Hamilton Tiger-Cats looking for ‘spark’ from Canadian QB Tre Ford’s ‘God-given talent’

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The Hamilton Tiger-Cats saw their dreams go up in smoke when Bo Levi Mitchell went down with a potentially season-ending ankle injury, but they hope a quarterback switch can reignite their season.

On Friday, head coach Scott Milanovich named uber-athletic Canadian pivot Tre Ford as his starter for Saturday’s clash with the rival Toronto Argonauts. That reverses the decision made last week in the aftermath of Mitchell’s injury to roll with third-stringer Jake Dolegala due to his greater familiarity with the offensive system.

After Dolegala struggled in a blowout loss to Saskatchewan, Milanovich felt the need to strike the flint.

“Just looking for a spark. It’s no blame on Jake,” Milanovich told the Hamilton media of the decision. “Obviously, Tre has a different skill set that we’re looking forward to trying to utilize this week.”

Ford was signed by the Ticats this offseason following a chaotic four-year run in Edmonton, during which he was yo-yoed in and out of the starting lineup and fell out of favour with multiple coaching staffs. The 28-year-old’s raw athletic ability has continuously titillated fans and talent evaluators throughout his career, but his consistency as a passer from the pocket has left much to be desired.

Milanovich has stated Ford was brought in to be a potential heir apparent to Mitchell, but that he felt this season should be used to develop him properly within the Ticats’ system. That contributed to the decision to have Dolegala leap-frog him on the depth chart, after the Niagara Falls, Ont., native completed just three of seven pass attempts for 12 yards and one interception when replacing Mitchell mid-game two weeks ago.

Now, after witnessing the alternative, Milanovich is ready to move up the timeline and let the wild stallion loose.

“He’s got to protect the ball first and foremost. And then when they want to play coverage and things aren’t open, he needs to create with his legs and his God-given talent,” the QB guru said of expectations for Ford in his first start. “He’s not going to be perfect. He’ll miss some throws. He’ll probably miss some reads. But I expect him to find a way to make some explosive plays, either with his legs or his arms.”

Ford came off the bench late in last week’s loss to Saskatchewan, completing five-of-six pass attempts for 47 yards and rushing twice for 24 yards. Over 65 career CFL games, he has completed 67.1 percent of his passes for 4,710 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 20 interceptions, and rushed for 1,176 yards with four scores. That has resulted in a 10-13 record through 23 games as a starter, though some of his best performances have come off the bench.

Part of the dilemma in evaluating Ford is that he is still regarded as a work in progress, despite the fact that the Hec Crighton Trophy winner is now in his fifth CFL season after being selected eighth overall in the 2022 CFL Draft. Some of that can be attributed to the genuine dysfunction in Edmonton, though multiple regimes came to the same conclusions regarding his viability as a starter and failure to fully embrace the opportunities afforded by being a backup.

He understands that this latest chance to start could be a turning point, and has every intention of using it to cement himself in the role long term.

“Any quarterback that’s put in the situation that’s not thinking that, I don’t think they’re going to have a lot of success playing the quarterback position,” Ford told reporters. “I feel like you’ve always got to believe you’re the best quarterback in the world. You’ve got to think you’re the best guy for the job. You’ve got to be confident in yourself, or the guys around you aren’t going to want to follow you either.”

Unfortunately, the circumstances around Ford’s first start don’t lend themselves to much positive thinking. Massive fires across northern Ontario have created poor air quality in Hamilton, preventing the team from having any live practice sessions this week. While the situation had the fringe benefit of allowing the Ticats to shield their quarterback decision from the public and their opponent for longer than normal, it means Ford will enter the first unit without the chance to establish chemistry or timing.

Milanovich acknowledged that could be challenging, but insisted that it wasn’t foreign for quarterbacks to be placed in similar positions.

“Obviously not ideal, but quarterbacks are expected to be able to go in and play without having reps. That’s what backups do every single week in this league and in every other league,” he said. “The way I look at it is it’s no different than that. He has had some reps the last couple of weeks in games. Is it ideal? No. You’d love to have him have a full three practices, but we got a ton of walkthrough reps. He’s verbalized the plays 1,000 times at this point, and we expect him to go out there and play well.”

Ford indicated that he’s already spoken to his receiver about his expectations for them and how his preferences differ from other quarterbacks on the roster. According to Milanovich, it is that position group that will need to adapt the most this week.

“The biggest thing would be for the receivers. Just scramble drill rules and understanding that (the ball) doesn’t necessarily have to come on time,” he explained. “He can escape the pocket, and we’ve got to kind of join the party if we’re away from where he’s rotating or rolling.”

Ford believes that his time on the bench to start the season was beneficial, noting that almost no CFL quarterback charts a clear path to a starting job without backup pit stops and detours. He’s eager to put the mental reps into action and put last week’s loss behind the Tabbies.

“People made mistakes, and I think that’s always going to happen. Our team is also recovering from losing their Hall of Fame quarterback, but we’re all pros, we’re all adults,” he said. “Super unfortunate for Bo; I hope he has a quick recovery, but it’s the reality of things. We can’t let that affect us.”

The Hamilton Tiger-Cats (2-3) will host the Toronto Argonauts (2-3) at Hamilton Stadium on Saturday, July 18, with kickoff scheduled for 6:30 p.m. EDT. The Argonauts are coming off a 30-21 loss to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, while the Tiger-Cats lost 38-7 against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

The weather forecast in Hamilton calls for a high of 28 degrees and a 40 chance of rain. The game will be broadcast on TSN in Canada and CFL+ internationally. Radio listeners can tune in on TSN 1050 in Toronto or the Ticats Audio Network in Hamilton.

J.C. Abbott is a University of British Columbia graduate and high school football coach. He covers the CFL, B.C. Lions, CFL Draft and the three-down league’s Global initiative.