Mike

They essentially are the scouts. They work their contacts and use scouting services/freelancers, target players for workouts and neg list. We do need someone in football operations. I realize this and didn't expect any different considering Danny Mac and Goveia's experience and roles with other teams.As of right now we have Walters, McManus and Goveia with the football ops (is Worman with the team ?), so I'm wondering if more hires will be made, specifically in the scouting department. Most teams have around 7-8 people scouting at times, I'd like to see the Bombers in that range as well. Most teams? Do you mean Montreal? Most teams have 3-4 (we now have 4) football ops guys on staff with a Rolodex of scouts who aren't officially employed by the team.

wait wait waaaaaaait.... you mean doctor cfl MD was wrong about danny macs sway over in steeltown in finding the 2 best gems on their roster? you dont say.. Not that I generally agree with him but that isn't what he said. He said Tillman brought in some guys. And he was right.

Just FYI Winston is already on our neg list

Jones recruits most of his own defensive guys so I guess in the end, he's still deserving of the credit

What Saskatchewan does is hardly different than what we've started doing. They allow the public to submit candidates who have to go through board approval. The only difference is they give shareholders a vote. The catch? Their vote is about as meaningful as the stock they hold. It holds very little weight in the process, it's more symbolic than anything.

Interested to see what Burke does in Toronto. My first thoughts are that the personnel may not fit what he wants to do.

Absolutely not. Fans are the last people I want to see having any say in the operations of this franchise.

Wade Miller did well on this one. We're going to be paying Burke peanuts.

Just in case anyone is wondering about what talent McManus supplied to Hamilton ... he's the one who found CJ Gable and Greg Ellingson. He's also reportedly got credibility with guys who are big name school guys (like Gable with USC, as an example) who aren't sure about the CFL. A Hall of Famer who became a star up here after going to a big NCAA program is credible with these guys, maybe being able to convince them to come here when they otherwise would think they are beneath it.

Looks like the Bombers aren't ******* around. TWO assistant GMs coming from successful teams.

This is a fantastic hire

Yes, there are only candidates with experience and candidates without experience. Good observation.

You're right, I mean realistically, the odds are 107.2% in favor of us never making the playoffs again. Ever.

Cortez reportedly made $300k in Hamilton. Burke made $225 last season. Not a huge difference. You more times than not get what you pay for. If the Bombers are relunctant to understand this concept when it comes to key positions at the player or management level, they can't be surprised by negative results that ensue and will have to accept we will continue to be mediocre if we continue to fool ourselves. Giving Khari Jones the keys to this football club because he would come with a cheaper price tag and coupled with errenous rationalizations (such as being a former Bomber) and over-rating of what he brings to the table to justify this decision will more than likely not turn out well. Especially in sport where careers tend to be short, compensation can not be compromised when it comes to attracting quality talent whether one likes it or not. I agree, but Cortez as a head coach is probably not the best example of this. He was awful. I dunno.. His team would have been excellent if the defence wasn't so horrible.. The team excelled at scoring points.. which is something we fail doing most seasons as of late. True but that is still his responsibility and by all accounts, he was severely disliked in the locker room. Guys didn't want to play for him.

Cortez reportedly made $300k in Hamilton. Burke made $225 last season. Not a huge difference. You more times than not get what you pay for. If the Bombers are relunctant to understand this concept when it comes to key positions at the player or management level, they can't be surprised by negative results that ensue and will have to accept we will continue to be mediocre if we continue to fool ourselves. Giving Khari Jones the keys to this football club because he would come with a cheaper price tag and coupled with errenous rationalizations (such as being a former Bomber) and over-rating of what he brings to the table to justify this decision will more than likely not turn out well. Especially in sport where careers tend to be short, compensation can not be compromised when it comes to attracting quality talent whether one likes it or not. I agree, but Cortez as a head coach is probably not the best example of this. He was awful.

Cortez reportedly made $300k in Hamilton. Burke made $225 last season. Not a huge difference. Cortez reportedly made a bit more than that up to as much as 400k (but probably closer to 325k) but his buyout was something like 700k for Hamilton. Not sure where you heard Burke got paid that much, I heard other numbers and I know nothing has ever been made public. That being said, he wants close to that much to be a coordinator. His price tag is very close to the same thing in Saskatchewan and they'll open up the vault to keep him. I wouldn't want him as head coach, what does it tell you that Hamilton was willing to pay 700k to get rid of him and now we want to pay him 300k a year to earn that privilege?

Doubt we can afford Cortez at the price tag he'll demand.

I guess you must have missed his 500 other posts on the same subject.

For as long as I can remember, I've watched Dave try and tell you that he doesn't think Mack is great, he just tries to provide balance to some of the over exaggerated claims that are made about him. And for as long as I can remember, you've never quite seemed to grasp what he is saying. But when it looks to you like, in your own words, "if you were running the Bombers you'd be selling the fanbase on giving Mack a chance and keeping him on as GM" then it shows me that you really don't understand the argument he's been making this entire time. Dave has never said we should have kept Mack. What he's saying is that while he deserved to be let go, that doesn't mean he is the guy to blame for everything that has gone with this franchise. And it doesn't mean that everything he did was terrible. It's not a difficult concept to understand, you just need to actually read what he's writing because all you've been doing is arguing with him about something he has never said. However, I must say ... I'm not surprised that you would reply to me in a manner that totally deflects what I said to you. Your reply really had nothing to do with anything that I had mentioned, you're just going in circles trying to find a bite on ANY argument you can get your hands on without actually ever listening to the other side.

Well, you can hang on to that belief, I guess. So it looks to me that if you were running the Bombers you'd be selling the fanbase on giving Mack a chance & keeping him on as GM. To continue to let him work his well laid out plan whatever the hell that is. Or that continual change is bad so therefore he deserves to stay & this team is on the cusp of greatness. That all that's needed at the GM position is patience. And you'd have a huge revolt on your hands with the same fanbase. The old expression says you can put makeup on a pig but in the end it's still a pig. I'm glad Miller, Walters & just about everybody else see it like I do.I think what needs to be done is for all parties on both sides of this argument need to put the Mack era behind us & move on. Time to throw our support with the new regime & give them a chance. People on both sides of the Mack argument like you & I will never agree. We'll continue to go round & round so like I said it's time to move on. This post really confirms to me that you either do not understand what Dave has been saying for the past 6 months or you're choosing to ignore it. If you're so insistent on debating with him, why don't you debate what he actually said instead of debating against an argument you're making for him?

Walters may not have the track record, but if you don't think that he's regarded as an up and coming football ops guy by people in and around the CFL, then you're mistaken.

We are currently looking for one. i always thought you're a good guy, i'm wrong. lol I'm just bugging you. I'm not really all that well connected within the club anymore. Pretty much everyone I used to get my information from has moved on. You know as much as I do about our coaching search.

We are currently looking for one.

... not really

According to their Twitter, the Ottawa REDBLACKS have signed the first three REDBLACK players in the history of the REDBLACK franchise. WR Fred Rouse DB Nick Turnbull DE Dimetrio Tyson Congratulations to the REDBLACKS. Hopefully these three gentlemen contribute to a successful opening year for the new Ottawa REDBLACKS team.