Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ president of football operations Orlondo Steinauer believes his new job title is all about making his replacements look good.
“There’s no trophy for the best GM, for the best president of football operations. There’s no Annis Stukus award. But I want Scott Milanovich to be the Coach of the Year,” Steinauer said on CHCH’s Sportsline podcast this week.
“It’s now, how can I help Scott Milanovich in his second time around make this thing happen and be a Grey Cup champion in 2024? Ed Hervey in his third round, how can he get back to hoisting a Grey Cup? I want Ed to be the best that he can be. Drew Allemang and Spencer Zimmerman, Spencer Boehm, all these people; I have a new team. That’s what I am, I’m a leader of people and the title doesn’t matter. I’ve been empowered and I’m not taking it lightly and I’m fired up, as you can tell.”
The leader of the Ticats took a step back from head coaching this offseason to focus on his role as president, handing the reigns to Milanovich on the sideline and appointing Hervey as general manager.
The front office shake-up was meant to reset the organization after two straight first-round playoff exits, with Steinauer taking the recent losing skid and his subsequent re-assignment in stride.
“If you’re defined by the scoreboard, you’ve got to find a new profession,” he insisted. “Yeah, that’s maybe why you get extensions and stuff, but that has nothing to do with the person and what you believe in and the standards that you’re upholding from the inside out because otherwise, you’re too high and too low.”
“There has not been an undefeated team, so that means you’re probably going to lose. And guess what, nobody’s gonna like it — the city, the owners, everybody — nobody’s gonna like it. How do you deal with adversity? I think that’s the key.”
Steinauer took over as Hamilton’s head coach in 2019, leading the team to a 15-3 season in his first year on the job. The Ticats advanced to the Grey Cup in back-to-back campaigns to begin his tenure but have since struggled to 8-10 records in each of the past two seasons.
After he was asked to pull double duty last season as both head coach and de facto GM there was a sense that some of the load needed to be taken off of Steinauer’s plate. Still, the Ticats have remained vague regarding exactly how their new power structure will work in practice and many fans have questions as to who has the final say when deciding on the roster.
Those questions aren’t a concern for the 50-year-old president, who has never been a believer in rigidity for those roles and went so far as to remove job titles from all the office doors when he took over.
“We all know that we’re held accountable to a job and a description but at the end of the day, we’re people. I really tried to uphold that in the good times and in the times that were deemed by others to be maybe not so good,” Steinauer explained.
“It’s easy to follow a chain of command and a hierarchy. That’s easy, and it’s withstood the test of time, However, when you can get people to willingly — that’s the word I feel like people leave out — willingly follow, I think you’ve got a great opportunity (for success).”
While his own focus will be shifting, Steinauer isn’t willing to restrict himself anymore now than when he was roaming the sidelines. ‘Coach O’ is just leading a different roster of players and whether it be the scouts handling personnel, the video department, or the team therapist, it is his job to elevate everyone in the organization to another level of performance.
“Those guys are gonna see me as their head coach and I’m excited about it,” he said. “Will I miss the field? Yeah, I will. I might have to have some headsets on game day. I’ll do whatever it is that Scott and Ed need me to do. I really want to be of service to them. At the same time, I think I have a lot to offer because my attention was divided before and now it’s undivided.”
Nevertheless, his list of tasks will remain as varied as his personal skillset, encompassing everything from lending a hand at practice to basic janitorial work.
“Maybe I’m throwing deep balls to the DBs as a president. I’m not gonna be a glass-ceiling guy. I’m gonna be present and be available, be there for all of that,” he said.
“I’m not just a coach, that was the title. I’ll sweep, I’ll vacuum, I’ll straighten up, I’ll hang pictures and you can ask that. Whatever I expect other people to do, I’ll model that. I’ll do that and it’s not beneath me. That’s what it requires.”
What is easily defined is the passion with which the Hall of Fame defensive back plans to attack his new task, whatever it ends up entailing. That is simply how Steinauer has approached his entire career.
“It’s no different from moving from corner to halfback, halfback to free safety. I’m gonna be the best at what I do,” he vowed. “I was gonna be the best assistant head coach to June Jones. I was gonna be the best DB coach for Scott Milanovich. I was gonna be the best defensive coordinator for Kent Austin. I was gonna be the best defensive coordinator for Jeff Tedford and I’m gonna be the best at this.”
The Ticats will begin their 2024 season on Friday, June 7 when they visit the Calgary Stampeders.
