HardCoreBlue

You loved the George Cortez hire, so I'm okay with your opinion. Compare their coaching resumes before making the jump to HC and you would see why. Far as I can see O'shea was hired because ... 1. He was a good player on good teams. 2 . He coached something. You're right. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he is regarded as one of the best on-field leaders in the history of the CFL. I'll jump in on this one. Although I was hoping for Cortez, I don't mind the hire and yes, you're right, great on-field leader in O'shea. However, the 64 dollar question that will be answered in time, does that translate into being a great head coach? I hope so. Look at Wayne Gretzky, great on-ice leader, average Head coach. It's not always a slam dunk. But anything looks good right now considering what we've endured that past few seasons and the direction our expectations took, e.g., wanting to win to getting a high draft pick.

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.

Short answer, Yes. On a scale of 1 to 10, one being not thrilled to ten being estatic, about a six for me. Overall as a GM. he's an unknown commodity so pretty much a wait and see feeling about him.

Love your optimism... Like JBR said, it would be crazy for Collaros to re-sign in TO and let them control what happens to him. They have to trade his rights or lose him for nothing in FA. And as 17to85 alluded to, who really gives a crap about tampering? The slap on the wrist from the CFL would be worth it, as this is too important for us to screw up. I'm not sold on the fact that if we don't get Collaros that it's all over for us. I'm guessing it's not what you meant but I'm hoping we diversify our efforts to land a bonifide QB and not get tunnel vision on one player.

No, it's not one (hard assed) or the other (players coach). It's a combination of both knowing when to use one over the other at appropriate times.

I like the idea of Associate Coach for Cortez but can't seem him making a lateral move here as OC even if their sick of him.

I finally saw the Big Bang episode where Sheldon used the line you have adopted. Funny stuff.

If I was GM, I'd go with George Cortez based on intitution, gut feel, observation and, ultimately, to test my theory. Hey it's fantasy, I have that luxury of no pressure other than feeling crappy or good between June and November based on this decision. I like the fact that he's tried (and predominatly failed) as a head coach. The recency of this 'experience' (last year) and his learnings will translate into the needed changes he knows he needs to make to be successful. Most importantly the needed changes in how to lead a team, how to manage a team, how to delegate (or not) as appropriate, how to deal with the media, how to deal with differing player personalities, how to have those tough discussions when needed, how to be appropriately rah rah when needed, how to deal with a multitude of fan perspectives, how to deal with assistant coaches, how to deal with depth, how to deal with scouting, how to deal with upper management/boards etc etc. The obvious point is his role is not to draw out the x and o's. Bring in O'Shea, Berry, K. Jones, others for that. As I've said before, I like the mix he brings to the table and the potential of realistic hirings needed to fill-in the necessary gaps. I'd roll the dice with him.

Can I get an Irony Alert on aisle 1? I'm pleased with this news. O'Shea would be one of the few "first timers" I would like to see coach our depleted team, the other was Dave Dickenson. Help me understand (anyone) with clarity why our organization would again give the reins to a 'first timer' considering how it's gone with the last couple of choices? Yes, absoutley, experienced head coaches taking on another head coaching gig have surley shite the bed, but maybe we swing the pendulum back to experience and try it agaiin. No? Maybe the best of both worlds is to hire George Cortez who has a bit of both. I get the sentiment, but for me, hiring a past failure as head coach is no better than hiring someone with no experience. In one situation, you're hoping someone who sucked before will be great now, while in the other situation you're hoping someone with no track record will be great now. Sure, the past experience might help, but when you're talking about a 62 year old man... is he really going to change his approach that much this time around? I doubt it. I get what you're saying but some former head coaches with past failures also have past successess. It's not that cut and dry when looking at whether a former head coach would be a good fit simply based on their most recent last tenure and/or age. Not certain on the validity of your statement about being 62 years old. I think your saying old dogs can't learn new tricks. In the same breath I could flip your argument around and suggest that a more seasoned age might be more inclined to know what to do this time (or at least who to surround themselves with) due to their knowledge gained over the years. And no, I'm not 62 years old yet. :-)

Can I get an Irony Alert on aisle 1? I'm pleased with this news. O'Shea would be one of the few "first timers" I would like to see coach our depleted team, the other was Dave Dickenson. Help me understand (anyone) with clarity why our organization would again give the reins to a 'first timer' considering how it's gone with the last couple of choices? Yes, absoutley, experienced head coaches taking on another head coaching gig have surley shite the bed, but maybe we swing the pendulum back to experience and try it agaiin. No? Maybe the best of both worlds is to hire George Cortez who has a bit of both.

OMG, you are...your…avatar. Sadly no. I wanted Kelly gone 1/2 thought the season. I dispised him with a passion. My avatar was changed out of my immense displeasure with the circus that has grown around these parts since last offseason and thought this season, I love the bombers, but after the abusive relationship we've had the past couple of seasons I begun to secretly hate them without being able to leave them.. Well put. I don't know if I'd use hate, but apathetic for sure. Quite the paradox if you're a true Bomber fan.

He's asking legitimate questions that we should all be asking. I hate the Riders, and it's painful to see them in a home town Grey Cup game. (It's even more painful that I'll be cheering for the Ticats, a team I also can't stand.) But why have they had so much success over the last 8-10 years and we've had mostly failure? We should definitely be looking at those key points BigBlue posted about. Saying, "Go to the Riders forum!" is like sticking your head in the sand. Let's figure this out so we can reverse our fortunes -- and maybe theirs, too! I agree, but easier said than done based on the mixed messages we're constantly bombarded with. One on the one hand you hear: 'Be your own person, don't change for anyone, be confident in who you are'. Then you hear, 'you can't do this alone, there is always room for improvement, look to others for support'. This trickles into sport mindsets as well. If you looked at professional sport organizations as one entity, some become very insular in their thinking and in their approach while others are more liberal in who they look towards for advice and support. My guess is that the Rough Rider organization has a good blend of people in appropriate positions that find the balance between 'I'll do it my way" with "Let's learn from others". Pet peeve police on patrol, but do you guys know you're not suppose to post INSIDE the quote of the previous poster? It makes it look like it's a part of their post. Under the line...UNDER. KTHXBYE. My bad.

He's asking legitimate questions that we should all be asking. I hate the Riders, and it's painful to see them in a home town Grey Cup game. (It's even more painful that I'll be cheering for the Ticats, a team I also can't stand.) But why have they had so much success over the last 8-10 years and we've had mostly failure? We should definitely be looking at those key points BigBlue posted about. Saying, "Go to the Riders forum!" is like sticking your head in the sand. Let's figure this out so we can reverse our fortunes -- and maybe theirs, too! I agree, but easier said than done based on the mixed messages we're constantly bombarded with. One on the one hand you hear: 'Be your own person, don't change for anyone, be confident in who you are'. Then you hear, 'you can't do this alone, there is always room for improvement, look to others for support'. This trickles into sport mindsets as well. If you looked at professional sport organizations as one entity, some become very insular in their thinking and in their approach while others are more liberal in who they look towards for advice and support. My guess is that the Rough Rider organization has a good blend of people in appropriate positions that find the balance between 'I'll do it my way" with "Let's learn from others".

I'm always perplexed when posters post things like this. We're stating opinions, sometimes based in fact, sometimes not, sometimes using our perspective, sometimes not, knowing we will have no say in the decision. Is this just a nice way at telling people to shut-up? Anyways, no thanks on Khari. A poster said this about Tim Burke and I think it applies to Khari Jones: "The Winnipeg BlueBomber Football Organization is not a coaching school'. It's one of the best lines I heard all year this year.

While muttering "I've got a bad feeling about this'

Something to the effect of (and I'm paraphrasing): why would I want to go there .. it's where kickers and their careers go to die .. Obviously he knows nothing about Bob Cameron. He could have at least qualified his remark geez. I'd take him.

Agree, good point. However, regardless of his level of impact to the team compared to the coach, the baggage he brings has to be disposed of. Unfair, maybe. But, remarkably coming from a guy like me, it's the unfortunate but needed decision in trying to run a successful business. Athletes now this, because most of them always call their vocation a business.

Unfortunately for Goltz he is in the same predicament as Burke. Regardless of his potential, if we are serious/commited in moving forward in creating a new, diffirent type of environment, we simply can't have him around due to the baggage, his fault or not.

Many good posts here that really reflects how close some of you follow the Bombers and the intimate knowledge you have about the game and players abilities. Wow. I'm no where near that type of understanding and rely on lot of you on that so I can constantly learn about that side of the game (especially now that I'm an assistant football coach for my nine year old son!). I'm your typical armchair QB that has closely watched the Bombers over time and gets extremely emotional in how they do. However I do think I can offer another layer to this conversation that I believe is equally important to the success of our team. If was GM I would a) rely on people like you, the experts, to help me make decisions on the nuts and bolts of scouting, drafting, protecting, signing etc and I would spend my more of time focusing on player, team, coaches, management dynamics to improve our 'culture' going forward. Similar to what Ed Hervey recently said, what types of people does this organization need to be successful for years to come (outside of their needed atleticism and knowledge of X's and O's)? I would develop a comprehensive list of these needed intangibles customized for this organization, the stuff you really can't quantifiablly measure, to help this organization turn around it's recent fortunes (I might get some help from outside expert sources who have no connection to this team to help create this list). Then I would compare this list to what we currently have in place from a player, coach, management, scout, marketing etc level) and begin to fill-in the gaps. I would be sure that I engage the right people at the right times appropriately and strategicically to ensure I'm being inclusive in my approach in this very important exercise to complement what a lot of you have said you'd do if you were GM. My hope is that it isn't Kyle Walters and Wade Miller cooking stuff up on the layer I'm focused on then pushing it out to the rest of the organization to accept. That will not work out well for us in the long term. If anyone in the organization doesn't believe in the importance of this type of focus and thinks it's soft and airy fairy I would ask them to leave the organization. As a GM, I obviously want to build a competitive team that wins sooner than later but I want to equally be part of building a healthy culture that would stay way after I drifted off into the sunset. That would be a great legacy to leave if you gave me the GM chair.

Wow, seriously, wow, if I'm a quality player who wants to be part of close-knit team and after hearing Burke's ongoing comments about 'talent defiencies, being bad etc.' why on earth would I want to here? The head coach ultimately sets the tone in the locker room and by his own words, he has failed miserably. I'm not suggesting there wern't bad players and talent defiencies, every team is met with that challenge for sure. I like his honesty, his humor, I always have, but I don't like his suttle and not so suttle 'throw under the bus' comments that are piling up. He isn't only jeopardizing his existing job, he's jeopardizing getting another job imo. Positive, challenging, supporting culture is huge in football, in any sport, in any profession and Burke is demonstrating that he is extremely weak in this area. Huge red flags if I'm thinking of hiring him. He needs to make adjustments quickly to repair/strengthen his reputation. Just some friendly non-solicited advice from me to him.

Well that'd be awfully ironiclol touche.. but burkes only been a hc for how long? mistakes are to be expected unfortunately.. Burke's been a head coach for longer than the majority of our roster have been pro football players. i dunno, guys who go thru big colleges are trained to be "pros" living by certain restrictions and acting a certain way.. you pull the same stuff as a pro in college, you get the boot.. i get you despise burke and his HC ability thus far but you gotta admit, he is (was?) not in the best position for success.. he would have to been an outstanding head coach to have any.success with the bullshit that has gone on here in the the last 2 seasons.. rarely. As for Burke, he has himself to blame for a strong majority of this team's issues. Yes, he's responsible for his coaching responsibilities/accountabilities and needs to shoulder that awy better than he is demonstrating BUT accountability and responsibility in a professional organization is a shared thing and this year does not fall completely on Burke's doorstep. Yes of course he has to go but a few others need top follow him out the door.

It's obviously a combination of things for our disaterous season. Appropriate blame can be evenly distributed among the many levels of the organization, top to bottom, bottom to top for different reasons but ultimately sharing the same outcome. But to have some fun, simply moving Calgary's entire management/coaching staff over to us, I still don't know if that would have got us into this year's post season with our existing starting and practice roster. I think it absolutely would have had this team into the post season. Not like the other eastern teams have been world beaters. Look at the improvements this offense has made with swapping offensive coordinators, and it's not like Bellefeuile is a great OC or anything. Put a good coaching staff like Calgary has on this team from day 1 and I have no doubts there are a playoff team because good coaches make players better and bad coaches make players look worse than they are. Yup, good point, agree completely but still not sure if it would have put us over the top (i.e., enough to make the playoffs) with the group we assembled this year . . .

It's obviously a combination of things for our disaterous season. Appropriate blame can be evenly distributed among the many levels of the organization, top to bottom, bottom to top for different reasons but ultimately sharing the same outcome. But to have some fun, simply moving Calgary's entire management/coaching staff over to us, I still don't know if that would have got us into this year's post season with our existing starting and practice roster.

Agreed. Aside from Walters and Dickenson, this is a terrible list. No, aside from Dickenson that is a terrible list. Mark my words, we will NOT win a Grey Cup with Walters running things. This team needs and entire reboot in attitude and ideology. It needs a proven winner. That's not Walters, at least not right now. As sad as the above list is, I can pretty much guarantee we will see a lot of those names (except Rick C will be HC of the Esks). Could see us giving the headset to Khari. Yippee. Correct, there in lies the 64 dollar question. Who would be the best to lead that type of challenging endeavor for our WBB? From a head coach/coaching staff point of view, Tim Burke comes across to me as a nice genuine guy but I don't think he has the necessary skill set to lead this type of thing in the lockeroom. He may know his x and o's but seems quite befuddled when it comes to the complexties od culture shaping and maintaining. And as many posters have said before, the moment he said our team has talent defiencies was the moment that confirmed this for me. Yes it's true but true for most other teams as well. The timing, optics and how it was said was brutal. How about giving Rich Stubler or George Cortez an interview for upcoming vacant coaching positions, i.e., basically for any position as our existing coaching staff will be let go at some point during the off season. As for Kyle Walters, he's a hard one to gauge. I would first look at the Asst GM's of other teams and out of work GM's and work from there. If I'm Wade Miller, I'm doing a whole lot of interviewing to maximize us getting this right.