McComb relieved of duties, Keenan & Quinlan to serve as associate head coaches
Derek Keenan, Saskatchewan Rush
The Saskatchewan Rush have announced that GM Derek Keenan has relieved Head Coach Jeff McComb of his duties with the club effective immediately.
Keenan and Offensive Coach Jimmy Quinlan will serve as associate head coaches for the remainder of the 2022 season. Jeremy Tallevi will continue in his role as the Rush’s Defensive Coach.
The Rush announcement also confirmed that Quinlan would take over as the team’s full-time head coach starting next season.
While mathematically still alive, the 4-10 Rush have been very much in the background of this year’s playoff picture. Saskatchewan will easily finish with their most disappointing record since starting in Saskatoon in 2016, and this year will own one of the franchise’s worst-ever finishes going back to their expansion and early seasons in Edmonton.
Jeff McComb
Prior to the 2021/22 season, Keenan had served as both the team’s GM & head coach since 2009, named the NLL’s Les Bartley Award winner three times with the Rush. He was also voted Coach of the Year with Portland in 2006. No other NLL coach has won the prestigious award more than twice.
In August of 2020, Keenan stepped down as the Rush’s bench boss, making way for McComb to take over head-coaching duties.
“Thirty years in this league and this is by far the hardest decision I've ever had to make,” Keenan said in today’s surprise late-season announcement. “It's clear we have not met expectations this year but it's not all on Jeff McComb.
“He's a great coach. He's diligent, creative, and detailed. Jeff has done the work that's expected of a head coach, but the team has not performed to the level of our expectations.”
McComb, as well as Tallevi, coached on Keenan’s staff during his years leading the Portland Lumberjax prior to their Rush reunion.
Keenan & McComb, Portland Lumberjax
A pre-season Cup favourite of many, the Rush have struggled in the standings through most of the season, last week’s crushing 8-6 loss to the Calgary Roughnecks a critical blow to any post-season aspirations.
If the Rush don’t qualify for this year’s playoffs, which looks likely, it will be the first time since 2011 the franchise has failed to play past the regular season.
The Rush captured the NLL Cup during their last season in Edmonton, and then again in 2016 and 2018 in Saskatoon.
Although Keenan had exited his role as head coach, the long-time Rush leader spent many games on the team’s bench over the last several weeks while Saskatchewan tried to spark their slipping-away season.
Quinlan, who played eight years for the Rush franchise in Edmonton, has had two separate stretches on the team’s bench (defensive coach 2014-2018, offensive coach 2021-today). He will become the club’s fifth head coach (Paul Day, Bob Hamley, Keenan and McComb) when he officially takes over at the conclusion of the current season.
“He epitomizes what the organization is all about,” Keenan added in today’s announcement when talking about Quinlan. “Hard work, dedication, commitment, confidence, diligence, and perseverance.
“Jimmy was all of that as a player and has been as an assistant coach. I believe Jimmy will bring those same qualities to the table as head coach of the Rush.”
Jimmy Quinlan & Mark Matthews, Saskatchewan Rush
The Rush, who remained silent at this year’s NLL trade deadline, have a number of high-profile unrestricted free agents who will hit the market later this year. Those players include: Kyle Rubisch, Chris Corbeil, Ryan Dilks, Dan Lintner, and Jeff Shattler, who had previously indicated that the 2021/22 season would be his last.
Keenan, who has developed a reputation for keeping the Rush relevant through shroud trades that often returned high-ranking draft picks. He could obtain future firsts via compensatory picks if the above players sign outside of Saskatchewan this summer. Although the Rush have just one pick over the first two rounds of the 2022 NLL Entry Draft (for now), the team already owns four selections over the first and second rounds in 2023.
“The bottom line is, if there weren’t offers that were going to give me really good young talent, or first-round picks in 2022, I wasn’t going to move them,” Keenan told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix soon after this year’s trade deadline. “Second and third-round picks, bottom of the roster-players … they don’t help us. In 2023, if I do indeed lose (Corbeil and Rubisch) in particular, I’ll get compensatory picks in the first round. I indicated that to a few other general managers going into the deadline.
“The other part is that we kicked some tires on maybe adding a little bit, but the bottom line is, there was nothing that was going to make us significantly better now or in the future. It just wasn’t there for us.”
The Rush, who do not play this weekend, finish their regular season against: vs. Vancouver (Apr. 9), vs. Colorado (Apr. 16), vs. San Diego (Apr. 23) and at Panther City (Apr. 30).