iso_55

No kidding as would I.

Hey, just want to say that my comments about Jackson were wrong. I had time to consider the arguments here & what was said & you guys convinced me my position was wrong. So, I don't know if I need to apologize or not but I don't admit I'm wrong very often. Like never. Anyway, for the record, I was wrong.

I coached on a number of different football teams at different levels. Personally, I just don't know how Grant & his staff did it. These 2 coaches were responsible for all positions on offense & defense plus coaching all the different positions on their side of the ball. Hey, don't forget special teams too, which is a huge job just by itself. As far as running the offense & defense, putting together offensive & defensive playbooks & calling the plays, I know Grant's offense probably had 40 plays so it would have been fairly easy to install, Michaels defense was primarily man coverage back in those days as zone defenses were just getting started so defenses were nowhere near as complicated as they are now. I remember when a third coach was added in the early 70's when Jim Spavital was hired to replaceJoe Zaleski & it was a big deal.

Were the organizations you were with under the gun to be the best in their field NOW or you'd all be fired in 6 months? If they were,probably no one would lack experience because you'd have to trust the rookie would do his/her job without long term effect to yours. Pro sports is a whole other animal from business. It's not what you did for me yesterday. It's what will you do for me today & more importantly tomorrow. It was a pilot contract where our early successes led to the client paying $40M+ to replace all of their computer systems. If we didn't succeed early on, we wouldn't have got the subsequent work. I have also had the opportunity to run and manage my own teams at work and I will take someone who has the drive and the smarts with no experience over someone who is average to mediocre with experience every day of the week and twice on Sunday. They got to test drive this guy out and they liked what they saw so they made a position to keep him. That is good management. Identifying talent and finding a way to keep it. If they wouldn't have hired him, there would be no one in this position, so there is really nothing lost here. and when you've fired as many coaches as the bombers have recently experienced rock solid coaches don't want to go through that ****. Let's face it the last decade this team has been dragged through all kinds of **** and it's going to take time to repair the reputation. and when you've fired as many coaches as the bombers have recently experienced rock solid coaches don't want to go through that ****. Let's face it the last decade this team has been dragged through all kinds of **** and it's going to take time to repair the reputation. I absolutely agree Look at the coaches & managers we've hired. Most first time head coaches & managers with no experience at their positions. BC went out & got Buono. Stamps brought in Hufnagel who worked under Buono in Calgary. Riders brought in (dare I say it) Brendan Taman. Argos hired Stamps GM & Vice President of Player Personnel Jim Barker. Hamilton hired Kent Austin who won a Grey Cup in Saskatchewan. If you want to ***** at something then use this to ***** about. Hiring Miller with no experience running a football club, Walters with no GM experience and O'Shea with no Head Coach experience. If the current incarnation of the Blue Bomber front office fails it will 100% be because of these guys not some nobody they hired as a quality control coach. Hiring someone with experience at that position, who isn't a decision maker, will have little to no impact. I don't remember anyone taking digs at you, only what you posted. There is a difference. Except for maybe one poster (who has a track record at taking digs at anyone who disagrees with him) but you managed to get a dig back, so it is all fair. Yes, all is fair in love & war. Anyone know what that means?

Glenn is 33 but his contract is cap friendly s it is incentive drive The more starts he makes, the more $$ he is paid. He'd have been a good addition cap wise. He'd have helped us but your comments about our OL are valid. Thing is, football is a violent game. You can or can't sign players based on potential injuries that may never occur. A GM has to sign players based on what he thinks fills a teem roster need today & hope for the best when it comes to injuries

So if a guy we cut goes elsewhere, & plays much better than the guy we kept instead, it should be considered a bad thing for us? Thanks for clearing that up. How can it not be? Especially if the guy we keep isn't as good. You're welcome. Anytime.

Anyway, other than a couple of minor digs at me (which I expected from the usual suspects), great discussion. This place can generate a lot of great football talk when it wants to.

and when you've fired as many coaches as the bombers have recently experienced rock solid coaches don't want to go through that ****. Let's face it the last decade this team has been dragged through all kinds of **** and it's going to take time to repair the reputation. and when you've fired as many coaches as the bombers have recently experienced rock solid coaches don't want to go through that ****. Let's face it the last decade this team has been dragged through all kinds of **** and it's going to take time to repair the reputation. I absolutely agree Look at the coaches & managers we've hired. Most first time head coaches & managers with no experience at their positions. BC went out & got Buono. Stamps brought in Hufnagel who worked under Buono in Calgary. Riders brought in (dare I say it) Brendan Taman. Argos hired Stamps GM & Vice President of Player Personnel Jim Barker. Hamilton hired Kent Austin who won a Grey Cup in Saskatchewan.

Were the organizations you were with under the gun to be the best in their field NOW or you'd all be fired in 6 months? If they were,probably no one would lack experience because you'd have to trust the rookie would do his/her job without long term effect to yours. Pro sports is a whole other animal from business. It's not what you did for me yesterday. It's what will you do for me today & more importantly tomorrow.

I said it in the offseason, it's the worst time to move west for the Bombers. Man I woulda loved to stay in the east just one more year. All you gotta worry about then is Ray, in the west it's tougher. But I guess this is all part of the pander to Southern Ontario mentality that the CFL is so fond of. quit your complaining and go to whatever division Mr. Braley tells you to. You mean not Pinocchio...errr...Mr. Cohon?

I said it in the offseason, it's the worst time to move west for the Bombers. Man I woulda loved to stay in the east just one more year. All you gotta worry about then is Ray, in the west it's tougher. But I guess this is all part of the pander to Southern Ontario mentality that the CFL is so fond of. The other way to look at it is the Bombers really will have to improve in order to compete in the West so in the long run, I think that is better for the team. Maybe not this year but in years to come.

Just pointing out that with inexperience comes a bigger learning curve as either a coach & a player. That learning curve will cost us games. Look how an experienced OC thrust into a HC job (Lapo) had problems making quick game changing decisions on the sidelines at times that led to losses. The Bombers need to win now, not 4 years from now. We all bitched about last years staff. We don't know yet just how good (or bad) this staff will be yet. Hopefully it is good.

I think you can get away with it on a veteran team like Calgary where the head coach is absolutely rock solid . But on a fragile team like Winnipeg where the organization from top to bottom is full of inexperienced people at their positions, has been in a state of disorganized flux for a long time & desperately needs to turn things around, having a third of the staff being inexperienced coaches is a huge gamble.

The last football minor league I know of that had success for awhile was the Continental Football League in the late 60's. It was around for awhile but not sure how long. The CFL picked its bones when it died with coaches like Leo Cahill & players like quarterbacks Tom Wilkinson & Don Jonas coming into our league. I'm sure there were a lot more I wasn't aware of.

The problem with this Iso, is that our coaches are experienced, wether it is NFL, CIS, CFL, NCAA, the experience is there. Our QB coach is the only one that I read that has zero Canadian football experience, but has had experience with our coordinator. Our RB coach is new to coaching but years of experience in the CFL. The problem with this Iso, is that our coaches are experienced, wether it is NFL, CIS, CFL, NCAA, the experience is there. Our QB coach is the only one that I read that has zero Canadian football experience, but has had experience with our coordinator. Our RB coach is new to coaching but years of experience in the CFL. More NCAA & pro level experience. There are a lot of coaches out there looking for work who would be great additions at the CFL level. I'm not saying I'm against more Canadians coaching in the CFL but like Canadian qbs in the CIS with "supposedly" less playing experience & never get drafted, Canadian coaches haven't had the same experience coaching in high pressure bowl games or at the NCAA D1 FCS or FBS level. Or coached NFL or for other CFL teams. You can't compare the Rose Bowl or Fiesta Bowl to the Vanier Cup. Are Canadian coaches from the junior & CIS level ready to step in & be difference makers for a team like the Bombers who are desperate to win? That's the question that will be answered as the season progresses. BTW, I don't put O'Shea in that category as he has been part of the CFL for 20 years as a player & coach & has won 2 Grey Cups. He knows what it takes to win. But my concern is, do some of his assistants?

I'm not against hiring more coaches but I wanted a more experienced OVERALL coaching staff. This has turned into a tirade on junior football & that's my fault as it shouldn't have been. I will admit I did paint all junior coaches with one single brush & that was wrong. There are some very good junior coaches out there that have bright futures but the majority of those guys are high school level guys & will never progress any higher. Some were promoted to coordinator positions on teams throughout the PJFC & the results were disastrous. I believe that the Bombers need more experience at the assistant coaching level to be successful. Even at quality control. I guess as the season rolls along we'll see how this coaching staff evolves as a unit.

I'm not sure why you have such an issue with this. It is obvious this isn't a position they planned on having for the coaching staff to start the season. They liked what the new guy brought as a guest coach and made the budget work to hire him full time. The way I see it, that is the exact opposite that you are suggesting. They aren't cheaping out, they made room in the budget to bring in someone they liked. I knew I'd get heat for what I said. Why am I not impressed with junior coaches? My son played 2 years of junior football & started but the favouritism & politics these guys inflicted on their players, well. Most of them should stick with high school. That's their competency level. So because your son played for what you viewed as a corrupt staff of junior coaches (and let's be honest, you're not likely the most unbiased person about this ... what parent would be?) you are now willing to typecast EVERY junior coach as incompetent? I'm not sure why you have such an issue with this. It is obvious this isn't a position they planned on having for the coaching staff to start the season. They liked what the new guy brought as a guest coach and made the budget work to hire him full time. The way I see it, that is the exact opposite that you are suggesting. They aren't cheaping out, they made room in the budget to bring in someone they liked. I knew I'd get heat for what I said. Why am I not impressed with junior coaches? My son played 2 years of junior football & started but the favouritism & politics these guys inflicted on their players, well. Most of them should stick with high school. That's their competency level. So because your son played for what you viewed as a corrupt staff of junior coaches (and let's be honest, you're not likely the most unbiased person about this ... what parent would be?) you are now willing to typecast EVERY junior coach as incompetent? Yep, guess so. Hard not to think that way. I saw what I saw. Listen my son started for 2 years. It wasn't like he never saw the field so I'm not bitter about that. But the crap that went on behind the scenes, you had to be a part of it to believe it. I am painting everyone with the same brush & it's wrong but it's hard not to. As far as corrupt, the coaches weren't corrupt. They just couldn't coach at that level. My point is that we had the worst record in the CFL. It looks right now that attendance is way off from last year. I really wanted to see a more experienced staff overall because I feel an experienced staff gets you wins. Sure we have Bellefeuille, Wylie & Etch but I somehow expected more.

Sorry iso, I have to call you on this one. 1) First, quality control coach is about one step above water boy in the grand scheme of things. Its just another set of eyes on the game film, and some of their job is to collect and sort it (from what I've heard, maybe this won't hold true for the Bombers). 2) You would like the staff to "encompass a lot more experience" but both our coordinators have been in the CFL for over a decade (with brief stints out). 3) This hire isn't meant to 'inspire a lot of confidence.' Its a quality control coach. 4) Re: cheap. The Bombers now have added a ton more coaches than last year (hell, almost double) which would indicate that they are spending quite a bit more in the coaching department in previous seasons. But yes, I am assuming a quality control coach came cheap, because its a low, entry-level coaching position... Great post, not sure why hiring another coach in any form should be considered a bad thing.. Especially one with experience with canadians and the cfl... I really start to see grampa simpson yelling at clouds whenever i see some of iso's posts.. And all I see is a koolaid drinker when I read your posts so we're even.

I'm not sure why you have such an issue with this. It is obvious this isn't a position they planned on having for the coaching staff to start the season. They liked what the new guy brought as a guest coach and made the budget work to hire him full time. The way I see it, that is the exact opposite that you are suggesting. They aren't cheaping out, they made room in the budget to bring in someone they liked. I knew I'd get heat for what I said. Why am I not impressed with junior coaches? My son played 2 years of junior football & started but the favouritism & politics these guys inflicted on their players, well. Most of them should stick with high school. That's their competency level.

He'll be in BC before that, I bet backing up Glenn.

Benevides has put on a lot of weight. He has a ways to go to catch Bob Wylie..

Zaleski ran the Wing T offense with probably about 30 or 40 plays. Michaels defense played man coverage exclusively. Zone defenses didn't come into play until the mid 60's. So, you could get by with 2 coaches back then.

Great, now we have a junior football coach coaching professional football players. Who's next, they hire the head coach of Churchill High School? I envisioned a staff when Walters hired O'Shea that would encompass a lot more experience than this. And if I get slammed for having this opinion, so be it. I'm tired of all the losing. Hiring someone like Dave Jackson doesn't inspire a lot of confidence that this is the right staff to get things back on the winning track. At least we know some Bomber traditions are alive & well. He probably came cheap.

Willy better play every snap in 2014 or we're dead.

Twenty seven year old Rusty Johnson, an NFL veteran who was a late cut of the New York Giants a few weeks ago. Johnson was brought in after a week of training camp.