While it took courage to pass them, and playing under them is likely to be a challenge for some, CFL director of officiating Glen Johnson has perhaps the most unenviable job of all: teaching the league's new rules to just about everybody.

Johnson is in the midst of a cross-country tour that will see him visit every CFL city, armed with a laptop full of film clips and thick sheafs of paper, all designed to make the new guidelines — particularly those around pass interference and a bevy of special teams changes — easier to understand. He was in Hamilton on Monday where he met with head coach Kent Austin and members of the team's management and coaching staff for more than four hours.

"It's important to engage everybody — fans, owners, players, coaches, officials — everybody has to be on the same page," Johnson said. "You'll see me being very transparent and communicative about what we're doing and how we're doing it."

While Johnson says the reaction to the changes has been mostly positive, he acknowledges the new pass interference rules, which limit contact by a defender on a receiver to the first five yards, have drawn plenty of interest from coaches on that side of the football.

"But once we talk it through, they understand that the offence can't create contact either, and there's balance in these changes, they're more accepting," Johnson said. "What I've been surprised by is that head coaches are embracing the changes. They're saying to me 'You have to stick to your guns on this.'"

The same package Johnson is using in the sessions with coaches — it contains more than 100 video clips that illustrate what is and isn't a penalty — is also being used to educate officials. It will also be made available to the teams so they can teach players during training camp, and portions of it will likely be made available to fans.

"What we're trying to do is simplify. I think it's relatively straightforward now: Any casual fan can watch and say 'Oh yeah, the defender contacted the receiver after five yards. That's a penalty,'" Johnson said. "In the past, there was so much judgment. We're trying to make it simpler for many people on many levels."

Though the changes are hardly new to Austin — he's a member of the competition committee that recommended them — he said the dedicated session with Johnson was beneficial in helping his staff get a more nuanced understanding of the changes.

"We all need to have the courage to implement the changes, to coach to the changes in an effort to make the game better," Austin said. "I see things through the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' lens, don't get me wrong. But I won't do that solely if it won't benefit the league as well."

Notes: The family of Ticats legend John Barrow is planning a celebration of his life on Saturday, April 25 from 2 to 4:30 p.m. at the Canadian Football Hall of Fame and Museum. Friends and fans of Barrow, who passed away in February, are welcome to attend.