Courtesy Hamilton Spectator:

Limbo is about to come to an end for Charlie Taaffe.

The Tiger-Cat head coach — at least for now — spoke to The Spectator from his vehicle yesterday as he headed north to Steeltown from his off-season Baltimore home.

Taaffe is expected to be here today when the team unveils his new boss. The Ticats are expected to name their new general manager later in the day.

“I need to be around to see where this is going. I hope we’re moving toward closure where the hire is made and I can sit down and have a discussion. Either I’m in or I’m out,” Taaffe said yesterday.

Expect him to be in.

Taaffe, 57, has two years remaining on his contract.

Team president Scott Mitchell has stated he would prefer to see Taaffe retained for next season. Taaffe should get some signal about his immediate future, if not today than over the next few days, before returning to Baltimore for the weekend.

Taaffe admitted this is the first time in 35 seasons of coaching that he has found himself in employment limbo.

“It’s just the unknown. There are things we need to get done that I can’t proceed with because I’m just in limbo,” he said, adding hiring new offensive and defensive co-ordinators to replace Mike Working and Ed O’Neil, who won’t return in those jobs if at all, tops the priority list.

But Taaffe needs to know what his own status is. With Calgary Stampeders hiring John Hufnagel as their new head coach/GM and Toronto Argonauts expected to fill their head coaching job internally, the only other head coaching post is in Montreal with the Alouettes.

Taaffe stressed he wants to return to Hamilton to help turn around the moribund 3-15 franchise. He said he would be interested in the Montreal job if his services are no longer required in Steeltown.

Mitchell had earlier said he would not allow Montreal to interview Taaffe given he remains under contract in Hamilton.

“If it is not going to work and the new GM is not going to retain me, I would like the opportunity to look at other positions before they are cleared up,” Taaffe said, adding he believes there is a 50-50 chance of him returning for a second season.

Taaffe considers himself an established Canadian Football League head coach and added he has a much better handle on the Tiger-Cats’ on-field needs than he did when hired about a year ago.

The Albany, N.Y., native made it clear to the Ticats when he was hired last December that he planned on Hamilton being his last coaching job and that he hoped to remain for about seven seasons before retiring with a possible Grey Cup championship.

“That (a Grey Cup) was the goal I would like to accomplish before I move away from coaching.”

Taaffe said he has talked to his other assistant coaches, whose contracts expire at the end of the month, and advised that they should be proactive in seeking other jobs for 2008.

The head coach said most organizations prefer to have their coaches hired for the coming season by Christmastime. Taaffe’s late hiring last off-season prevented him from acquiring assistants with CFL experience.