Zach Collaros and Craig Butler are getting a crash course in Hamilton Tiger-Cats football this week — and both plan to make the most out of the educational opportunity.
Two of the big free-agent signings by the Ticats this season, Collaros and Butler are taking their first on-field reps in new roles in a new city at a three-day mini-camp.
For Collaros, it represents his first shot to be an opening-day starting quarterback in the CFL after two years as the backup to Ricky Ray with the Argonauts. For Butler, it’s a return to the safety position after spending the past two years as a linebacker with the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
These three days are all about getting comfortable in their new surroundings and figuring out how things operate in Tiger-Town.
“It was a bit of a strange moment walking in and seeing my name with 28 (his number) beside it in black and gold, but I couldn’t be happier,” Butler, a Western University and London, Ont., product, said after the Ticats’ first practice at camp in windy, chilly conditions at McMaster University. “It’s a fresh start — new atmosphere and new guys. That’s the main thing about getting here with the guys — just kind of getting the chemistry right and especially (in) the secondary. To be successful, you all have to be on the same page.”
Versatility is one of Butler’s great strengths as he moved around the defensive backfield at Western before switching to linebacker in his second of three years in Regina.
He has a chance to be a ratio-changer at safety for Hamilton, though he’s certainly not picky about where he lines up. He joked that he might even try to kick as the Ticats opted not to bring their kickers to this camp.
“I think the way this defence works, we like to have a lot of interchangeable parts,” Butler said. “Guys want to know every other position. If you can do one thing, you’ve got to be able to do everything else on the field. Free safety, I love it, linebacker, I love it. It doesn’t really matter. As long as I’m on defence, I’m gonna love it.
Collaros, meanwhile, isn’t thinking too much about getting pushed up the depth chart in Hamilton after his time behind Ray in Toronto. Collaros has said he feels he has to earn the No. 1 job in Hamilton, even if he is projected to be behind centre when the season opens with a Grey Cup rematch in Saskatchewan against the reigning champion Roughriders.
“Everyone here wants to be the No. 1 guy and you shouldn’t be here if you don’t want to be the No. 1 guy,” Collaros said. “I think we’re all taking that approach.”
The Ticats cut ties with Henry Burris during the off-season, opening the door for Collaros to head west on the QEW and take the reins of Kent Austin’s team. However, the change in status doesn’t mean Collaros will spend all of his time obsessing over how to become a better leader.
“The quarterback is typically the leader of the offence, but I don’t think you have to overdue it,” he said. “Obviously, this team was in the Grey Cup last year. There are great guys, great players and great leaders on this team. Right now, I’m just trying to learn the playbook as best as I can and learn by example more than anything.”
If Collaros gets the job done on the field, he figures everything else will take care of itself.
“My No. 1 job is to learn what I’m doing,” he said. “That’s what I’m focused on right now. When guys see that I know what
I’m doing and that I’m playing well, people tend to follow that.”
SON SHINES HIS WAY
HAMILTON — Hamilton Tiger-Cats rookie quarterback Tyler Tettleton knew early in his life he wasn’t going to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Instead, he chose a different athletic road — one fully supported by his dad, Mickey, a two-time MLB all-star catcher in a 14-year big-league career.
“I quit (baseball) in my sixth-grade year,” Tyler Tettleton recalled Monday after his first day at mini-camp with the Ticats. “He was always good about it, he always wanted what was best for me. I was just more an up-tempo and physical type of player and I love basketball and football.”
Tettleton signed with Hamilton this spring after four years at Ohio University. He’s one of five quarterbacks on the Ticats roster — expected starter Zach Collaros, returnees Dan LeFevour and Jeremiah Masoli and rookie Stephen McGee are the others.
“It’s a huge difference, almost like playing another sport,” Tettleton said of the adjustment to Canadian ball. “Guys are flying everywhere and the defensive schemes are a lot different, too.”
Fellow Oklahoma native and former Ticats QB Henry Burris welcomed Tettleton to the CFL on Twitter recently.
“It was nice of him to reach out to me and I wish him well in Ottawa,” Tettleton said. “That was cool to see.”
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