Hamilton Tiger-Cats cornerback Orlondo Steinauer dives for a pass during CFL action in Hamilton on Monday Sept. 6, 1999.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press
Orlondo Steinauer patrols the field at BC Place.
The defensive co-ordinator of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats shouts out instructions and encouragement to his defenders, readying to play the favoured Calgary Stampeders on Sunday. "That's it! That's it!" on a successfully defended pass. Then, an instruction to two defenders, ahead of another set: "Hey, hey. Rico. Harris. Opposite, opposite." Another subtle detail follows to another player. "Watch your feet, watch your feet."
Steinauer, 41, has been here before, on this field, as a Ticat and readying to play the Calgary Stampeders. It was 1999, the 87th Grey Cup, and Hamilton bolted to a large lead before Calgary scrapped back. Steinauer, a five-time CFL all-star who has the second-most return yards on interceptions in league history, booked a late interception and helped preserve the win.
The Stamps' quarterback then, Dave Dickenson, is the team's assistant coach and offensive co-ordinator today. Dickenson, like Steinauer, graduated from the field to the coaching ranks. Like Dickenson, who is set to ascend to the head coaching job in Calgary, Steinauer is poised to become a CFL head coach. The two, from the sidelines, face off again.
In Hamilton, the Ticats suffered through the early part of the 2014 season, winning one of their first seven games. In reaching the title game, it was the team's defence that was the bedrock, a squad that embodied the blue-collar ethos of Hamilton itself.
"It's just what it's about," said linebacker Simoni Lawrence. "Hamilton. That's the city, that's how we go. We go to work every day, we work hard every day. It's how we go about business every day."
While the Stampeders are favoured, the match between Calgary and Hamilton – and Dickenson and Steinauer – intrigues. Hamilton had the best run defence in the CFL, and Calgary had the best rushing offence, powered for half the season by Jon Cornish. Hamilton is much weaker against the pass, and Calgary was a lower-ranked passing team. All-in, Calgary had the second-best offence, measured by yards gained, and Hamilton by the same measure had the second-best defence.
Hamilton, a 9-9 team, lost both its games to Calgary, 15-3, but in the first encounter, in July in Calgary, limited the Stampeders to 10 points in a 10-7 loss, the fewest points the Stamps managed in a game all season.
Steinauer, a young coach, is already considered a candidate for the top job of the B.C. Lions, who fired Mike Benevides last week, another young coach who, like Steinauer, came up through the defensive ranks. There have been questions about which coaches will develop the next generation of offensive stars, as the league's scoring has fallen alongside attendance and TV ratings. The CFL used to be a spectacular passing league. The NFL has seized that mantle.
Kent Austin, Hamilton's head coach, has been here himself. It was 1994, when he was the quarterback for the B.C. Lions on the team that made an unlikely run through the playoffs to a Grey Cup victory in BC Place over Baltimore. On the question of offensive and defence, Austin said the head coach is as much a singular figure as one who knows how to hire the most able deputies.
"Every coach has got a slant, one side of the ball or the other," said Austin in an interview Thursday. "The best head coaches don't try to do it all. They get the best people they can on their staff, and give them freedom."
Steinauer, meanwhile, took on but also deflected questions about his aspirations and readiness. On Thursday morning, in a hotel ballroom at the Ticats' team breakfast, Steinauer wore blue jeans and a sharp blue-and-white dress shirt tucked in, and a light-stubble black beard.
"I've made no bones about it, in the past, that I want to be [a head coach]," said Steinauer when asked about his ambitions. "But that's not [my] focus, it's not [my] focus right now." A second reporter then asked if he was ready for a top job. He half stuttered and then smiled. "I'm not going there, thank you though."
Most of all, as a coach, Steinauer brings a player's mindset to the job, while throwing in an array of looks and defensive schemes to outwit opponents.
"I believe in versatility," he told several reporters. "Letting players play, giving them guidelines, definitely setting a tone for what's expected. The frustrating thing as a player for me is when coaches put the hammer down and you didn't understand the expectations."
His charges are poised. Brandon Stewart, a defensive back like his coach was, said the defence has embodied what Hamilton stands for as a city.
"Work on the little details," Stewart said. "It's always going to be a grind-it-out game, every week. We embraced our role. It got us this far."
David Ebner