wbbfan

I wonder if it wouldn’t be easier and more effective, if (and only if) we continued to back slide and can’t get out of it, to replace Walters. Find a gm who can reign in and push mos to develop and improve. Remove and prevent crutch players (we all know the names) and maybe improve our free agent approach. (If we falter I think it’s fair to expect our quantity over quality approach this year failed too) One day every coach leaves, and it’s virtually never a good way out or an immediate upgrade for long term coaches. When it happens it’ll probably lead to a further down turn and rebuild. Mos is still a pretty young hc though. If he can take another step forward it will go far and he could be here for another 10 years.

Every team is thinner in the offseason than in camp; that is for sure. And every team is wanting, probably needing to hit on at least 1 rookie this year. But we are certainly thinner than most contenders. Toronto isn't banking nearly as much on rookies, they are banking on returning role players taking a step forward and becoming starters and all-stars. Which is a world of difference. Imo, of last year's playoff teams, we have the least ability to absorb injuries at the top end of our roster. Our ability to replace guys at the bottom is pretty strong, though.

He must 100% put the team's best interest before his agendas and ideals, but he won't unless he is forced to. In the past, nice guy "player" coaches had a shelf life. You'd see discipline and execution slip further and further until teams would move on, usually to a stricter guy. But in modern pro sports, that heavy-handed type of head coach just doesn't work anymore, so it doesn't exist. You have shades of nice/strict but nothing close to the guys 20-25 years ago. And coaches don't have the power to use practice to reel in such issues anymore. I think Mos position with this stuff is a crossroads that many coaches in pro sports are at. I don't think anyone knows what the next step is, but in the meantime, moving further into the stricter, higher accountability side would be a big improvement. For a rebuilding team, firing a coach is easy. Because the expectation resets. For a playoff/contender, it's a really hard situation. You need to know you have access to a guy who is turnkey at that level of winning. I don't think that is available today. And I am sure the team is not willing to risk a rebuild. The only ways out for Mos are for someone unexpected to become available and the change is made, most quits/leaves at the end of his deal, or the team collapses into a rebuild. I don't think any of those are likely. Though the most likely one is a collapse. We do not have the roster flexibility to absorb more than maybe 1 all-star caliber injury and still stay in the race.

The specifics vary a lot coach to coach but yeah that is generally how it works, situationally. Some spots more than others. Also depending on install the hc will often be the one to call in a niche play. Many hcs want control over trick play timing etc. I’m sure mos is generally one of the less intrusive hcs. Not like maas, dicky, etc who either coordinate fully or every thing but in name. Agree with that. I don’t see him as a lber candidate. He will have to bust ass especially on teams earn a spot and work up.

It went off the rails at times the previous year. It was derailed almost all of last year. Couple good games is it. he should’ve, but wouldn’t do it on a large scale. In the mic’d up game we saw him over ride play call twice. Also that is how football works on the larger scale. Hcs manage co’s. Some more than others, but on most pro teams you have a hc who wasn’t a qb telling a former qb coach what to do. In our case that usually boils down to situations where mos told buck run or pass and buck called a specific play of that variety or the odd time that mos would that changed. The times I saw it with the mic’s hot was putting in runs on 2nd and short. I don’t think the issue is that we had growing pains, it’s that buck didn’t do any thing to make it easier for the new guys. He basically expected Zach to sit back and chuck deep when we didn’t run and do the same stuff we did when we had the best ol and we core in the league. He simplified things by taking out pa, sweep and motion. Instead of simplifying the roles of the new guys he took away our multiplicity, versatility, and wrinkles. Which failed miserably. And he never tried to adjust it in another direction.

And that is WJs MO. When he switches it on he makes a lot of plays. But he misses as many as he makes. Over all out DL plat was poor in the GC, but WJ played his best game of the year by a mile in it.

I'll preface this by saying I am biased against the unathletic Canadian safety who sits in the smallest zone, hoping he doesn't have to pick anyone up. But I don't see that fitting in our system, tbh. JY's D is all about guys coming up and making plays on the ball/target. And it requires considerable flexibility from each position in terms of being able to switch off on guys to maintain leverage. We pack most of the best athletes on the team into the secondary with one guy here and there otherwise.

Horth and pile fit a need for us in a big way. Nitychoruk I think we only go after if he’s a late pick. We don’t seem to go after u of m guys mid to high. His size is tremendous and he can fit easily as a back up but idk if he has the upside we go for. Wanadi will be interesting to see how he tracks through the process. I could see him going at the bottom or earning his way into the top 1/3rd of the draft. He really needs to nail the interviews and 1on1s though.

https://3downnation.com/2025/02/26/15-players-to-watch-at-the-2025-cfl-invitational-combine/

We can blame buck for not off setting some of zach and the offenses weaknesses. Zach is a chucker, and if you don't give him a clear effective path to victory with your game plan, thats gonna happen a lot.

I really got a lot of the same feeling. Some of zachs comments seemed guarded in a way that hinted at things with buck previously not being great. And that he just wants to be on the same page as hogan. Overall I thought it was heavy on fluff. And to be fair it is likely that is what people tune into these things for. Some highlights: Vaughters was careful in his wording of why things in calgary fell off, a lot of it sounded applicable to us though as well. Loved his comments about guys putting in all the little bits of hard work in order to win and his move here being based on wanting to win. Wallace talking about his recovery sounds very promising, as well as his continued improvements to his conditioning. Love that buffalo moved him side to side and out to tackle from early on in his days in practice. Hogan didn't give much for specifics, which is no surprise. Sounds like hes been going down the rabbit hole a bit in terms of what is in vogue down south these days. Said he likes simple concepts but has a special interest in trick plays and stuff that has higher engagement. Honestly he sounded a lot like lapo, but it is a very brief conversation.

Ava l o n aaaaaaavvvaaalllooooonnnn

We need some one to listen and take notes haha. Do they have a mechanism to relisten? Will it be on the bombers YT or some thing?

Maybe on the edges, but if he goes into snake-handling country he will be right at home.

100%, they also have that chip on their shoulder and the work ethic to create success. Plenty of talented guys can go far just by winging it. MBT could be extremely successful as a coach at HS or the college level in the bible belt. His schtick would be extremely effective on kids.

For sure. That's why we see the clipboard guys move the fastest up the ranks in coaching. People always think it'll be the extremely successful qbs that translate, but the guys who didn't make it tend to out perform by a lot.

Nice that’s awesome. Yeah it’s no joke down there. I’ve seen a bunch of kids teen to 20 ish and the knowledge gap is heart breaking. Even young teens and single digit aged kids knowing and doing some crazy stuff just to live. Up in the middle of the night to walk to soup kitchen the safe way to be in line for when it opens then walk back to bring food home for family. But then don’t have basic understandings of soo many things even up out of the teens. Reading, normal life and family relation stuff. Just gutting. Malcolm gladwell has a couple books that goes into various factors in poor areas. ( tipping point/outliers/ why I hate the Ivy League) Even for the athletic stars and brilliant minds it’s soo hard for those kids to break free. Juco, the fledgling leagues down south and the cfl have done soo much to change soo many guys lives. If any thing we need a better vacuum to pull those kids up. I appreciate every one who works to lift those kids up get them into juco, college, Europe etc. People like to poop on football programs, and how much money their programs draw. But those programs have all saved countless kids lives and provided them escape from various hellscapes.

Damn that’s wild. Ott has always had pretty active game day fans but that’s some thing else. Yeah it is, no joke in a lot of places. Going to a couple restaurants between towns with my co worker from nc and I got referred to as a northerner a bunch of times and he’d always just be like oh he’s Canadian. It’s nutty. I know plenty of guys are numb to it. Others have a us vs them thing with in their own team and fan base. At the same time that area has seen a big change in the diversity of coaches and modernization of leadership styles. I can’t imagine what it was like in the era of guys like Jim brown. Great sharing, thanks guys I love this stuff.

Yeah man. I wouldn’t be comfortable if my kid went to school down there. I felt like in Alabama things were kind of hidden in a quiet segregation. In Mississippi, it was soo openly divided. It was soo uncomfortable. I have friends and co workers in the Carolina’s and Mississippi is a culture shock for them. I’ve seen some really really bad places, but miss sticks with me on how comfortable, and accepted it is. To quantify it, I do generally like the edges of the south. The food and hospitality is tremendous and it reminds me a lot of here culturally for the most part. How’d she do in college vball? Did she still play down south?

I’d Love to see an etymology of goof like that. The culture shock in places like the Deep South, and places like oak town is insane. Really makes you think about what some of these kids go through coming up here. I went through the south slowly, and I was stunned at each point how much more intense it got. I thought nc was deep in it, till I got to alabama and Mississippi.

He was a high level offensive assistant as well under strict controlling offensive coach. Which is a strange position but still a great jump. A lot of hc jobs tend to revolve around offensive minds over any others. QBc to hc is probably the most logical jump though a big one.

For real though, I would not suggest calling any stranger a goof. In certain Prison to street, outlaw, and service circles people get maimed and killed over that. Not joke. In those circles goof is the worst thing you can call some one. Can’t come soon enough.

Really is. Plus the combine seems to have a strong impact on our opinion of guys. We love the high upside guys with the athleticism to start in the pros. Yeah it’s gonna be an odd draft. Probably won’t be a lot of futures picks at ol. Which I think bodes well for us actually. We could use a guy or two who sits on our pr and who we mold into a system fit. Or maybe a 6th ol, maybe an undersized centre to develop. It seems like skill positions and dl talent is the new go to in the draft. It’s a far cry from the days of ol and WRs and catch then fall down.

Even going sts co to hc is a rare jump. I could see going qb coach to hc being more common than skipping positional coach, or going teams co to hc. Now that I’m thinking about it, was he basically a lber coach in his last season of play like the goat? Might be a Q for bluto.

Don't think we can have a hot clue until after the combine. I think we will continue to target OL, DL, and DB in particular. And I could see us bringing in another NI RB into camp on a rookie deal.