Landry: Khalif Mitchell Gets His Groove Back

DON LANDRY – Argonauts.ca Columnist

TORONTO – Perhaps Khalif Mitchell gets to this point with the Toronto Argonauts naturally and without any guidance and help.

Perhaps he settles in and begins to dominate the way he did in the past as a member of the B.C. Lions with nothing more than getting used to his surroundings and new teammates. Then, in his own words, arriving at a point where he could “just let it hang.”

Might be, though, that getting “Pinballed” during training camp had a little something to do with it as well.

Mitchell’s performances in wins over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and his former mates with B.C. were much more like it. Much more like the Mitchell that terrorized the CFL trenches for two and a half seasons in Vancouver. “I think he’s played borderline dominant football the last couple of weeks,” said head coach Scott Milanovich.

“I just got comfortable. It’s nothing special. Nothing hard,” said Mitchell.

We could leave it at that because, in essence, that’s all there is to it, right? But then, this would be an awfully short column and it does seem there might be more we could learn about the sudden re-emergence of number 96 along the interior of the Argos’ defensive line.

Recall that Mitchell was a somewhat reluctant Argo, originally making it known that moving his show East after the Lions traded him was not suitable.

When all was said and done, though, he did the right thing and came to Toronto. There were worried fans. How long could this last? Was he really dedicated to his new team? Would this actually work?

Seems Mitchell had little doubt, arriving in camp ready to turn the page. For all others who may have wondered, there was Michael “Pinball” Clemons.

After Pinball met with the team as a whole, he met with the Argos’ new defensive stalwart for a personal conversation. According to Mitchell, Clemons did what he always does. Made him feel wanted and special. (Haven’t we all been “Pinballed?”)

“When I talked to Pinball,” Mitchell began, “I just had a personal conversation with him. We talked about life, we talked about God and we talked about different expectations of a man.”

“He reminded me pretty much of what coach (Mike) Singletary told me when I was with the (San Francisco) 49ers: you put the work in, it’ll come out.”

“Pinball’s the man,” added Mitchell. “Anybody who knows him knows that.”

Truer words have never been spoken. But that’s not the end of the story. Because despite a willingness to start anew in Toronto and having his state of spiritual preparedness properly elevated by Michael Clemons, Mitchell’s early season play – while not poor – was far off the dominance he’d displayed on the coast.

“Maybe he’s more comfortable,” said Milanovich, trying to explain the defensive tackle’s surge over the last two games. “And we’ve tweaked our schemes a little bit. Tried to do some things to help him utilize his talents.”

Mitchell didn’t offer a whole lot of explanation on a change of schemes but did offer a whole lot on the increasing feeling of  comfort.

“Sometimes, the best ain’t what you’re consciously thinking about. It’s just who you are,” he said.

Getting to be “who you are” in football means getting to know the players around you. Trusting in them. Mitchell, linebacker Marcus Ball and others have talked about this theme over the last few weeks. That the defence needed to get to a place where the individuals manning it could trust all others to do their jobs properly, so that they could concentrate on just their own responsibilities. Stop trying to do it all.

“We’ve learned that, you know, if we keep a humble mentality, that when you watch film you’ll be surprised. Whereas if you’ve got a superstar mentality, when you watch the film you’ll be let down,” said Mitchell.

Along with a sack against the Lions last week, Mitchell played a key role in a crucial moment in the fourth quarter of the game. With the Argos leading 24 – 12 and B.C. driving deep into Toronto territory, Mitchell stuffed running back Andrew Harris on second and short. Not only did he deny the first down, he kept Harris up long enough for linebacker Shane Horton to come in and strip the ball from Harris’ hands, a ball that Horton then recovered.

Mitchell points to that play as the kind that can only happen once you learn your teammates’ tendencies.

“You don’t know how fast a person plays or how they tackle,” he said of early season discomfort. “Or if they trust you enough to make a tackle. To hit a guy low when you’re (hitting him) high….”

Then he explains that there are possible painful consequences of that unfamiliarity.

“I’m 300 pounds. And I would fly to the ball downfield. So, when I come, I’m conscious of the other guy coming with me because, if I run into him….” He sees I get it and doesn’t feel the need to finish the thought. “That was week two and week one, what I’m talking about. We’re here in week 6 and it all fits well,” he assures.

“It’s hard to explain. The most natural way I could say it is it’s a natural feel for each other.”

Mitchell then gives me a perfectly good comparison to everyday life and how two people can’t walk through a door at the same time.

“If we’re walking though a door together, I wouldn’t walk in at the same pace as you. One of us would get a feel for the other one and one would allow the other one to go in.”

Like I said, it makes perfect sense, but all I was thinking was that if Khalif Mitchell and I arrived at a doorway at the same time, I’d get badly plastered into the door frame.

He brings it back to football.

“It’s like ‘I know Khalif’s gonna hit him high.’ Or ‘I know Hammer (linebacker Robert McCune) is about to come low.’ I can see his angle, so I’m gonna hit him (the ball carrier) high.”

(By the way and not for nothing, Mitchell says that he and McCune did have an accidental and hellacious collision earlier this year and that he – Mitchell – was the one who came out of it with a ringing bell.)

Those kinds of misadventures happen less and less as ‘new’ teammates become just teammates and Mitchell believes the Argos’ defence has crossed that threshold.

“Just from looking at us the past two weeks we’ve learned where to fit in. We’ve learned how to be a dominant group. We’re well beyond where people would have expected, going into week five and six, as how we came together as a unit.”

In this case, familiarity breeds contentment, leading Mitchell to have his best night as an Argo last week against the Lions. Good timing. A certain Argos’ great attended and was wearing double blue adorned with the number 96.

“He had my jersey on,” said Mitchell of Pinball Clemons. “That felt pretty good.”

If you’ve ever wondered what a perfect cob of corn tastes like, then you’ve never been to the ‘Friends Of The Argonauts’ annual charity cornroast.

Make this Saturday’s 19th edition your maiden voyage then.

Held in Richmond Hill, the FOA charity corn roast boasts Carl, the King of the Cob. I do not know how he does it, but year in and year out, Carl makes batch after batch of peerless cobs of corn. Ask anyone who’s been.

As well, meet current and past Argos’ players, enjoy live music and browse the silent auction table.

It’s a hoot of a party, with proceeds to the Michael Pinball Clemons Foundation.

This Saturday, one o’clock. For more information, check the Argonauts Facebook page or the FOA website: friendsoftheargonauts.com