Courtesy Regina Leader Post:

The Saskatchewan Roughriders must contend with the departure of Kent Austin. This is a recording.

Austin proved to be irreplaceable in 1994, when the Roughriders’ brass accommodated his demand for a trade. Saskatchewan would not boast another quarterback of his calibre until … well … er … (ahem) … the search continues.

Kerry Joseph was the most accomplished successor to Austin. Last season, Joseph quarterbacked the Austin-coached Roughriders to a Grey Cup championship three days after being named the CFL’s most outstanding player.

Two months later, Austin announced he was leaving to become the offensive co-ordinator at his alma mater, the University of Mississippi. Once again, Austin has left a void that is, in this appraisal, cavernous.

The word “irreplaceable” comes to mind.

Agree? Disagree?

That question was posed the other day on the Leader-Post’s Rider Rumblings blog. Readers’ feedback was solicited. The reactions appear in their entirety on the blog, and are also excerpted here.

From Chris: “I don’t think that Austin is irreplaceable. Valuable, yes. Irreplaceable, no.”

From Norm: “One player does not make a team, and one coach does not make a team. I think Ken Miller will do an admirable job, and I look forward to another playoff run in November.”

From Ran-Mac: “If you look deep enough, I think you’ll find that the key man in almost every detail of last year’s Rider success, including on-field strategy to some extent, is Eric Tillman. The Riders can overcome the loss of Kerry Joseph and several other ‘name’ players and even Austin, but would have great difficulty replacing Tillman.”

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