COACHING DECISION MAY COME BEFORE XMAS

Rider GM Brendan Taman met with the Regina media this morning. Here's a partial transcript of the conversation. The full scrum can be heard on today's Sports Cage on 620 CKRM between 4 and 6 pm.

Q. Will you have a coach named soon?

TAMAN: We're in a process that's going along pretty well actually. We're almost done the first phase of it per se. We have a few more interviews to do.

Q. When you expect an announcement?

TAMAN: That's a good question. We'll be moving into the next phase over the weekend. It'll run its course from there. The sooner we can get it done we will. We're not in a panic here. There have been a lot of people who wanted to talk to us and there are a lot of people we wanted to talk to. In reality we're down to about six (candidates). I'm hoping we can expedite things but we're pretty much right on track with what we planned. Interviews don't take five minutes, they take five or six hours.

Q. It will be before Christmas won't it?

TAMAN: We'll see.

Q. Is your gut feeling it'll be someone from inside your staff or outside?

TAMAN: We're doing both, honestly. There's pluses to inside people and pluses to outside people so we're exploring every option.

Q. Does Darian Durant have a say in the process?

TAMAN: I think it's important to get his feedback on everything is run but he won't make the decision. It is important and we talked to Darian at length before he left. We know where he stands and there was no surprises in those conversations either.

Q. Are you concerned about losing Marcus Crandell to Edmonton?

TAMAN: There has been that rumour. I'd be happy for him if he had that chance. I know he's talking with Edmonton and it's tough for Marcus because he has family issues to deal with. It's always tough to lose good people but it'll be a good chance for him.

Q. Gary Etcheverry's and Nelson Martin's names have come up in connection to Winnipeg. Have teams asked for permission to talk with them?

TAMAN: Not to my knowledge no they haven't.

Q. What's it like for you assistant coaches being in a state of limbo?

TAMAN: Those are the people I feel sorry for the most. They're having a tough go. We were pretty successful but the result of that is they're looking for work, basically. It's a tough spot to be put in but hopefully for their sake we can keep some of them. It's a tough thing for their lifestyle to go through, especially through the holidays.