Courtesy Canada.com:
While Michael Clemons is not expected to formally announce his plans until next week, a meeting with Toronto Argonauts management yesterday has all but confirmed the iconic head coach will step away from the sidelines and into a role with the team’s front office.

His new job description has not been fully formed, but it is believed it will be high-ranking and will keep him near the public eye. Argos president Keith Pelley only has three days left with the franchise before he assumes command of the Canadian broadcast consortium responsible for the 2010 and 2012 Olympic Games.

“We have talked, but we haven’t finished meting things out yet,” Clemons said last night. “So I don’t want to start sort of segmenting things. It’s a more difficult decision than I would have thought.”

Rumours have swirled around Clemons since the Argos were eliminated from the Canadian Football League playoffs two weeks ago. The 42-year-old former player has led Toronto to the East Division final in each of the past six seasons, but has never shown any interest in being a coach for the rest of his life.

Defensive co-ordinator Rich Stubler is expected to slide into the vacancy.

“I’ll finish up with my decision by the end of the week,” Clemons said. “I’m sure we’ll send out something, one way or another, about whether I’m going, staying and in what capacity.”

Toronto finished with an 11-7 record, finishing first in the East Division for the second time in three seasons. It was a bumpy ride that included a seven-week absence of starting quarterback Michael Bishop (broken wrist) and a series of injuries to most key offensive skill positions.

Clemons has admitted he would have thought about resigning his post in September, had the Argos lost a back-to-back set of games against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. Toronto was mired in a five-game losing streak at the time, but beat Hamilton twice and rallied to win nine of its final 10 games.

“I think Pinball probably won’t coach [next year],” a source said. “I think he’s going to remain with the club in a very meaningful way.”

Clemons already has experience in the business world and, in 2002, as president of the Argos. Toronto is preparing to send out its sea-son-ticket renewal forms, followed closely by its new package offers.

Another executive could be hired to handle the day-to-day minutiae of the presidency, while Clemons helps to develop a longer-term strategy and vision for the franchise. It has been described as more of a CEO role than that of a president.

Clemons retired as a player in the middle of the 2000 season and immediately took over for John Huard as coach. He went 6-4 following the team’s disastrous 1-6-1 start . He coached again the following year before becoming team president, a move that proved to be short-lived, because he was back on the sidelines in the middle of the 2002 campaign.

He said retiring as a player to become a coach was easy, compared to the decision facing him this week.

“This is probably more difficult,” Clemons said. “We’re in a situation of greater health now. It’s a challenging process.”