during an early four game losing streak. However, in the last four games of year the defense gave up 11 points per game.

As for Reinebold, the whispers among the fan base could head coach Marc Trestman consider relieving him of his duties? I highly doubt this considering that it doesn't seem to be in Trestman's forte to let go a staff member during the regular season.

But for the fourth week in a row the defense has allowed 30 plus points. Progressively game by game their interception and sack numbers has dwindled to the point where Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Henry Burris almost had a perfect rating in their victory against the Alouettes.

There is no question the Alouettes hiring of Reinebold raised a plethora of eyebrows. But there is no turning back for the organization as they will have to endure a season of transition and hopefully success.

The good news it's only the fifth week of the season, so there is plenty of time for everyone to get on the same page and play this defense with seamless execution.

However, if the defense continues to get beaten with ease, more questions will be brought up about Reinebold's long term viability as a coordinator in the CFL.

Follow me on Twitter @MoeKhan19

Listen to me every Sunday/Tuesday nights on Gamepoints, every Friday morning on The Midnight Snack, and various shows on TSN 990.

Photo credit: www.journaldemontreal.com



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