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On This Day In Bombers History:

Noeller

By Noeller
in Blue Bomber Discussion

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Starman115 Mentor

Starman115

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, blue_gold_84 said:

I was still living in Winnipeg way back then and was at this game, sitting in the upper deck on the East side. Certainly among my many memorable times at the old stadium. I was lucky to have met Rod Hill near the start of the following season.

 

SpeedFlex27 Grand Master

SpeedFlex27

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

5! Count em 5. If I was a quarterback I wouldn’t even be throwing his direction after the first 3. What an amazing feat. 

The problem for Mike Kerrigan that day was Less Browne played the other cornerback position. 

  • 8 months later...
SpeedFlex27 Grand Master

SpeedFlex27

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Noeller said:

Yesterday... Possibly the most underrated coach in cfl history. I get why Wally and The Don get all the love, but Grant should be in the convo for greatest CFL coach ever... 

You won't get any argument about that from me. Grant won 102 regular season games & 4 out of 6 Grey Cups. Most younger CFL fans & media probably don't know that much about him. It was decades before their time. Another coach that barely gets a mention is Frank Clair who won 3 in Ottawa & I believe another one or two in Toronto before coaching in Ottawa. Or Frank "Pop" Ivy who won 3 Grey Cups in a row in Edmonton in the 50's.

Hugh Campbell, Wally, Matthews, Bud Grant & Frank Clair are my Top 5. 

Edited by SpeedFlex27
Noeller Grand Master

Noeller

Posted
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Posted
34 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

I did some research, Campbell, Clair, Buono & Matthews won 5 GC's. Grant won 4 in the shortest period of time. Ten seasons. To me, to be in the Top 5 the Gold Standard has to be a minimum of 4 wins. 

If Grant hadn't left for The League, who knows what he might have done up here.... 

SpeedFlex27 Grand Master

SpeedFlex27

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 hours ago, Noeller said:

If Grant hadn't left for The League, who knows what he might have done up here.... 

Grant would have had to start over & that wouldn'r have been easy. There wasn't much left of the old dynasty when he left after the 1966 season. The cupboards  were becoming pretty bare. I think he knew that he took his Bomber team as far as he could as a Head Coach.

Things were looking bleak especially qb wise. Ken Ploen was getting injured a lot as his OL was suffering through retirements & young guys coming in with little experience to start. Ploen would pay the price of their inexperience. He missed a lot of time his final season in 1967. 

Leo Lewis retired after the 1966 season as did other key veterans. Both Ploen & Frank Rigney retired at the same time before the 1968 season. Talk about a double whammy for the Bombers to absorb. All the retirements after Grant left was something his longtime assistant & now new HC Joe Zaleski just wasn't ready for.

The opportunity to coach a good team in Minnesota was too much for Grant to pass up. At that time, the NFL was starting to become the juggernaut it is now & player salaries were escalating. The CFL was falling behind both the NFL & AFL. Grant did what was right for him. He earned it.

Edited by SpeedFlex27

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