Eric Tillman looks back at a daunting, yet exhilarating, task of putting together a CFL expansion franchise in Ottawa with plenty of pride and a curiosity over what could have been.

The three Grey Cup rings don't lie, there's been plenty of success since for the general manager of the Ottawa Renegades through their first two seasons -- 2002 and 2003 -- before being pushed aside in what were tumultuous times for a franchise that has had its share of Barnum and Baileyesque moments over the years. But the Renegades, now there was a team that had potential.

"We so wanted to make it work," says Tillman, who as Director of Pro Personnel and U.S. Scouting with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (among his finds is explosive receiver/returner Brandon Banks) is in his sixth Grey Cup on Sunday. "Ottawa is such a great football town that for so many years was painted unfairly. The fans were never at fault, it was the product. Unfortunately we didn't get to finish the job.

"Look at the group of young players we had -- Kyries Hebert, Korey Banks, Kerry Joseph, Josh Ranek, D.J. Flick, Jason Armstead, Lawrence Tynes, Jerome Haywood and we had Darian Durant and Dan Goodspeed on our neg list. At the end of two years, I felt we were in tremendous shape."

Things started to go horribly wrong off the field. It's been speculated that the Renegades owners, who also owned the Ottawa Rebel, expected to fund the CFL team with what it believed was a sure thing -- pro lacrosse. The Toronto Rock were such a huge success that much faith was put into money rolling in from the Rebel. When the lacrosse team flopped and was folded before the CFL team played its first game, there was financial pressure.

In the spring of the team's third year, Renegades management was asked to go with two quarterbacks instead of three and to reduce the number of players it brought to camp.

"It was made crystal clear that Year 3 was about cutting costs to the bone and positioning the team to be sold," Tillman said. "In fact, it doesn't get much more direct than this: In a meeting, I was flat-out told, 'If it comes down to a choice between breaking even and not winning a game, we don't win a game.' Going forward, we had no chance; and unfortunately the biggest losers were our fans."

Tillman is excited about the future of the RedBlacks, with coach Rick Campbell and GM Marcel Desjardins guiding the ship.

"The biggest plus Marcel and Rick have is they have strong, well-respected local ownership," said Tillman. "I believe in Year 2, we will see a much-improved Ottawa team, likely one that will be a legitimate playoff contender. The first year you learn, the second year you implement. We won four games (in 2002). It's imperative to be your own harshest critic, not to measure yourself in terms of wins and losses. We jumped from four wins to seven. After the first season, you're dealing with knowns as opposed to projections.

"Our philosophy was to build around young players, with the emphasis on quality Canadian content and a good kicking game. Based on the expansion agreement, we would have to develop young quarterbacks. (Under terms of the expansion draft), each club could protect three QBs (the nost recent expansion draft only allowed each of the other eight CFL teams to protect one QB). We had to go outside of the box and get Kerry Joseph, who had been a defensive back in the NFL for three or four years. And we had Dan Crowley, who was the third-stringer in Edmonton."

Tillman likes what's going on with his current organization, who will take on the Calgary Stampeders for the CFL's Holy Grail.

"Organizations win championships," said Tillman. "In Hamilton, every component is in place for sustained success. We are blessed wtih terrific ownership, quality leadership, a beautiful new stadium and good people throughout business and football operations. Regarding the latter, (Kent Austin's) track record of success speaks for itself."

Tillman said there were mistakes made in Ottawa.

"Every place I've been, I could give you a scroll from the office door to the Gulf of Mexico on things I should have done. I tell people I wasn't the idiot that didn't draft (standout receiver) Jason Clermont (who went on to star with B.C. and Saskatchewan), I was the idiot that didn't draft him twice."

The Renegades had the first two picks in the 2002 draft and went with offensive lineman Alexander Gauthier and fullback Mike Vilimek.

"Alexandre had a terrific career and Mike had a ton of potential (until he hurt his knee)," said Tillman, who has spent 15 years in the CFL, five years doing CFL TV broadcasts and one year in the NFL office in New York.

"The funny thing about it was B.C. (which had the fourth-overall pick) spent the entire week trying to trade up to draft Mike Vilimek (they got Clermont at the fourth spot). My biggest mistake was not drafting Jason Clermont. And (coach Joe Paopao) would probably tell you his biggest mistake was losing (coach) Kent Austin to the Toronto Argonauts. Probably we'd like to have a do-over."

Tillman doesn't regret the Ottawa experience; it had some beautiful moments and his children Alexandra and Jackson were born here.

"We won 11 games over our first two years," he said. "We had a good, young nucleus. We were very well positioned after two years to go forward. It was frustrating beyond words, not just for us, but for the fans. We knew the responsibility to connect fans to the rich football history in Ottawa. We had a chance to build a winning football team to re-establish that proud history. We felt we were well on our way."

Twitter: @timcbaines