Captain Blue

I find myself in an odd position reading these comments because I'm not a big fan of the LaPo hire...but some of the hate is downright ridiculous. The idea that he was simply along for the ride in his first OC time here is just simply wrong. Obviously having great players like Khari and Milt help make scheming easier. I don't think its unreasonable to say LaPo benefitted from the having those guys and that he helped them. As a head coach he led us to our last Grey Cup appearance and had to make an offense work with Buck Pierce and several other scrubs. Like I said, I don't like the hire. I will fight the notion that suddenly he gets no credit for his successes.

Do the Bombers not have a stream of the presser right now? I only have seen the Periscope one...which sucks for anyone who wants more than a phone's view.

The Bombers are fighting optics here, fair or unfair. They very well could have done a thorough background search involving several potential hires and decided LaPolice was the best one. That O'Shea knows he's got one last shot and went with a guy who has prior OC success rather than unproven rookie coordinators. This regime has no ties to LaPolice's prior coaching stops here, either (though I guess Wade was a former player if you're desperately connecting dots). Or they could have picked the guy that's stayed in Winnipeg and was formerly employed with the franchise and thought that it was a safe option. For all we know the Bombers' brass strongly believes that the first situation played out. Because of the Bombers' history though, many fans (self included), are at least skeptical how it played out. Its not entirely fair to the team, but that's what the perspective they'll have to fight. I like LaPo and I think he's an underrated offensive mind from the way he's viewed here. I do however think the Bombers took the safe route.

I'm still kinda hopeful Buck might be that guy one day... I figure maybe Howell rather Buck.

In fairness to LaPo he had some good ideas and schemes here as a head coach too. Got stuck with weak personnel. With Willy he at least is working with a full deck of cards.

It's nice that we have two experienced coordinators now under Osh at least. Both with success in Saskatchewan funny enough.

Yuck. Hope third time's the charm.

Murphy isn't going to Saskatchewan to be an AGM.

Lawless has been pumping LaPo up all year.

Wow. I expect movement now quick

I'd be thrilled with Maas (denied permission already makes it unlikely), Cortez or Brady. Probably Jackson too.

You should. The CFL is a constantly evolving league. Would you want Wally Buono as a head coach these days? I sure wouldn't. Why? Because the game has passed him by, and there's an argument to be made that the same thing has happened to Cortez. Cortez wouldn't be my first choice. Like I said ... if Willy likes him enough, fine. But I'm wary of hiring him. I would be more concerned about potential lack of evolution or adaptation if he hadn't coached here in a few seasons. His BC offense was perfectly fine with Jennings.

If Saskatchewan is willing to offer that much then Jones is gonna be heading there pretty quickly. I remain hopeful we get someone other than LaPo.

I'd be pretty happy with Cortez. Offense with Jennings was pretty good. Another experienced coordinator, would remind me similar to the Hall hire.

Kind of surprised the Esks are even letting him talk with the Riders. For all the praise that the Riders are getting for moving aggressively for Jones, I think its a terrible decision by Edmonton to consider letting him go. Maybe it ends up being nothing, but I'm surprised that Sask has made it even to this point in their pursuit.

I don't mind the new logo. It looks alright, and it'll look good on jerseys, helmets, etc. I also liked the old logo. Seems like all pretty standard marketing stuff and I don't see any major gaffes, so that's a plus. I'm excited for the new jerseys. If they get those right, I'll be ecstatic.

LaPo feels like an uninspired choice. Would have rather gone with a new, younger offensive guy. Think overall LaPo is pretty conservative. That said I thought he did a good job adding wrinkles to the offense weekly when he was here as a HC, but then just didn't have the personnel.

Click on your username in the top right, then 'My Settings' Then click on 'Ignore' Preferences on the left menu Then you can choose who and how you want to ignore them. Sweet, thanks!

Where is the ignore button? This will come in handy

Happens all the time actually in the CFL and other major sports leagues. Some coaches are available after staff changes, some are looking for promotions, some are looking for new challenges, etc. Just because you or someone else views a move to Winnipeg this way does not actually mean that everyone does. In my opinion that's what you are forgetting. Bad teams manage to hire good coaches all the time in pro sports.

I'll listen to this later when I get home, but at this point I don't what Walters has to say. He is well spoken and sounds smart - all great traits to have. He must be judged on his work. Single biggest problem this team has right now is him.

Miller won't do that with MOS. He'll earn every penny win or lose. I can't imagine the pressure that poor guy will be under next season. Ever worked at a job where you know that your firing is an inevitability? I have & it's a terrible situation. Except his firing isn't inevitable. Seems to be the tiny detail missing from your theory. He wins, he stays.

Good point. Wylie, Hall, & MB had all never seen a CFL game before being hired by the Bombers. Rumour has it that they thought they were joining a team in the Continental Football League...

Didn't say half price, you did but... think about it. How much would we have to pay Huff to come here? How much to snag guys like Milanovich? Austin? Jones? How much are we paying Walters & MOS? If you think it's similar to any of those guys, think again. We'd have to pay a premium to get any of those guys mentioned to come here if they were available. Maybe Jones came cheaper as he was never a HC before he went to Edmonton but he'll be in for a sizeable raise when contract talks start with the Eskimos if they haven't started already. What sort of point are you attempting to make? To put it bluntly, I don't think you have one. If ANYONE wanted to snag Milanovich, Hufnagel, or Austin right now, that team would have to pay top dollar. This isn't Bomber specific. There is a going rate for first time head coaches. I'm going to guess that they're all similarly compensated. You are creating a false argument because the Bombers choices weren't (a) hire O'Shea so you can get him cheaper or ( back up the truck for current Argonauts head coach Scott Milanovich. This is simply false.

I think our special teams was alright after O'Shea took over, but really I just loved the attitude he brought to that part of the team once Tracy was gone. We ran more fakes once Osh took over. That was the effect I thought we were going to get two years ago when we hired him.