Addition of Lawler, subtraction of triple jump has multiple-all-star White optimistic about an even better season

“I don’t feel like I’ve necessarily dominated yet. There have been times where I have, but I feel like there’s just much more to come, you know?”

This was Ticat receiver Tim White talking Tuesday morning. The same Tim White who has been a CFL East all-star in all four of his Ticat seasons, and an All-CFL the past three.

He has eight receiving touchdowns in each of the past three campaigns, has been over 1,000 yards in all of them, and led the CFL in receptions (94) in 2022 and in yardage the following year, despite 19 fewer overall receptions.

Well, one man’s definition of domination is not the same as another’s.

Last season White finished third  in CFL reception yardage but was critical on himself after some dropped passes early in the seasons came at costly moments during the Ticats unanticipated 0-5 break from the gate.

“Highly, highly, critical,” emphasizes White, who has focussed on correcting that intermittent during the off-season.  “Really,  it’s just continuing to get the reps. I feel like that’s super important, and just making sure that my mind is able to bounce back after you have a little drop or whatever. Just making sure that I’m back to the details and focusing in on why those drops happen.

“Tracking the ball has been a big emphasis this off-season; the deep ball, the short ball. Making sure that my eyes are sharp to the ball and that my hands are soft on the ball when it gets there. I’m really looking at how I do; even when I make a catch. Did I execute my process? That’s an important question I’m going through right now. So, that’s one of the biggest ways to  improve on it;  not all the time, but a big percentage of the time.”

Late in Tuesday’s practice White made an astounding leaping grab on a perfectly delivered deep corner throw from Taylor Powell, reminding everyone of his jumping prowess, and history.

He was a world-class triple jumper—formerly called the hop-skip-and-jump—and his elevation to reach the ball at its high point, underscored his vaulting prowess. He was a threat to make the U.S. Olympic team for the 2020 Summer Games which were actually held in 2021 because of the pandemic, but didn’t qualify for the team at the trials, before heading north for his first Ticat training camp.

White was also training last off-season with thoughts toward qualifying for 2024’s Summer Games in France and that’s where he feels this season could lead to a greater performance  level.

“Last year I was training for the Olympics Trials but it didn’t pan out,”  White says. “This year’s just for football so I’m loving it.

“This off-season, I feel like I kind of buried (the triple jump)  in the past because I’ve just been so focused on football and really just getting my football conditioning.

“Last year I felt like I was in great shape but I wasn’t in great football shape. A lot of times my body kind of broke down and stuff like that. But this year I feel much better. So I’m just looking forward to stepping out there.”

On many plays, likely a plurality of them, White will be lined up on the same side of the field as free agent signing Kenny Lawler, playing a few feet outside of him. That –and the deeper commitment to Greg Bell’s running and short pass skills—could actually mean fewer receptions for White in the early going, until defences start adjusting. But it also means he’ll face more single coverage, and mismatches against linebackers who can’t guard him. He’s a game-breaker and will have to get his touches; remember he’s rushed 31 times for 259 yards in his four Cat years and also ran a kickoff back for a touchdown two years ago.

“It’s another threat on the field,” White says of Lawler’s presence.  “It’s going to open doors up for a lot of receivers, especially me. The defence is really going to have to make the decision of who they want to pin their attention on.

“For each receiver, I’m sure it’s like, ‘Man, give me the ball no matter what.’ That’s definitely how I am. But how it unfolds, I understand that. It only takes a couple of plays for me to get to the end zone so that’s what I’m focused on. So, whenever I get the opportunity, I’m gonna try to make the most of it. I’m going to try to make the crowd stand up and get excited, try to get to the end zone.”

Which he has done with remarkable consistency, even as he feels there is much more to come.

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON

Some good, but plenty to correct

The Ticats had a long hard practice Tuesday but are now in what’s essentially regular-season practice rhythm with two more sessions this week and then a walk-through before Saturday night’s (7 p.m.) pre-season game with the Toronto Argonauts at Hamilton stadium.

Head coach Scott Milanovich and his staff did multiple reviews of the film from Sunday night’s Black and Gold Kickoff, the annual intrasquad controlled scrimmage.

They saw, “A lot of good but we had some missed tackles. It’s what you expect, right? There was some good, and then there was plenty for us to correct. And that’s what’s taking place this week. We’re in a game week this week, so that’s fun.  It’s a little different in terms of how long we practice today. It will would be the last really hard, long one they have this week.”

Call it Like It Is

He is a receiver, yes, and that’s how the CFL web site labels him, but Camren McDonald returned to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats because head coach Scott Milanovich calls the former Florida State Seminole exactly what he wants to be called. A tight end.

“I talked to another team in the off-season but I wanted to play as a true “American” tight end,” says McDonald, referring not to nationality but to functionality.

Last year Milanovich’s Ticats were the only CFL team which officially listed ‘tight end’ as one of their positions, filled mostly by Global player Jevoni Robinson and occasionally by a fullback-type blocker/runner like Ante Litre or James Tuck.

Milanovich likes what’s often referred to as a “true” tight end who can line up attached to the rest of the line or separated by a few feet like a wide receiver. The blocking and pass-route options are numerous with such a multi-purpose player but the athletic combination of physical skill sets is hard to find …and even harder to attract north and adapt to the wider spaces of the Canadian game.

McDonald was a late cut during last year’s training camp but was re-signed only a few days later and played two July games for the Cats, catching two short passes in a win against the Toronto Argonauts. He was eventually released again in October but the Cats brought him back again this year.

“He’s a very good athlete,” Scott Milanovich says. “He can play special teams. He can run, he can block. Great upside. Another guy that just needs to get dialed in on the mistakes and, every now and then the mental errors. But, he’s a talented guy.”

McDonald says he appreciates Milanovich’s commitment to the position and the creativity he brings to the plays designed for it.

“And I also came back here because I love working with this offensive line,” he said before Tuesday’s practice.

McDonald grew up in Long Beach, California and was rated as the top tight end in the state after his high school senior season. When he arrived here last year he fell in love with Hamilton last season “because of its ruggedness.

“Coming from southern California, it’s a change of culture for me and I like it. It’s a town with some rough edges and people want us to emulate that.”

Homebred former Cat stars to reconnect with college recruiter

Three former Ticats who grew up in Hamilton—receiver Trevor Shaw, defensive lineman Obie Spanic and all-time tackles leader Rob Hitchcock, who was the CFL’s all-star safety twice–will pay a visit this week to Ron Joyce Stadium and to the man who recruited them all to Utah’s Weber College in the early 1990s, giving them a stepping stone to the CFL.

Mark Gorscak, who spent 28 years scouting for the Pittsburgh Steelers, is with GM Ted Goveia’s personnel department. He’s had a wide variety of football experience, including several coaching positions and scouting for the Senior Bowl, and had two stints at Weber State. His Weber State assignments included coaching wide receivers and he was also the program’s chief recruiter.

“There were always at least four Canadians on our teams,” said Gorscak who’s studying Ticat training camp on the sidelines. “I’d scout the whole country.”

In Hamilton he found a golden generation of high schoolers—Spanic from Cathedral, Shaw and Hitchcock from Glendale—who would play together at Weber, and again in the CFL.

Iron Sharpens Iron

It’s been happening all training camp and was graphically evident during Sunday’s Black and Gold Kickoff intrasquad scrimmage, but there is an intense head-to-head competition between the Ticats’ deep receiving corps and the group of veteran defensive backs who are so far getting the “A” reps, despite hard pushes from a handful of CFL newcomers.

“The back end is looking awesome,” quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell said after Sunday’s scrimmage.

Mitchell spent a decade in Calgary with new Ticat defensive coordinator Brent Monson, a Hamilton native, and says it helps the offence that the defensive secondary is aggressive and motivated.

“I was over there with him for 10 years so I know that defence like the back of my hand, and I’m telling you it looks a lot different (than it did in Calgary),” Mitchell said. “They’re doing some cool things and they’re disguising it better; it’s hard to see. It feels like second-nature to me going against him.  I think he’s playing chess on me a little bit sometimes.

“There’s a lot of freedom out there and he allows them to kind of play with their eyes. It’s the competition that we have every day. The crew we have, the crew they have, they love competing and they’re talking to each other. You know they’re going after it; I think it’s iron sharpening iron and we’ll all get better because of it.”

CATS CLAUSES:  WR Kenny Lawler and RB Greg Bell were both at full capacity at practice today after sitting out Sunday night’s Black and Gold scrimmage slightly banged up … offensive RT Jordan Murray is still not practicing because of injury. Quenton Barrow who started seven games last year, has been in at right tackle… sophomore LB DQ Thomas made a nice interception today … in the final few moments of practice WRs Tim White and Drew Wolitarsky ran perfect corner routes to catch pinpoint passes from Taylor Powell … Ticats rookie DL Philip Ossai, who played at North Alabama before attending a rookie mini-camp with the NFL Atlanta Falcons, had two brothers in the NFL: Joseph Ossai is entering his fifth season as a Cincinnati Bengal DE and  LB K.C. Ossai has signed with the Houston Texans as an undrafted free agent …  veteran KR Lawrence Woods is almost always the first player onto the McMaster field, out there in full pads an hour or so before official practice time catching punts out of the “jugs” machine which is also used to fire hard passes at receivers from short range … a warm welcome to Hamilton Sports Group’s new Content Producer, Troy Durrell who’s spent the last few years working in junior hockey in the Western Hockey League, most recently with the Kelowna Rockets. He’s also covered the Ticats for 3Down Nation.