2024/2025 Blue Bombers Off-Season Thread

[Brandon]

I'm not sure if this is still the case,  but 15 - 20 years ago the club used to pay for housing i.e. players stayed at hotels for free with teammates as roommates  and the team would cater food during practices/gameday any day they were at work.   They also had deals in place with some local companies that would supply vehicles,  discounts at restaurants,  other perks.      Back then their was no issues with players making sufficient money to live. 

Quite a stark contrast to Goldeyes players who were making peanuts and usually living at strangers houses during the season.  Almost like super fans would adopt players and allow them to stay at their houses rent free.   Our admin was doing this as recent as 5 years or so ago.   

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2024-12-17 at 4:11 PM, HardCoreBlue said:

The low scores across the board sans Hamilton on nutrition and diet fascinate me being that these men are professional athletes. Is this a cost issue?

Our training camp mark in that report card just isn't good enough. It irks me to no end the way O'Shea handles it. We need our players to be there at every practice if they are legitimately able to practice. O'Shea has to stop letting players like Neufeld & other miss the entire camp because it's supposedly too hard on them. If players don't want to practice then they should retire or be cut. It's not a football resort. It's important prep for the season. That's on O'Shea for making it way too easy. Enough of the "He doesn't need to practice anyway". That has to stop. It should be, "Get on the field & practice". No way anyone who misses all of training camp & two exhibition games should be in the starting lineup on Opening Day. I don't care who he is. Another 0-4 start may turn into a 4-14 season. 

[rebusrankin]

I'm not sure whether the lack of signings should trouble me or whether I should take it as a sign that the club is making hard decisions and some older, less productive vets aren't coming back.

[SpeedFlex27]

9 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

I'm not sure whether the lack of signings should trouble me or whether I should take it as a sign that the club is making hard decisions and some older, less productive vets aren't coming back.

No idea why guys like Alexander & Adams were in such a hurry to sign. Alexander could have got more in free agency than he did signing that new Als contract. In Adams case, he wasn't a free agent but like every other team he's been on, his agent has allowed them to walk all over him. Taking a bit less to sign with the Stamps??? Like WTF dude, after what the Lions did to you & the desperate way the Stamps needed you, you should have held out for more. Instead, the same thing that happened to him with every team he played for will happen again at some point. 

I just hope we sign a decent OC. Not sure if hiring from within is the answer. 

[SpeedFlex27]

21 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

I'm not sure whether the lack of signings should trouble me or whether I should take it as a sign that the club is making hard decisions and some older, less productive vets aren't coming back.

The delay in signing an OC is a bit worrisome. 

[Goalie]

25 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

The delay in signing an OC is a bit worrisome. 

Why? It’s December not march 

[Noeller]

 

 

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2024-12-19 at 12:41 PM, Goalie said:

Why? It’s December not march 

Other teams are moving forward fast. I'm not panicking but teams are making moves to stock their coaching staffs. Monson in Hamilton. Fields in Ottawa. Benevides in BC. Sherritt to Edmonton. We need an OC but just seem to be sitting by watching. 

[Fatty Liver]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Other teams are moving forward fast. I'm not panicking but teams are making moves to stock their coaching staffs. Monson in Hamilton. Fields in Ottawa. Benevides in BC. Sherritt to Edmonton. We need an OC but just seem to be sitting by watching. 

I think they've already made up their minds to hire in house, that's why they're in no rush at all to interview outside coaches.  What they really mean by "interview process" comes down to shuffling office spaces.

[SpeedFlex27]

7 hours ago, Fatty Liver said:

I think they've already made up their minds to hire in house, that's why they're in no rush at all to interview outside coaches.  What they really mean by "interview process" comes down to shuffling office spaces.

The Stamps did all of their hiring in house for years until there were so many coaching offspring as GM's, Head Coaches & Coordinators that they started looking & making coaching decisions like they were from the isolated mountains from Arkansas or Tennessee. Hiring from within just decreases the coaching gene pool & precludes any new ideas or breath of fresh air when it comes to everything from new ideas to team culture. 

Edited December 21 by SpeedFlex27

[bb1]

On 2024-12-19 at 1:15 PM, SpeedFlex27 said:

The delay in signing an OC is a bit worrisome. 

[Booch]

i dont have a positive feeling or vibe from more inside hiring...we need infusion of new ideals...mindsets and blood

[17to85]

1 hour ago, Booch said:

i dont have a positive feeling or vibe from more inside hiring...we need infusion of new ideals...mindsets and blood

On the other hand younger was an inside hire and it worked out pretty well. 

[SpeedFlex27]

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

On the other hand younger was an inside hire and it worked out pretty well. 

The odd coach on staff who shows he's ready for more responsibility the sure, promote him. But keeping everything else in house is a mistake as Booch says. Do you get the sense there's going to be a run on Bomber assistant coaches? Maybe, we'll see.

15 hours ago, bb1 said:

Lol. That is funny. We'll see. Careful what you wish for.

[17to85]

7 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

But keeping everything else in house is a mistake as Booch says

Not necessarily... hiring outside could wind up being a mistake. The key is the people hiring making the right choice regardless of where they come from... and can we really criticize the coaching hires from this group that much?

[rebusrankin]

Man we need a signing announcement so we all have something new to argue about ... um I mean discuss.

[Booch]

12 hours ago, 17to85 said:

On the other hand younger was an inside hire and it worked out pretty well. 

I had said the yrs prior we should promote him....and he's gonna be one of the better DC's ....and we had to or we would have lost him....so sometimes when you have a fresh new up and comer it makes sense and pays off...his defence was nothing like Ritchies.....so in a sense he was internal but brought in a new mindset and philosophy

Other times it's not the right thing and you need to switch lanes a bit....but also just because you don't read about it in the press doesn't mean they haven't talked to others outside an internal guy...I now we have talked to/discussed things with 3 outside the organization

[17to85]

All I'm saying is none of us know enough about the internal guys to say whether it's a mistake or not. 

Key is trusting the people in charge to make the right decisions,  like they did with the DC position last offseason.

[WBBFanWest]

On 2024-12-21 at 3:40 AM, SpeedFlex27 said:

The Stamps did all of their hiring in house for years until there were so many coaching offspring as GM's, Head Coaches & Coordinators that they started looking & making coaching decisions like they were from the isolated mountains from Arkansas or Tennessee. Hiring from within just decreases the coaching gene pool & precludes any new ideas or breath of fresh air when it comes to everything from new ideas to team culture. 

Remind me again, where did our current GM come from?

[Mark H.]

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

All I'm saying is none of us know enough about the internal guys to say whether it's a mistake or not. 

Key is trusting the people in charge to make the right decisions,  like they did with the DC position last offseason.

But then there's nothing to female dog about.

[Goalie]

People acting like we haven’t been to 5 straight cups and that we are some bottom of the basement organization is a weird off season take. I’ll trust the ppl who actually do it for a living to get it right. Why go internal tho when you can get a guy who has moved team to team and won nothing. 

[Booch]

well we went internal with Buck and he had one season with a Cup but that was when more players were in their prime and offensively wasn't really reason we won in 2021....what has he won here after that?...zip.....and taken a lot of heat for it as well....he worked under Lapo.....and now the internal hire guy will have worked under lapo....and buck...and been ensconced in this way we do things now for a while.....which in itself needs to be tweeked....so going internal again....because thats what we do to me seems like the safe move....but not the best one.....flame away

[rebusrankin]

23 hours ago, Mark H. said:

But then there's nothing to female dog about.

Price of gas? Lower Canadian dollar? Carbon Tax? Cold Weather?

[Booch]

2 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Price of gas? Lower Canadian dollar? Carbon Tax? Cold Weather?

lower Canadian dollar is excellent for my u.s stocks....gains on top of gains

 

[17to85]

23 minutes ago, Booch said:

well we went internal with Buck and he had one season with a Cup but that was when more players were in their prime and offensively wasn't really reason we won in 2021....what has he won here after that?...zip.....and taken a lot of heat for it as well....he worked under Lapo.....and now the internal hire guy will have worked under lapo....and buck...and been ensconced in this way we do things now for a while.....which in itself needs to be tweeked....so going internal again....because thats what we do to me seems like the safe move....but not the best one.....flame away

On then other hand with buck they made the grey cup every year which they certainly didn't accomplish before he was OC. 

There is nuance to everything.