HALL TO INTERVIEW WITH THE ESKIMOS

Esks to interview Hall

Rob Vanstone, The Leader-PostPublished: Saturday, November 29, 2008

The Edmonton Eskimos received permission Friday to interview Richie Hall for their vacant head-coaching position.
Hall has been a Saskatchewan Roughriders assistant coach for 15 CFL seasons -- the last eight as defensive co-ordinator.
The 48-year-old Hall is among the candidates to replace Danny Maciocia, who stepped down as the Eskimos' head coach on Thursday. Maciocia is the Eskimos' general manager and director of football operations.

"I think (Edmonton) would be a great opportunity,'' Hall told Mario Anniccharico of the Edmonton Journal on Friday.
"They have a good team, the organization is solid and they have a tremendously successful history. There are nothing but positives there. Anyone going in there is in a win-win situation."
Hall was interviewed by the Eskimos after the 2004 season, but Edmonton ended up promoting Maciocia.
The Eskimos' job was the first of six head-coaching positions for which Hall has been interviewed over the past four years. Most recently, Hall was interviewed Tuesday by the Toronto Argonauts' brass. As of Friday, the Eskimos had yet to begin interviewing candidates.
"Richie, since I've been out West and we play him three or four times a year, he's a pain to play against," Maciocia told the Journal on Thursday. "He does an outstanding job with what they do on defence. They are very active, very physical. They buy into what he's trying to do and they're disciplined.
"I know every time there is a job open, his name comes up. He's been given endless amounts of interviews. Unfortunately he's come up short, but he's a viable guy out there."
Other candidates could include recently fired Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Doug Berry (a close friend of Maciocia's), Calgary Stampeders defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones, Winnipeg defensive co-ordinator Greg Marshall, B.C. Lions defensive co-ordinator Mike Benevides, Eskimos special-teams co-ordinator and defensive backs coach Noel Thorpe and University of Oregon offensive co-ordinator Danny Langsdorf (a former Eskimos assistant coach).
Hall's contract with the Roughriders is to expire at the end of January. The deal contains a professional-advancement clause that allows him to accept a head-coaching job. He has spoken with Roughriders general manager Eric Tillman and head coach Ken Miller about extending the deal if a head-coaching job does not materialize.