For a good portion of the gravy years of the CFL and for a good number more of the nightmare ones, there was one name that could be counted on for consistency, calmness and creativity. Hugh Campbell, the long time Eskimo coach, general manager and executive defined what the CFL was from his playing days in Saskatchewan in the sixties through the Grey Cup championships of the eighties and even in a woeful season to forget this year.
Campbell announced his retirement yesterday at the Eskimos annual dinner. It was an expected decision, he had apparently been ready to leave two years ago but the Eskimo board asked to stay aboard to help with the transition period. Which he did, taking more than a few shots from the media as the Eskimos returned to the middle and lower echelons of the CFL pack, a location that they haven’t had much travel with of late. This could not have been an easy year for Campbell, who far too often seemed detached from the team he gave so much of his life to. He was technically still in charge, but in reality he had handed the ball off a few years ago, he was just the lightning rod for the season of discontent.
This season was not a typical Edmonton season, over the years the Eskimo dynasty routinely won games, won championships and filled Commonwealth Stadium on game day. If the CFL was looking for a New York Yankees type of franchise it would be the Eskimos, without the ego of a George. The Eskimos as they say, were and probably still are the brand of the CFL.
He seemed to belong to the CFL even if he did leave for a while taking on the challenge of a new league in the USFL and then those Houston years when they held the Eskimo reunion deep, deep into Texas. And while he did well in the States, it was in the CFL where his career would be defined.
Campbell, was a quiet spoken coach and GM, a trait he carried forward into the executive offices. But his approach seemed to be the right one, under his leadership the Eskies became the template for success in Canadian Football.
They developed a talent pool that regularly went on to stardom across the CFL and into the NFL. Quarterbacks seemed to be the specialty of the Eskimo brand under the Cambpell watch, whether it was Wilkinson, Lemmerman, Moon, Dunnigan, Allen, Ray or a Maas and many others, something happened to an athlete when they donned the Green and Gold of the Eskimos. Leadership seemed to thrive in the huddle, secure in the knowledge that Campbell was content with the direction of the team.
Likewise the coaches that worked under Campbell found that the working in Edmonton was like a finishing school for aspiring head coaches, from Lancaster to Matthews and Faragalli many of the biggest names in the CFL passed through the doors that led to the Eskimo dressing room.
It must have been a frustrating year for Campbell to have watched as the Eskimos struggled to find their place in the CFL this year, missing the playoffs for the first time in 35 years. In an era when you want to got out on while on top, Cambpell left it one year to late, last years Grey Cup victory only a reminder of how far the Esks fell in one short year.
Still, perhaps the folks in Edmonton as dedicated to the Green and Gold as they are may be a tad spoiled. They had a remarkable run as the dominant team in Canadian football, one suspects it won’t be that long before they are again regularly terrorizing opponents in the CFL. But they will no longer be Campbell’s team, it was time for new leadership in Edmonton, even if that new boss, Ken Lelacheur was handpicked by Campbell himself.
Many critics over the years suggested that Campbell acted as though what was good for the Eskimos was good for the CFL. Considering the success of the Green and Gold over the years and some of the spectacular failures elsewhere in that same time, the league might have been a bit better off to submit to his will more often than not.
It’s a remarkable achievement Campbell can claim from his Edmonton experiences, he developed a belief in winning that became a fabric of the team. Perhaps that is why they take losing so hard; it’s alien to them, an unacceptable part of Eskimo football lore.
They can thank Hugh Campbell for making the Eskimos the team they were, the league can thank him for keeping the ship away from the rocky shores time and time again. His was a steady hand, when the more spectacular, loud and brash of the bosses would flame out and disappear.
The CFL watches one of the great ones step aside, one wonders if there are many others ready to pick up his torch?
The Campbell Files:
I think Huey has been the league
Hugh Campbell retires
Eskimos Campbell steps down
33 years of receiving, coaching and managing
Campbell kept his distance
Coach Campbell leaves a legacy
Huge cleats to fill
Game Over for Eskimos icon
Eskimos remember Campbell as pivotal to CFL's success
Give the man his due
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