Football: Ottawa acknowledges players met with school brass; Gary Etcheverry tweaks offence

To its credit, the University of Ottawa has not taken the 'nothing to see here' attitude following reports of turmoil within the winless football Gee-Gees ranks.

That would have been an impossible front to maintain. Coach Gary Etcheverry and his coaching staff are all back for Saturday's Ottawa-Queen's game in Kingston, Ont., but the double-wing offence will apparently not be as prominent in the offensive game plan. Meantime, the current coaching staff did not exactly get a vote of confidence.

From Tim Baines:

Assistant athletic director Colin Timm said nothing was rammed down the coaches’ throats, but there was an agreement that there needed to be some adjustments in philosophy — with heat coming from all over the place.

 “You’ve always got pressure from above,” said Timm. “They always want to win. Everybody’s an armchair quarterback. We have concerns, too. It just came to a point after the 0-4 start (that changes had to be made).

 “This was left to the coaching staff to work out a solution to move forward. Our process was to try and bring the team together. We’re throwing away the 0-4 and taking it one game at a time.” 

 ... Timm said there was no talk of dumping Etcheverry this week, despite rumblings that the coach was on shaky ground. (Ottawa Sun)

Taking it one game at a time is a curious coda. Ottawa's key decision-maker, director of sports services Luc Gélineau, is on vacation, after all. The same might go for the clause this week. That isn't meant to imply there will be a change after the Queen's game or as soon as the regular season ends; it only means that there has been some discord. It is hard to imagine how a team can pull together and put its best foot forward against the No. 5 team in the country on Saturday.

It's possible the Gee-Gees could play out the string with the current, flawed state of affairs now that the playoffs are a remote possibility. The initial point on Tuesday wasn't to report that anyone was about to be out of work, but to convey that Gee-Gees players were just as frustrated as their alumni and fans and decided to move on it. It is tragicomic that it came to such a head. This season might be lost, but they can do damage control and lay some groundwork for the future.