TORONTO — The Toronto Argonauts pulled the plug on the Bart Andrus experiment Monday.
The CFL club fired its head coach after posting a league-worst 3-15 record this season. The move comes less than a year after the Argos raised eyebrows by hiring Andrus, 51, even though he had no previous CFL coaching experience.
President Bob Nicholson, who wasn’t with the club when it hired Andrus in January, wouldn’t say that decision was a mistake, even though Toronto finished the year losing its final eight regular-season games. But Nicholson added the organization erred in not insisting Andrus hire assistants with CFL experience.
“We should’ve been more insistent upon that,” he said. “We gave him a lot of flexibility bringing a non-CFL coaching staff in.
“Again, a lot of those guys worked very hard, they’re great teachers. But they certainly had a lot lacking in experience that we probably should’ve had.”
Nicholson said the Argos’ coaching search begins immediately with no timetable in place as to when Andrus’ replacement must be in place.
Nicholson wouldn’t divulge who is on the club’s radar, but added that finding a coach with CFL experience is a priority.
The struggling franchise has been in a holding pattern while co-owners David Cynamon and Howard Sokolowski figure out whether they want to hold on to the team.
Toronto will be paying two head coaches in 2010 as Andrus has another year on his deal, with a 2011 club option.