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.

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Photo credit: www.journaldemontreal.com

Where Does Jim Popp go From Here?

The Indianapolis Colts have finally ended all speculation in their general manager search as they hired Philadelphia Eagles director of player personnel Ryan Grigson.

With this completed, that has put an end to the discussion of Jim Popp to the Colts organization. However, moving forward what could be Popp’s long-term intentions with the Alouettes?

For him to have an interview with the Colts at this point of the CFL offseason has to ring off some alarm bells that he might be considering other future options. Maybe being the big fish in a small has pond has waned on him, and he might be looking for a new challenge.

With Popp back in the fold, where does team president Ray Lalonde stand with him? Even though Popp signed a new contract in the summer of 2010, could Lalonde offer another lucrative extension for him to potentially calm his NFL desire?

Furthermore, could this be the last overture from an NFL team for now? A lot of questions with no answers as of yet.

But could Popp now be focusing on trying to lock up Marc Trestman to stay beyond 2012? As stated many times, it is very uncharacteristic to allow a coach of Trestman’s ilk to be walking into the last year of his deal without an extension in-hand. Usually in this scenario, it signals that maybe Popp knows that this could very well be the last dance with one of the best coaches this league has ever had.

With free agency period just five weeks away, Popp has a lot of in-house issues to clear up before he can proceed. For starters, who is the first priority on the Alouettes free agent list? Could he dare try to sign another big name player and potentially have it backfire as the Dwight Anderson 2011 experiment did?

Already, the Alouettes coaching staff will have many new faces, which may take time to assimilate themselves with their fellow cohorts. Remember, there is no off season organized team activities. As stated by Trestman in the last press conference of the year, he wasn’t too sure if the CFL would approve of him having another gathering in early May of coaches, and players as he had in Florida last year.

Slowly, we’re starting to see the changing of the guard as this could be the last year of key figures in the Alouettes organization. So is Popp mentally preparing that this may be a sinking ship, and is looking to brush up his resume to send out to potential NFL suitors?

Entering these next few weeks could really determine the direction of where this team is going because of what has transpired in the last six weeks.

But where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and this could be a developing yearlong blaze for this organization if they can’t put out any of the overbearing questions that will reign for the duration of the season.

You can follow me on Twitter @MoeKhan19

Photo credit: The Canadian Press