The old saying is for every great husband, there is an incredible wife. In the case of Montreal Alouettes general manager, Jim Popp, he has an incredible scouting department.There is no denying that Popp should start getting his bronze bust ready for the CFL Hall of Fame for the day he is enshrined.
He has made the Alouettes a perennial Grey Cup contender, and discovered enough players who could be starters on other CFL teams.
In early January, the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts sent shockwaves, when team owner, Jim Irsay had considered Popp for their vacant general manager job. In the end Irsay opted for Ryan Grigson.
At the time, the thought ran through many minds on who could take over the position had Popp been hired? The automatic answer is assistant general manager Marcel Desjardins, who is considered to be Popp’s right hand man, and was once the Hamilton Tiger-Cats general manager.
However, in 2007, Desjardins time down in Hamilton was short lived and was relieved of his duties after one season. Soon thereafter he came back to Montreal.
But remember this name for future reference. Joey Abrams. Abrams has been apart of the team’s organization since 2005, and has worked his way up the ladder in various positions to now being a full time scout, handling player contracts, and along with Uzooma Okeke scouting talent in Canada, and United States.
From my past encounters with Abrams at various football events, it is obvious he has the work ethic to run his own football organization. He is well on his way to cementing his status as the next hot name for future openings.
Right now, it is difficult to predict which CFL general managers are on the hot seat.
But during the offseason from early indications it seems it could be Toronto Argonauts general manager, Jim Barker. Barker has stepped aside from coaching the team to now focusing on his other duties as general manager.
But since the city of Toronto is hosting the 100th Grey Cup this year, they made a big splash by bringing in a big name quarterback in Ricky Ray, and have an entire new coaching staff.
There is a lot of pressure on the Argonauts to win it all this year.
If the team does not meet expectations, and ownership opts for a new general manager, Abrams could be their guy. Automatically he wouldn’t have to do any earth shattering moves with the coaching staff considering he is familiar with head coach Scott Milanovich.
I believe Milanovich will be given a few years to build this franchise into a contender.
Since Abrams, and Milanovich come from the Alouettes football tree, there wouldn’t be any major philosophical differences.
Right now, the good times are rolling for the Alouettes. However, with success comes the possibility of staff members leaving for new challenges in their careers.
A few years ago Popp lost one of his premier scouts in Brock Sunderland to the New York Jets. It could very well happen to the hardworking Abrams who's on his way to running his own franchise, the only question is where?
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Photo credit: www.montrealalouettes.com
would be shocked if he becomes a GM in the CFL at this point in his career!! can see him moving to the NFL as a scout before anything else happens!!
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