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I don't think anyone on here believes Jake Thomas will have any sort of impact on how the team plays. Its more of the mentality of this club having bizarre attachments with certain players for no reason at all. He's being hired because of loyalty and a nice guy... clearly they didn't scout and attempt to find the best person available. Its possible that Jake Thomas has a genius football mind and that we are over looking the hire. But for myself I think this is a pity hire. I'd rather they hire a young guy with a mind for the game who could learn under our other coaches and potentially be upgraded as a DC or HC down the road.

One of the pieces I read after his retirement announcement had a quote from someone (maybe Osh?) saying he wouldn't be surprised if Jake is a future CFL GM. Just a really super smart dude.

on the flip...then they'd never get a shot as the guys that came up had nowhere to play....wont get a call sitting on their coach or delivering for Amazon doubt it..we got compensated before....Receiver, off top my head forget his name...but I sure they not in the mindset for doing it as the norm Wren't we compensated for Stick too one time?...

I'm assuming it was a small sample size but last year when WJ did play a traditional attack DE role was he a) being disciplined to that traditional role? and b) if no he wasn't be disciplined, why not? and c) if yes he was be disciplined, was he effective? I'm not convinced that it was all on Younger in how he wanted/asked him to play.

true...and a bit false...How can a guy with minimal technique....zero hand skills and limited athleticism show guys the intricacies of line play.?...That's my issue...sure...read a book...watch other coaching resources ..etc...thats fine and dandy but anyone can do that and doesn't translate to success....If he hadn't picked up anything or refined his skill set with a guy like Roh here who was elite in that regard and ran an ultra elite DL program...how would he be good at transferring any knowledge and skill to others, as when he was a player...couldn't pick anything up from one the best resources he played with?...Nevis too...he picked up nothing from him....Not a hate on Jake as a person and positional coach shouldn't make or break a season.....but man o man...what a lazy choice, and when yu really look at it....there were tons of better options...I sure there other "smart" guys out there and he's not the outlier Considering JT still wanted to play they should have Kolo'd him too and seen if anyone offered him a camp invite...and then if nothing panned out find a role for him if Osh missed his pet End is probably the easiest DL position to migrate into for an Import coming up here....and the athletic ones and ones with elite hand skills and technique can eat right away as they not contending with nads on them instantly

NO reason whatsoever really to start 8 Canadians if you dont have to...If that 8th Canadian is heads and shoulders the best player available sure...if 10 canadian are elite and best players...have at er We start...and or at times play more than the minimum with guys who had zero business being on the field in that capacity....and thats a direct effect of Osh and his Canadiana crap he likes to peddle to excess...and that needs to be nipped in the bud yup...I'd like to see WJ in camp and in games next yr playing a traditional attack DE role...for 50 to 60% of defensive snaps before making the he's lost it assesment. And when you are asked to play a take 2 steps and then contain and try and take away a passing lane...for sure its gonna look like a giy is taking plays off...And even in his prime WJ was never a real good run stopper and gap filler kind of end mucking it up inside the box... Rotated as the augment guy with 2 real good studs...and another guy like Bailey as your rotation with Lawson and hopefully 2 legit interior imports....we be just fine Should he be payed elite DE end top defender money for that...no...and sure he knows it, and could be a good motivator to up his play again in 2026 and show he still has it and up his dollars for 2027...

Yes but it's JAKE THOMAS. JAKE. THOMAS. Sorry my PTSD kicks in when his name is raised. Seriously all the best to him, I'm really glad he's staying with the organization and really really happy it's in a non playing role. Maybe he will move up the ranks like Wade Miller.

I mean I would personally think so, in that regard... The wider field, the extra man, the motion.... All of that is new and would look strange when watching film. To me, that's where Jake comes in to teach in the film room...

He might want to tell them his slump schedule.

Nino made team Swiss

another thing I've always wondered, do American DL need coaching up to be ready for Canada? Like, do the ends have to play differently on the wider field?

I think if he weren't cut out to be a DL coach, they would've put him in the SnC room. Mos loves his gym stuff. Most kids who come up here were 3-4 star in HS at best, with size or athleticism, who went to a big school and didn't play. Then transferred to a small school, played heavily in year 2, and finally found production. Then, immediately came out thinking they'd go to the NFL. It's most often that, or the same path in reverse. The ones that come up here normally need consistency and reps. Not just game reps, but 1-on-1 too. dl/ol and wr/db are the positions that by far benefit most of 1-on-1s at all levels of play. It's hard to improve at doing 1-on-1s at other positions. But even without pads, linemen can grow endlessly with more reps against someone able to challenge them. DL is one of the most well-supported positions for development, though. Both lines have a tremendous volume of very high-quality camps for any level. Which is why its also important to support it with a good position coach, but having an extra body to support jake in his first camp would be a good idea. he should be fine after that.

Yeah, you're right. Thomas isn't going to be a make-or-break for us at Dl coach. Howard was very solid here, though he had spectacular results a bunch of other places. Young too. But in general, we have really struggled to take talented kids and turn them into highly effective DL. And this is over a long period of time with many coaches. We've never gotten back close to having what Richard Harris brought. Jake won't be any significant down grade over the past couple years.

And how JY chooses to implement them. Jake is going to be an X's and O's guy, explaining the CFL game to players who maybe don't know much about it. Apparently Jake is one of the smartest guys when it comes to the film room, so I'm actually intrigued to see what he can do in that regard. Let's be honest, the Americans, they don't need someone to teach them the basics of playing DL... They probably learned more in NCAA than they would here... But what they could use, is a guy who knows the intricacies of CFL football and can explain what they're seeing on tape... Which I'm sure looks way different with an extra man and motion in the backfield and all that. It's a basic position coach gig... Way too much stress being used on this.

It's not that they aren't important at all. But the way people are talking about Thomas and acting like the DL has no hope now is over the top. The biggest factor to how well the DL will do will be the talent that is or is not on it.

Riiiight blame it on the time. :-)

Yes and no. Some positional coaches are far more important, like QB coach. The 2 closest after that are both Line coaches. Line play is the next most important after qbing, but the adjustment to the game up here is big and we don't get polished blockers or pass rushers from the ncaa any more. Pretty much every imp T and pass rusher is a project of one sort or another. Having a sub-optimal DL coach when we have JY and Hall running the D isn't the biggest deal. Thats part of why I'm not really worried about Jake. The bonus from him not being on the field any more is way bigger than any loss from having him coach the DL in the worst case. Player success doesn't directly translate to coaching success or failure either. A lot of great coaches have played but couldn't perform at the highest levels of their position group. I would love to have a great DL coach. I would even go more modular with the defensive coaching staff, have a Coverage coach, a front coach (Jake) and a pressure/pass rush coach. Even bringing in some one like that just for camp could be a big boost. Some one who can coach the finer points of rushing and winning battles with technique and athleticism.

Yes, last year was his 5th season. Glenn young coached the DL and Lbers before that. 17 and prior for a couple years was todd howard. But Richard Harris was the last time we had a great Dl coach. also worth noting is that Craig Roh was at least a half player half DL coach while he was here.

Honestly I don't know. And that's kinda my point. Most of us won't know/remember even though that was the Best DL we've seen in a long long time. Positional coaches aren't something to be stressing about.

Was it not Patterson? I thought he was here for 5 years so 2021 would have been his 1st year with us.

Edit - too early and not capable of reading.

Haven't they made the playoffs 20 out 21 years or something? Perpetually rebuilding is a bit of a stretch. Losing guys to the NFL does suck, but it's unavoidable. Compensation won't solve the problem you're talking about and will just result in less americans who are on the brink of the NFL signing up here. It's not like the NFL is begging these guys to come to camp. They'll just wait out CFL contracts or move on to the next player rather than pay for a CFL guy.

Without looking it up....who did the Bombers have as DL coach in 2021? The chances of them not using 2 CND receivers is pretty slim I'd say.

Demski for sure but Clercius? He's been a bit nicked up at times but hasn't missed a game AFAIK?