Courtesy Toronto Sun:

It takes more than the flashy speed and deft moves of a Dominique Dorsey to return a kick for a touchdown.

And it also takes more than the kamikaze blocks of players such as Argos special team captains Chris Hardy, Bryan Crawford and their mates to make it happen.

The man who helps round out the special in special teams then is the unit’s fired-up coordinator, Marcello Simmons.

Under Simmons’ reign the past five seasons, the Argos have been among the best in the CFL in that domain, a fitting complement to the team’s crushing defence.

A seven-year veteran CFL player who is as studious as he is passionate, Simmons has a simple motto: If the offence and defence can score, why not special teams?

“We feel whenever we get out on the field, it is a chance at a scoring play,” Simmons said yesterday as the team continues to prepare for the Eastern final on Nov. 18.

“Field position is great, but that’s a secondary objective for us. The primary objective is to score.”

So far so good in 2007 as special teams have returned four kicks for touchdowns — three by Dorsey and one by the man he replaced, Bashir Levingston.

In nine of their 18 games, an Argo was named CFL special teams’ player of the week and Crawford was second in the league in special teams’ tackles (27).

Dorsey, the East finalist for special teams player of the year, is the fourth player to do so under Simmons’ watch.

“We absolutely expect to score,” said Crawford of the attitude Simmons ingrains in his players. “You have to go on the field every time expecting to bring it back. You don’t design them to come back 10 yards. (Simmons) puts in a ton of time watching the tape and seeing what other teams do to get an idea of what might be successful. ‘Cello makes sure everybody buys into it.”

Hardy says the latter point is key as not all players he encounters see something so special in the assignment.

“I’ve played against guys who start on defence and they are soft as cotton candy out there on special teams,” Hardy said. “There are definitely players who take it off. You have to embrace it and make the best of your chances.”

And once you become a threat, look out. The mere prospect of a big return had the B.C. Lions running scared in the 2004 Grey Cup and played a big role in the Argos’ upset win.

“They were so intimidated by our return game,” Hardy says, “that they tried to direction kick all game.”

For Simmons, a 36-year-old Texan who began coaching a year after his playing days ended, that’s all part of the plan.

“This gig I have here is something I didn’t think I would be doing so soon,” Simmons said. “But when I got the opportunity to do it, I was going to do it the way I played and that is you go hard or you go home. I was somebody who always took my job seriously as a player and carried that over into coaching.”