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MONTREAL -- Dan Hawkins likes the idea of starting his Canadian Football League coaching career with a winner. But the veteran U.S. university coach has a tough act to follow on the Montreal Alouettes in Marc Trestman, who left after five seasons and two Grey Cup titles to become head coach of the Chicago Bears in the NFL. "We may come wrapped in a different cloth, but deep down inside were very similar when it comes to our feeling of what football is about and what the culture of a successful organization is," Hawkins said Friday on a conference call. "It doesnt matter if Im the new guy or Ive been here five years, I always think the same way, that we can continue to improve and chase greatness." Since the Alouettes returned to Montreal after a 10-year hiatus in 1996, first-year coaches have mostly done well. Dave Ritchie in 1997 went 13-5, Charlie Taaffe in 1999 was 12-6, Don Matthews in 2002 went 13-5 and won a Grey Cup, while Trestman was 11-7 as a CFL rookie. Of course, this was on a team that has had winning records every year in that period except 2007 (8-10), when general manager Jim Popp took over in a transition year, and 2001 (9-9) under Rod Rust and Popp. "The reason that happens is that you win as an organization," said Hawkins. "It takes everyone. "Everyone wants to point at the head coach and understandably so, but there are so many other factors. Jim sets the tone and brings the players in. To me, if you look at the first-year success, thats a real trademark and credit to the organization because thats the culture, the situation, that a new person walks into." Hawkins said he was impressed with the level of talent he saw both at a recent mini-camp in Orlando, Fla., and on the tapes hes watched of an Alouette team that went 11-7 in the regular season in 2012, but then lost at home to Toronto in the East Division final. He starts out with the leagues all-time passing leader at quarterback in Anthony Calvillo, although the 40-year-old is coming off surgery to fix a torn labrum in his left (non-throwing) shoulder. Theres a tall and talented group of receivers led by S.J. Green and Jamel Richardson and bolstered by the acquisition of veteran Arland Bruce. And they have perhaps the leagues best offensive line. The defence has some question marks, particularly on the line, but it is special teams that will likely need the most improvement after an often grim 2012 campaign. But Hawkins was most impressed with his players work habits and attention to detail at the mini-camp, especially among the veterans. "Theres a tremendous level of talent, experience and leadership," he said. "Theyve won at the highest level. "You can have all the talent in the world, but if you dont have the right culture, youre going to struggle." Like Trestman before him, Hawkins came to Canada with no experience of the 12-man game. Trestmans adaptation took less than a season. It remains to be seen how Hawkins adapts to a new game and a new country. "We keep using a saying here: blessed are the flexible because theyll never be bent out of shape," he said. "Everything is new. "Thats part of the beauty of it -- its football here, but its a whole different brand of football." An new staff of assistants join Hawkins for his first season, including assistant head coach and offensive co-ordinator Mike Miller, who has been doing most of the off-season work with Calvillo on shaping the attack for 2013. Meanwhile, Popp brought in an experienced backup in former Hamilton Tiger-Cat Quinton Porter. Other veterans signed included defensive backs Byron Parker and Geoff Tisdale, and running back Jerome Messam. Also in camp will be NFL veteran running back Dominic Rhodes, who won a Super Bowl with Indianapolis in 2007. But Popp denied angling to bring popular and oft-debated former Denver and New York Jets pivot Tim Tebow to Montreal, which holds his CFL rights. "I can report Ive never had a conversation with him or his agent and I really dont expect to unless I hear them say they have interest in coming to our team," said Popp. "So theres nothing new on that front." Calvillo cant last forever, although hes giving it a good try, and the Alouettes know they will need to find his successor one day. The battle in camp will be between Porter, returning third-stringer Josh Nieswander and a Canadian, former McMaster star pivot Kyle Quinlan. "We try to have a plan every year,"said Popp. "When the day comes that the star quarterbacks not the guy any more, whether he retires or injuries force him out, you really dont know what you have until the other guy starts playing. "When they get their chance, thats when you find out whether they can do it." He likes all three candidates. "Porters had some very big games against the Montreal Alouettes," he said. "Nieswander is a smart, intelligent guy. "Quinlan is very intriguing. He throws a (deep pass) like Ricky Ray does. And its abnormal. And he can really do it well. He drops the ball right in. Thats exciting. It will be fun to see them compete in camp and see where it goes. Quinlan will get a lot more reps. Hes coming to camp to compete for a job." The club will start camp with two players still recovering from off-season surgery. Rookie fullback Patrick Lavoie had a ruptured disc fixed while defensive back Seth Williams had ankle surgery. Grant Hill Jersey . -- PGA TOUR Canada member Steve Saunders took a three-stroke lead Saturday in the Web. Connie Hawkins Jersey . P.A. Parenteau scored early in the third period to help the Avs edge Toronto 2-1 on Tuesday night. Cory Sarich also scored for Colorado (3-0-0), which is off to its best ever start. https://www.cheapsunsonline.com/1199z-kelly-oubre-jersey-suns.html . Pence singled in the winning run with no outs in the ninth inning to give the Giants a 7-6 victory over the San Diego Padres on Sunday. Charlie Scott Jersey . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Danny Manning Jersey . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. Bastian Schweinsteigers Manchester United career hasnt exactly gone to plan. With news that the club have had to write off his ￡6.7 million worth as an asset in their latest accounts, we want to know -- who is Uniteds biggest flop? Vote in our poll below:Anderson: Signed from Porto in 2006 for a staggering ￡26m and never lived up to the hype, although he did score his penalty in the 2008 Champions League final penalty shootout against Chelsea. Every cloud, and all that. Offloaded on a free transfer to Internacional in 2015.Bebe: The ￡7.4m signing Sir Alex Ferguson made without seeing him play, either in the flesh or on YouTube -- even Bebe thought the whole thing was a joke, at first. The Portuguese winger made seven first-team appearances in four years at the club, before he was sold to Benfica in 2014.David Bellion: Dubbed the next Thierry Henry, Frenchman Bellion signed from Sunderland in June 2003 for just ￡2m. It turned out to be too much as he failed to settle at United and left in 2006 having scored just eight goals for the club.Eric Djemba-Djemba: Filling Roy Keanes boots in the United midfield was always going to be tough. DJ2, as the fans called him, arrived from Nanttes for ￡3.dddddddddddd.5m in 2003, but never really took off in a two-year spell at Old Trafford. He departed for Aston Villa in 2005.Kleberson: The Brazilian World Cup winner was announced alongside Cristiano Ronaldo after he made a ￡6.5m move from Atletico Paranaense in 2003. That was about as good as it got, before he left Besiktas two years later.Massimo Taibi:?How do you replace Peter Schmeichel? The ￡4.5m signing from Venezia in 1999 won the man of the match award on his debut against Liverpool. However, only three more appearances followed before he was offloaded in January 2000.Juan Sebastian Veron: Another big Ferguson buy that failed to adapt to the Premier League. Veron signed for ￡28.1m from Lazio in 2001 and scored just 11 goals before his ￡15m departure to Chelsea in 2003.Wilfried Zaha: Ferguson will always be a legend at Manchester United, but the Scot was partial to a bad signing or two. Zaha -- Fergusons final acquisition a snip at ￡15m from Crystal Palace -- made four appearances for the club before re-signing with Palace in 2015. ' ' '