The Argonauts have announced they will be splitting the duties of defensive coordinator between William Fields and Kevin Eiben. In an interview with Argonauts.ca coach Eiben said fans should expect more of the same from previous years.
“We have to build off what we did last year. We have some players that departed to other teams, but that doesn’t matter because we’ve got new talent coming in that’s going to be just as good or even better. I’m excited to see these guys at camp fight for a position on the top 12.”
Eiben played 12 seasons in the CFL, 11 for the Argonauts, before he retired in 2012. He was a force to be reckoned with as a linebacker accruing 812 tackles and 15 sacks. During his 2005 season he set the current CFL record for tackles made by a Canadian in a season with 113. The five time All-Star player won a Grey Cup as an Argonaut linebacker in 2004 and has two more as a coach for the Argonauts in 2017 and 2022. He has been on the Argonauts coaching staff since 2017 when he was hired as special teams coordinator and was moved to linebackers coach in 2019, a position he will continue to hold in addition to his promotion.
Fields played six years in the CFL between 2001 and 2006 and began his career as a member of the CFL staff in 2013 as a scout for the Lions. He has two Grey Cup rings to his name having won as a player with Calgary in 2001 and one as a member of the Argonauts coaching staff in 2022. Through his CFL coaching career he has worked in Toronto, BC, Montreal and Edmonton.
Former DC Corey Mace, who joined the Argos in January 2022, left the Argos at the end of November to take the head coaching job in Saskatchewan after they parted ways with Craig Dickenson. Last season under Mace the Argonauts had the best run defense in the league, allowing 83.6 yards per game. Their defense struggled defending through the air letting up 273.4 passing yards per game, second worst in the league.
New to the Argos defensive coaching staff is Myron Lewis who will be defensive backs coach and special teams assistant coach. Lewis has never coached in the CFL before but has experience coaching defensive backs at B.E.S.T. Academy High School in Atlanta from 2018 until 2023 when he became associate head coach. At B.E.S.T. Academy Lewis coached now former Argonauts cornerback -and 2023 CFL Most Outstanding Rookie- Qwan’tez Stiggers.
New and old, the Argonauts defensive coaches are optimistic about the season to come.
“I’ve won a Grey Cup as a player and I’ve won a Grey Cup as a special teams coordinator, I’ve won a Grey Cup as a linebackers coach,” Fields told Argonauts.ca. “Now it’s time to get a DC Grey Cup, so I’m excited about the opportunity.”
