Bye Week Thread: Complacency, Budget & Leadership,

[BigBlue]

 

Remember Swaggerville?

I think that was the most fun year for me, ever, watching our Big Blue. I don’t think we’ve ever come close to duplicating that kind of magnitude on defence. It spread to the whole team, all three phases of the game: special-teams and   offense’s rose to the occasion game after game but it was the talent and special pride on defence that carried the day, week after week after week.

Any idea why we could not get that back now or in the near future?

Edited September 17, 2023 by BigBlue

[17to85]

2019 playoff run D was far superior to swaggerville.

[Booch]

Just now, 17to85 said:

2019 playoff run D was far superior to swaggerville.

YUP...We need to get back to 2019 defensive set up roster wise, as well as insert some hungry players who are earning the spot on the field...not rewarded it

[Noeller]

2021 D was the best maybe in the history of the WBB FC, never mind 2019....

[17to85]

8 minutes ago, Booch said:

YUP...We need to get back to 2019 defensive set up roster wise, as well as insert some hungry players who are earning the spot on the field...not rewarded it

Set up is not totally dissimilar,  just that Bennett is not anywhere close to kongbo in terms of effectiveness, no one else on the roster is as effective as Hansen and we have no one nearly as good as Stove on the roster.

Talent injection please.

Just now, Noeller said:

2021 D was the best maybe in the history of the WBB FC, never mind 2019....

Not all 2019, specifically the end ofnseason playoff run D. That was something special.

[Booch]

Just now, 17to85 said:

Set up is not totally dissimilar,  just that Bennett is not anywhere close to kongbo in terms of effectiveness, no one else on the roster is as effective as Hansen and we have no one nearly as good as Stove on the roster.

Talent injection please.

Not all 2019, specifically the end ofnseason playoff run D. That was something special.

and in 2019...we made some significant moves and juggling in the back 3rd of the season too....we realized issues then....hopefully this staff realizes them again

[BigBlue]

Complacency

I  started my post last week by saying the Bombers were professionals. They would get it done. It was other things I was worried about. I still feel that way. And, we are good. What I am saying is that some of the players are trying to do too much, especially our leaders. We get people criticizing Biggie for losing a step but I really feel like he is trying to compensate for under skilled players around him like at linebacker and defensive end. It’s like that with certain other players trying to do too much.

On the other side of the ball, many of our opponents are preparing for the Brady Oliveira show by scheming with some kind of fill the box positioning patterns. Yesterday, Hamilton did something very specific and it kept Brady well under 100 yards

Why do we not regularly game plan to take advantage of the expected fill the box defenses that we see so often. Counter plays and receiver reverses seem to have been working very well; but they are salt-and-pepper not the main course. There must be a whole set of receiving patterns that would take advantage of these lopsided defensive schemes.

Is it our coaches relying on our big boys are better than your big boys? Is strategy not all about detecting the enemy’s weaknesses and running the whole army through it? I remember Lapo too often running straight up the middle into the teeth of that tight box.

Why can’t Richie  Hall have a surprise attack early in the game. Why does he stick to plain-vanilla and stick to it tightly  before deciding what adjustments to make? We seem to be stuck on bend don't break. Then the defensive calls change as they get near the red zone. That has been working. Yesterday it did not work at all.

Special teams: who is our special teams coordinator? I never hear his name. Is it still Michael O’Shea? Is this not were we should see his pride bursting out? Yes we might have a trick player or two.  But it looks like special teams has become the most problematic part of our game. What is Moss doing about it?

 

Edited September 17, 2023 by BigBlue

[17to85]

Do you bold and enlarge your text because you think your thoughts are so special? 

Insert Billy Madison we are all dumber for having listened to it gif here.

[Slimy Sculpin]

Like most Bomber fans, I'm concerned about the team's recent play and I've been concerned about the special team play since the season started. Somewhere on this forum quite a while ago, someone noted that Coach O'Shea mentioned that a new system was being implemented this season and that some of the STers were still adjusting. I thought it must be a new Special Teams coach. However, Paul Boudreau, the ST coach, has been here for seven years. Any thoughts as to why the team would mess with something that was working so well for so many years? (e.g., new kickers?)

[JuranBoldenRules]

27 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

2019 playoff run D was far superior to swaggerville.

Hall's defenses here in general have been great at turning over the ball.

That is what is missing this year, combined with offense turning the ball over and special teams too often losing field position battle makes the margin for this team to win games much slighter. 

It's mostly on the O to come out with points early.  D has had a handful of dominant games but not a lot of big plays.  Pass rush is not very impactful and coverages are not at all aggressive.

[BigBlue]

 Leadership

 

One of the hugest problems  great leaders have is trying to duplicate past successes. If it worked then it will work even better now.

Team culture it seems to me has been the biggest reason we have been such a wonderful team. Everybody has been sacrificing for each other. Everybody has been patiently waiting their “turn”. Roster changes were rare. It was when an injury occurred that you might finally get in. Stick to the season opener lineup and then play  next man up. It really worked wonderfully. But is it still?

The reason it’s so hard to duplicate success is the new situations are seldom the same as the past situations. A true leader will see what has shifted and deploys his army accordingly. The average leader just keeps pounding away at past solutions; he’s not coming up with new deployment schemes specific to his changing personnel. In that case people aren’t always playing to their strengths and are too often being asked to be a square peg in a round hole.

From the beginning of the game yesterday I could tell something was just not right. I do not know what it was but I could feel it very strongly. Has it become “ho-hum, let’s go do it again!” Or is it something else?

I am not questioning anybody’s attitude; it seems praiseworthy. I believe some kind of elephant has just shown up in the parlor…

Who is in charge of the diagnosis?

Edited September 17, 2023 by BigBlue

[Noeller]

20 minutes ago, Slimy Sculpin said:

Like most Bomber fans, I'm concerned about the team's recent play and I've been concerned about the special team play since the season started. Somewhere on this forum quite a while ago, someone noted that Coach O'Shea mentioned that a new system was being implemented this season and that some of the STers were still adjusting. I thought it must be a new Special Teams coach. However, Paul Boudreau, the ST coach, has been here for seven years. Any thoughts as to why the team would mess with something that was working so well for so many years? (e.g., new kickers?)

Osh said in a CJOB pre game that it was time to change it because they'd been using the same system for years and they needed something new. He seemed confident that they would get it figured out and thar once they did, it would be superior to the old one. To me it's a lack of talent. There should be ST aces coming in from CIS every single year ...

Edited September 17, 2023 by Noeller

[BigBlue]

Budget

 

I am guessing that we do not have a budget problem but it sure feels that we do, sometimes. I  remember earlier in the season we were all clambering for the team to bring in another high-end defensive linemen or at least an experienced veteran. Ed Lemon was available for quite some time. But no moves. Was he too expensive or was it something about the next man up mentality?

in the past Kyle Walters has come up with key trades and also brought in a few good players midseason. We have passed the NFL cutdown date. Yes a lot of things have changed so signing some of these cuts is harder. Nonetheless there are still plenty of them and it seems our scouting team is able to identify who we really want.

Yes and I know it takes a while to fit in to a new   playbook and learn what your teammates are doing. But at least we could have them ready for next man up.

We brought in a new kick/punt returner. Would he be immediately ready? All that Parker did was catch the ball and go  two or three steps forward. Almost any competent returner could do that. A newbie could be instructed to do that and to keep his powder dry for the first game or t wo. Special-teams was a difference maker yesterday.

Do we  have the will to make key personnel changes?

Are we unwilling to experiment a little?

It is our our budget too tight to do what needs to be done?

Or is it pride: that we will not take a player from another organization because we “grow everything our own around here”?

Is anyone vetoing what Mr. Walters is trying to do?

Do we really have the will to be champion again?

BTW for those who asked I use a large font because my eyesight has become so poor. I will font it down.

Edited September 17, 2023 by BigBlue

[Noeller]

Time to fire up the ol' mute function on here again.... by gar it's been awhile....

[17to85]

Well that explains why your takes are so poor. You can't see what the **** is going on.

[BigBlue]

16 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Well that explains why your takes are so poor. You can't see what the **** is going on.

thats very true ... I might as well be watching the radio

[Mark H.]

1 hour ago, BigBlue said:

 

Remember Swaggerville?

I think that was the most fun year for me, ever, watching our Big Blue. I don’t think we’ve ever come close to duplicating that kind of magnitude on defence. It spread to the whole team, all three phases of the game: special-teams and   offense’s rose to the occasion game after game but it was the talent and special pride on defence that carried the day, week after week after week.

Any idea why we could not get that back now or in the near future?

I do remember Swaggerville, but I do not remember the O rising up with the D. The team won games in spite of the O, not because of them.  I recall games going something like this: the D gets half a dozen turnovers, most of which result in field goals - Bombers win 13-12.

[SpeedFlex27]

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

Do you bold and enlarge your text because you think your thoughts are so special? 

Insert Billy Madison we are all dumber for having listened to it gif here.

Why do we need a bye week thread when we already have a 2023 Blue Bomber Season Discussion Thread? Oh wait, it's the investment money man with another brainstorm.  

[Slimy Sculpin]

55 minutes ago, Noeller said:

Osh said in a CJOB pre game that it was time to change it because they'd been using the same system for years and they needed something new. He seemed confident that they would get it figured out and thar once they did, it would be superior to the old one. To me it's a lack of talent. There should be ST aces coming in from CIS every single year ...

Thanks for confirming a new ST system. You may be correct about a lack ST "aces" as it currently stands. (I guess there are a few good STers on the IR which doesn't help.) Hmmm, so O'Shea figures that it was time for a change. I wonder if he feels the same way about Hall's D-system(s) that has been here for what seems like an eternity.😊

[Fatty Liver]

47 minutes ago, BigBlue said:

thats very true ... I might as well be watching the radio

Very easy to oversize font on your browser for reading by increasing the zoom factor.

[Blue In BC]

1 hour ago, Noeller said:

Osh said in a CJOB pre game that it was time to change it because they'd been using the same system for years and they needed something new. He seemed confident that they would get it figured out and thar once they did, it would be superior to the old one. To me it's a lack of talent. There should be ST aces coming in from CIS every single year ...

I mentioned it a few times and questions why it was taking so long to adjust and / or fix the problem.  It's football. 12 guys run down field and the CFL is over 100 years old. Not much new to see here. Placement, hang time are not new terms.

[Booch]

27 minutes ago, Blue In BC said:

I mentioned it a few times and questions why it was taking so long to adjust and / or fix the problem.  It's football. 12 guys run down field and the CFL is over 100 years old. Not much new to see here. Placement, hang time are not new terms.

Yeah not sure if that was just a veiled excuse ..an issue of some long in tooth st guys who we just keep leaning on...but I think a decision to change something just for sake of change especially when it was working..and having basically all the same guys save for 3 or so is a pretty bad coaching decision...and to continue trying to implement it as it seems to be getting worse is even a poorer coaching decision...compounded by other poor decisions 

[Wanna-B-Fanboy]

6 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Do you bold and enlarge your text because you think your thoughts are so special? 

Insert Billy Madison we are all dumber for having listened to it gif here.

@BigBluealready mentioned in a previous post that his eye sight was poor and need a larger font.

 

Edit: never mind, I see you saw it... and still shat on him.

Edited September 17, 2023 by Wanna-B-Fanboy

[Bubba Zanetti]

7 hours ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Hall's defenses here in general have been great at turning over the ball.

That is what is missing this year, combined with offense turning the ball over and special teams too often losing field position battle makes the margin for this team to win games much slighter. 

It's mostly on the O to come out with points early.  D has had a handful of dominant games but not a lot of big plays.  Pass rush is not very impactful and coverages are not at all aggressive.

When getting pressure. Its been non-existent lately and has led directly to loses. Paging Willie Jefferson....

[BigBlue]

BUDGET

Mike said " There are simply adjustments that aren’t being made and something needs to be done about it. We need the staff to have a long, hard look at what happens within their offices because I see so many deficiencies that are coming directly from our coaching staff. There’s not much that they’re doing right now that I care for - the preparation, execution and player management is all leaving a ton to be desired and they’re smart enough to realize it. How are they going to address it? "

One of the problems is Lawlers huge salary - - is it not somewheres around $200,000? With the league's new Chris Jones rules coaches and other support staff are included in the salary-cap. We could use additional help in the form of more positional coaches or better technical work in terms of film breakdown and other matters that the coaches are having to do themselves. They already worked night and day and having to do "your own typing" eventually wears them down. They can easily lose the ir sharpness over such tiny things.

I do believe budget is a real issue for the Blue right now. It's kind of lopsided at the moment and we just don't have the usual behind the scenes people that we hired so readily in yesteryear. I don't know this; I am just noticing and making an educated guess.

The league has to deal with its insane salary-cap on non-players. Will Miller step up?

Edited September 18, 2023 by BigBlue