The Baltimore CFLs will not rehire quarterback coach Joe Barnes for next season, team sources said yesterday.
An 11-year veteran in the Canadian Football League and a first-year coach, Barnes will be dismissed once his contract expires Feb. 1.
Sources said the decision, rendered by coach Don Matthews this week, stemmed from a communications problem between Barnes and quarterback Tracy Ham.
Steve Buratto, offensive coordinator and line coach, will assume Barnes' duties.
Matthews left this week for a monthlong vacation and was unavailable to comment yesterday. Ham, who lives in Statesboro, Ga.,was away until next week, his wife Valarie said.
Contacted at his office at Memorial Stadium yesterday, Barnes would not comment. Neither would Buratto.
But team owner Jim Speros issued a disclaimer of sorts.
"Don Matthews has not made any comments to me about that," Speros said during the league's board of governors meeting in Baltimore.
"Don will make any announcement [about coaching changes]. He's the director of football operations. He has not told me Joe Barnes will not be back next year."
Barnes, who turns 43 on Dec. 18, passed for 18,491 yards and 94 touchdowns during a distinguished CFL career that spanned four teams and five Grey Cup appearances -- two of them victories.
His playing career ended in 1986 when he was cut by the Montreal Alouettes, and he had been out of the league until Matthews hired him for the 1994 season.
Speros also said that assistant coach Don Hill, who worked with the receivers this season, would move into the community relations department with Bonnie Downing in the off-season. Speros said he wants Hill to start an off-season basketball team with Baltimore players.
In an unrelated move, Speros acknowledged he has trimmed his front office staff from 47 people to 31 with layoffs. But he said those laid off would be rehired next season.
"We had 18 people in the ticket office in the season," he said. "Now we have six. In season, those people will be back."