Great Bombers article from Gary Lawless today

[gbill2004]

Start getting excited, Bombers fans

Team's brass knows about Canadian ball, for a change...

By: Gary Lawless

The first thing Kyle Walters did as new GM of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was look at the football operations budget and cut a big chunk out of the department's top salary and then plow it right back into scouting and coaching.

Coupled with a renewed commitment from the front office to spend more on football, the dividends have already been large. With the hiring of Buck Pierce as a running backs coach Friday, Bombers coach Mike O'Shea announced he'll have a coaching staff of 11 this season, which is two more than last year and the largest in club history according to the communications department.

The Bombers also have more scouts than last season and all in all the football operations department looks like a real, live pro-football outfit. Something that couldn't be said the last few years in Winnipeg. I made the statement a number of times during the Joe Mack era that the Bombers were beat long before the game ever got to the field. That can no longer be said.

Walters was handed the budget by CEO Wade Miller last summer during his time as acting GM and asked how he would change it. Walters took $100,000 out of the GMs salary and moved money around on the spreadsheet. And then he asked for even more money to spend on football. He got it.

Miller promised Walters he'd commit to putting the Bombers on a level playing field with the rest of the CFL's football operations departments and he's lived up to it. The Bombers will allocate more than $10 million for all things football this season. More than last year and catching up with most teams in the CFL.

One can argue more coaches and more scouts mean little if they don't add up to wins and that's a fair statement. As important as how much money one has to spend is how well that money gets spent.

This is where the Bombers have made their biggest improvements under Miller and Walters.

When the 2013 season began, the Bombers had a CEO with no football experience, a GM who proved to have little to no understanding of how to build a CFL roster, a head coach with no offensive experience in the CFL and an offensive co-ordinator who admitted he was still learning the CFL game. I couldn't make that up if I tried.

Today, they have a former player in Miller as CEO, a young GM in Walters but one with a lifetime of CIS and CFL roots, Hall of Fame player Mike O'Shea at head coach and two former quarterbacks Pierce and Danny McManus in the coaching and scouting ranks as well as seasoned and experienced CFL men Marcel Bellefeuille and Gary Etcheverry at the offensive and defensive co-ordinator positions.

Off the field, the Bombers are light years ahead of where they were at this time last season and if it doesn't equate to wins right away, it will in time. The Bombers were the worst-run organization in the CFL for a number of years but that can no longer be said.

The Mack era distinguished itself in its stubborn refusal to admit ignorance of the Canadian game. Beyond all of that era's many failings, this is why the team progressively got worse.

No one in Canada understands the nuances of the Canadian game better than Walters and O'Shea. They played three-down football all their lives. Then they moved into coaching it and in Walters' case to management.

I once asked Joe Mack what he thought of Brad Sinopoli as a player, who had been named winner of the Hec Creighton Trophy as Canada's best collegiate player the day before. He looked at me funny and then admitted he didn't know who I was talking about. That's akin to an NFL GM not knowing the Heisman winner. This wasn't a moment of weakness. Mack was a scout and by all accounts a good one. But he ignored the Canadian component of the CFL, which is foolish and unforgiveable.

Last week, I asked Walters about the upcoming CFL draft. He gave me a detailed description of the top five players and then told me he'd be drafting one of three players depending on their availability when he selects second overall. Gave me their names, strengths and weaknesses.

Walters also told me the draft was weak and fell off dramatically after the first five picks which is why he won't capitulate to Ottawa GM Marcel Desjardins' demand for the No. 2 pick for quarterback Kevin Glenn.

Does Walters want Glenn? Sure but he wants to ensure the future of the franchise and not just improve the club for a couple of seasons.

Bombers fans should be enthused but more about the long term health of their team than just this coming summer. The Bombers are back in good CFL hands from Miller to Walters to O'Shea. That's the best news of all.

[James]

Sweet

[gbill2004]

Interesting how Walters cut his own salary by $100,000 so that he could improve the team.

[James]

yes, it is interesting... really makes you see how serious he is about the organization. I'm feelin the love as a bomber fan. tis very noble of him!

[IC Khari]

What's really interesting is the things mentioned here are things that have been brought up for the past four or five seasons by many in here as being reasons the Bombers were not getting better. Good to see the team now gets it and has hired people who do in the football dept. Hopefully the team can get competitive real quick. Good on Walters for cutting his pay.

[road griller]

Polishing my Cup as we speak.   It will be hitting the mantle in the next year or two.

[holoman]

It's funny,  After reading this, I'm feeling a little more optimistic about the coaching/scouting staff

[wpgallday1960]

A great Lawless article. I'm expecting the sun to drop out of the sky at some point today.

In all seriousness, it is good to see the football operations beginning to operate on a level playing field with the rest of the league.

[17to85]

Another drive by of the past regime? Come on that's lazy writing. Seems like he's tooting Walters horn when maybe he should be tooting Millers horn more. It's the CEO not the GM who gives out more money for operations staff. And let's be honest here, Walters based on his experience level should be making less money as a GM too. It's an article that really is Lawless' MO. Hype up the people he likes while cutting down people he doesn't. There's nothing ground breaking there and until we see the results on the field it's all just self serving. 

[Brandon]

Interesting how Walters cut his own salary by $100,000 so that he could improve the team.

 

It didn't really say if it was by his choice or by Millers....  they could of over paid for Macks salary and then simply readjusted the payscale for Walters and used that savings on other coaches rather then putting it into the bank to save.

[sweep the leg]

Another drive by of the past regime? Come on that's lazy writing. Seems like he's tooting Walters horn when maybe he should be tooting Millers horn more. It's the CEO not the GM who gives out more money for operations staff. And let's be honest here, Walters based on his experience level should be making less money as a GM too. It's an article that really is Lawless' MO. Hype up the people he likes while cutting down people he doesn't. There's nothing ground breaking there and until we see the results on the field it's all just self serving. 

The CEO hands out the cash, but it's the GM who decides how it should be spent. By most accounts, he's doing a very good putting together the football ops. It doesn't matter what you think he should be making as a GM. Point is he could have taken more money for himself and chose instead to put it into areas that would be more beneficial to the team.

 

You seem to have the same MO as Lawless lately. Nobody will accuse you of cheating on Mack if you say something good about Walters...

[Tracker]

Any way you look at it, this is all good news for the faithful. The Bombers are showing signs of becoming a professional operation and even if we don't go to the Grey Cup game this year, Walters and Miller are establishing a foundation for years to come. People have a lot of patience if there is progress, and there has been more progress since Walters came on board as GM than in the past three years under Mack. I was hoping for Higgins as GM but am being more and more impressed with Walters.

[Mr Dee]

This article is a good recap of what has happened in the last little while and a fairly balanced synopsis of what has occurred over the last year or so.

Garth Buchko inexperienced…yes

Joe Mack stubborn and one-sided…admittedly.

Weak organization in terms of the football side of operations…embarrassingly so.

 

All these things are being corrected and we've seen an overhaul both in thinking and in practice…and that has led us to "catching up with other teams in the CFL."

Well, that's something anyway.

 

Everybody didn't know what to expect months ago when Walters and the little bulldog Miller were named to lead the Bombers.

Well, we have a better indication of that now and as Lawless says the team's brass knows a lot about Canadian football, and at least for that, we can get a little excited.

It's a decent article from Lawless.

[Maudie fingerjammer]

Another drive by of the past regime? Come on that's lazy writing. Seems like he's tooting Walters horn when maybe he should be tooting Millers horn more. It's the CEO not the GM who gives out more money for operations staff. And let's be honest here, Walters based on his experience level should be making less money as a GM too. It's an article that really is Lawless' MO. Hype up the people he likes while cutting down people he doesn't. There's nothing ground breaking there and until we see the results on the field it's all just self serving. 

Yes I guess the glass is half empty.... Really?

[iso_55]

Worst two GMs in Bomber history coincided with the two worst eras in Bomber football. Ken Bishop & Joe Mack. One because he had owned a local courier company & was clueless how to run a football team. The other because he was totally stupid, incompetent & his years of so called experience should have made him know better.

[17to85]

 

Another drive by of the past regime? Come on that's lazy writing. Seems like he's tooting Walters horn when maybe he should be tooting Millers horn more. It's the CEO not the GM who gives out more money for operations staff. And let's be honest here, Walters based on his experience level should be making less money as a GM too. It's an article that really is Lawless' MO. Hype up the people he likes while cutting down people he doesn't. There's nothing ground breaking there and until we see the results on the field it's all just self serving. 

The CEO hands out the cash, but it's the GM who decides how it should be spent. By most accounts, he's doing a very good putting together the football ops. It doesn't matter what you think he should be making as a GM. Point is he could have taken more money for himself and chose instead to put it into areas that would be more beneficial to the team.

 

You seem to have the same MO as Lawless lately. Nobody will accuse you of cheating on Mack if you say something good about Walters...

 

yeah but if a GM isn't given the cash what's he supposed to do? Look I like some of the stuff Walters is doing but it's gotten ridiculous the way people talk like it's been hit after hit. It's all still unproven, but I guess that's the Bomber fan way. New is better and if it's not well there's lots of buses to throw people under. 

[iso_55]

How can you keep justifying & supporting Joe Mack? The guy was one of the worst 2 GMs in team history. He ground this team into the dirt. Our overall Canadian talent is terrible. Our American talent is fair. We had no scouting. There are huge gaping holes all over this roster. It's all on Mack. Not Mike Kelly. He left after the 2009 season so blaming Baldy isn't valid anymore not unless you believe in 10 year rebuilds. 17, forget it. Mack's gone. Ain't never coming back... You can move on.

[basslicker]

Wait until we start 2-7 and see what Lawless says.  He will turn like he always does and try to say he said it all along.  All this article is about is Lawless telling us how smart he is and stupid the Bombers have been.  

 

About the Sinopoli thing, maybe Mack was trying to be funny with Gary...as in, who wants a canadian QB?

 

One thing about our staff he leaves out is a 71 year old QB with no CFL experience.  Not huge, but still he left it out.

 

I'm not getting too excited.  I've been let down hard before.  I'll wait and see what they can prove on the field.  

 

Just playing devil's advocate here.

[basslicker]

Worst two GMs in Bomber history coincided with the two worst eras in Bomber football. Ken Bishop & Joe Mack. One because he had owned a local courier company & was clueless how to run a football team. The other because he was totally stupid, incompetent & his years of so called experience should have made him know better.

 

Wasn't Reinbold GM in 97 and 98?  I would say he was WAAY worse than Mack.   At least we got to a Grey Cup under Mack.

[17to85]

How can you keep justifying & supporting Joe Mack? The guy was one of the worst 2 GMs in team history. He ground this team into the dirt. Our overall Canadian talent is terrible. Our American talent is fair. We had no scouting. There are huge gaping holes all over this roster. It's all on Mack. Not Mike Kelly. He left after the 2009 season so blaming Baldy isn't valid anymore not unless you believe in 10 year rebuilds. 17, forget it. Mack's gone. Ain't never coming back... You can move on.

He was also fired a long time ago, I don't see the need to keep the constant attacks going when Walters has made some questionable moves all on his own. I also won't give Walters credit for increasing the budget for football ops because that's not the GMs call. Going all the way back to Taman they've been cheaping out on that kind of thing so now MIller spends more and we give Walters credit? No assign credit where it belongs. 

[iso_55]

 

Worst two GMs in Bomber history coincided with the two worst eras in Bomber football. Ken Bishop & Joe Mack. One because he had owned a local courier company & was clueless how to run a football team. The other because he was totally stupid, incompetent & his years of so called experience should have made him know better.

 

Wasn't Reinbold GM in 97 and 98?  I would say he was WAAY worse than Mack.   At least we got to a Grey Cup under Mack.

 

Reinbold was HC & Bishop GM.

[iso_55]

 

How can you keep justifying & supporting Joe Mack? The guy was one of the worst 2 GMs in team history. He ground this team into the dirt. Our overall Canadian talent is terrible. Our American talent is fair. We had no scouting. There are huge gaping holes all over this roster. It's all on Mack. Not Mike Kelly. He left after the 2009 season so blaming Baldy isn't valid anymore not unless you believe in 10 year rebuilds. 17, forget it. Mack's gone. Ain't never coming back... You can move on.

He was also fired a long time ago, I don't see the need to keep the constant attacks going when Walters has made some questionable moves all on his own. I also won't give Walters credit for increasing the budget for football ops because that's not the GMs call. Going all the way back to Taman they've been cheaping out on that kind of thing so now MIller spends more and we give Walters credit? No assign credit where it belongs. 

 

You seem to think that if Mack had a billion dollar budget we'd win. Sorry, there's no way I subscribe to that theory. Mack was incompetent. Incompetence doesn't suddenly change because the guy has a bigger budget. He'd just have more $$ to waste. Nothing would have changed. He was brutal. Mack's the reason we're in this mess now. If you give the man credit if he wins then you have to criticize him after he loses.

[The Unknown Poster]

I think I just said in another thread recently that Lawless would be very positive on the Bombers.

He also doesn't expect the team to immediately compete so I wouldn't worry about him turning.

So Walters was acting GM and dropped the GM salary by $100,000. I can see the conversation:

Miller: "come on Kyle! Cutting $100,000 from the GM salary?? We're looking for a GM, who will work for this salary now??"

Walters: "...I will".

Brilliant!

[17to85]

 

 

How can you keep justifying & supporting Joe Mack? The guy was one of the worst 2 GMs in team history. He ground this team into the dirt. Our overall Canadian talent is terrible. Our American talent is fair. We had no scouting. There are huge gaping holes all over this roster. It's all on Mack. Not Mike Kelly. He left after the 2009 season so blaming Baldy isn't valid anymore not unless you believe in 10 year rebuilds. 17, forget it. Mack's gone. Ain't never coming back... You can move on.

He was also fired a long time ago, I don't see the need to keep the constant attacks going when Walters has made some questionable moves all on his own. I also won't give Walters credit for increasing the budget for football ops because that's not the GMs call. Going all the way back to Taman they've been cheaping out on that kind of thing so now MIller spends more and we give Walters credit? No assign credit where it belongs. 

 

You seem to think that if Mack had a billion dollar budget we'd win. Sorry, there's no way I subscribe to that theory. Mack was incompetent. Incompetence doesn't suddenly change because the guy has a bigger budget. He'd just have more $$ to waste. Nothing would have changed. He was brutal. Mack's the reason we're in this mess now. If you give the man credit if he wins then you have to criticize him after he loses.

 

for a guy who keeps saying you don't want to argue about this anymore you sure are quick to start the attacks you know that right?

 

What I'm saying is that you and others constantly ***** about how few scouts and how few coaches the team had... well that comes down to the budget right? So why give one GM credit for having more money to spend than the other? You have a very clear agenda when it comes to Mack and it makes your opinions very hard to take seriously because anything you can spin into being Macks fault you do it then start whining and crying when someone challenges it. 

[Mark H.]

I really don't want to weigh in on this.  But it's clear that the lack of Canadian talent and depth on this team is a long term problem.  You have to build a stable of young Canadian by keeping most of your picks and drafting effectively every year.  Mack's drafting record is spotty, but he did inherit a team that had spent several years trading away most of their picks.