CALGARY – Winnipeg Blue Bombers general manager Kyle Walters says he and Mike O’Shea have a verbal agreement to extend his head-coaching contract, but not a signed one.

O’Shea has navigated the Blue Bombers to Sunday’s Grey Cup game in Calgary against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The 49-year-old from North Bay, Ont., is in the final season of a three-year contract extension signed in 2016.

“Mike and I … I’ve said at various points this year that Mike has no interest in talking about that sort of stuff during the year,” Walters said Wednesday during Blue Bomber practice.

“I’ve looked Mike in eye and told him I want him to be the head coach next year. He’s looked me in the eye and told me he wants to be back. There’s a whole lot of things that go between … getting a signed contract for him.

“We’re not going to worry about that. What we talked about is a good start. Him and I will sit down, win or lose, and try and get something sorted out.”

O’Shea is in his sixth season as the Bombers’ head coach. The team has reached the playoffs the last four seasons and posted a 44-28 record during that span.

A three-time Grey Cup winner as a player with the Toronto Argonauts, Sunday marks his debut as a head coach in the game.

(Canadian Press)

 

12 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Who knows what Pinball will offer him? It may not be a question of lowballing but matching. Remember there's a coach's cap now. Bombers may not be able to match. Guess we'll see what happens next week. 

Well one can assume LaPo is as good as gone for an HC role elsewhere. That could free up some $$$. Who knows, maybe Hall leaves as well and we extend O’Shea as a HC and slap the DC role on him too? 
 

As for Toronto, they still haven’t fired Chamblin. They are still paying Jim Popp also. Don’t know how much room they have to spend, but I’m confident we could match it and probably beat it. Money wouldn’t be the issue. It’s if O’Shea’s desire to go home is greater than his desire to turn his Bombers into a dynasty. 

21 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Who knows what Pinball will offer him? It may not be a question of lowballing but matching. Remember there's a coach's cap now. Bombers may not be able to match. Guess we'll see what happens next week. 

But if they can Chamnlain..seriously hampers them money wise as they are prob paying him for at least another yr. And that goes against cap..Oshea ain't going nowhere 

2 minutes ago, Booch said:

But if they can Chamnlain..seriously hampers them money wise as they are prob paying him for at least another yr. And that goes against cap..Oshea ain't going nowhere 

Do you think his first choice would be to stay or leave?  He knows what he has in Winnipeg. Not sure in Toronto. I think it'd be a risky move to leave the Bombers for that mess in Toronto. 

He knows he has a good thing here. Bordering on great..if not great on leaving a real legacy and have his finger prints all over the Franchise's revival..and possibilty of going down as a legendary coach in our history with more successive years here..that's something I see that would drive him and keep him around until he gets forced out

Another thing I hope Osh takes into consideration. He’s already 3rd all-time in wins for the Bombers (56). Behind Cal Murphy (86) and Bud Grant (102)
 

Win the cup on Sunday and a few more winning seasons and who knows? The guy could one day be cast in bronze outside IGF—its not that far-fetched. 

23 minutes ago, The Ghost of Mike Kelly said:

Another thing I hope Osh takes into consideration. He’s already 3rd all-time in wins for the Bombers (56). Behind Cal Murphy (86) and Bud Grant (102)
 

Win the cup on Sunday and a few more winning seasons and who knows? The guy could one day be cast in bronze outside IGF—its not that far-fetched. 

@17to85 and I have been talking about about starting a GoFundMe for the statue when the inevitable GC happens... 

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Who knows what Pinball will offer him? It may not be a question of lowballing but matching. Remember there's a coach's cap now. Bombers may not be able to match. Guess we'll see what happens next week. 

Both teams have the same SMS dollars. Toronto, should actually have less available bucks because they will have to pay out their current HC.

If we lose MOS, it won't be because we couldn't match the Argos offer.

13 hours ago, Noeller said:

@17to85 and I have been talking about about starting a GoFundMe for the statue when the inevitable GC happens... 

Why not put Bomber regalia onto the Golden Boy for a few days?

13 hours ago, TBURGESS said:

Both teams have the same SMS dollars. Toronto, should actually have less available bucks because they will have to pay out their current HC.

If we lose MOS, it won't be because we couldn't match the Argos offer.

On the surface, it seems to be such a natural fit for the struggling Argos, that I am wondering if they could get some sort of papal dispensation from the CFL head office.

I'm sure MOS would love to stay but he is also no dummy so he will get as much money as he can.

48 minutes ago, Tracker said:

On the surface, it seems to be such a natural fit for the struggling Argos, that I am wondering if they could get some sort of papal dispensation from the CFL head office.

I think gifting them with QB trades and a Cup every five years or so should be enough help.

13 minutes ago, Atomic said:

I'm sure MOS would love to stay but he is also no dummy so he will get as much money as he can.

and we should be able to pay him the most...we don't have to pay for a canned coach..and I believe Hall is on a 1 year contract, so if we go a different direction there it won't cost us...And if Lapo leaves for a HC gig elsewhere..again it won't cost us...so if we get into a bit of a bidding war...we should be more than okay there

4 minutes ago, Booch said:

and we should be able to pay him the most...we don't have to pay for a canned coach..and I believe Hall is on a 1 year contract, so if we go a different direction there it won't cost us...And if Lapo leaves for a HC gig elsewhere..again it won't cost us...so if we get into a bit of a bidding war...we should be more than okay there

Yeah I hope so.

12 minutes ago, Booch said:

and we should be able to pay him the most...we don't have to pay for a canned coach..and I believe Hall is on a 1 year contract, so if we go a different direction there it won't cost us...And if Lapo leaves for a HC gig elsewhere..again it won't cost us...so if we get into a bit of a bidding war...we should be more than okay there

Not to mention any new coaches would be coming to a grey cup caliber team and an organization that isn't a complete tire fire.

Remind me again.

Does OC stand for Offensive Coordinator, or Occasional Coach?

Sometimes I just can’t tell...

I really don't think it comes down to money, it comes down to what MOS wants. If he really wants to move back to southern Ontario and the GTA, he will and no amount of money we offer will change that. 

31 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

Remind me again.

Does OC stand for Offensive Coordinator, or Occasional Coach?

Sometimes I just can’t tell...

And here I thought it stood for O'Shea's Crony… #canadianmafia

Edited November 22, 20196 yr by blue_gold_84
found a better pic (he looks more triggered)

46 minutes ago, Booch said:

and we should be able to pay him the most...we don't have to pay for a canned coach..and I believe Hall is on a 1 year contract, so if we go a different direction there it won't cost us...And if Lapo leaves for a HC gig elsewhere..again it won't cost us...so if we get into a bit of a bidding war...we should be more than okay there

Better by subtraction. 

16 hours ago, Booch said:

But if they can Chamnlain..seriously hampers them money wise as they are prob paying him for at least another yr. And that goes against cap..Oshea ain't going nowhere 

Trestman still has one year at over 600k left on his contract after this year. I am sure they use their one exemption for him but that leaves them no exemption left for Chamblin and Popp's salary. That's a ton of SMS used up. They aren't getting into a bidding war with anyone.

30 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

I really don't think it comes down to money, it comes down to what MOS wants. If he really wants to move back to southern Ontario and the GTA, he will and no amount of money we offer will change that. 

That brings us back to the conversation where he has looked Walters in the eye and said he wants to be back.

3 hours ago, Atomic said:

I'm sure MOS would love to stay but he is also no dummy so he will get as much money as he can.

Choosing the highest offer with no consideration of the situation and the odds of achieving success in a results driven business like football is the very definition of being a dummy.

 

 

3 hours ago, bigg jay said:

Not to mention any new coaches would be coming to a grey cup caliber team and an organization that isn't a complete tire fire.

Except the majority of the team is on one year contracts. So, if MOS leaves he may have 15 FA players that follow him. 

24 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Except the majority of the team is on one year contracts. So, if MOS leaves he may have 15 FA players that follow him. 

The majority of the league is on one year contracts. You don't think that every decent player that Toronto has isn't looking to jump ship after the season they just had? Also, Toronto is a crap show for facilities for the players. Tons of complaints this year that the players didn't even know where they would be practicing from week to week because they rent their practice facilities from wherever there is some available. BMO is a 3rd rate stadium and the soccer team gets first dibs on time use there. I think that MOS leaving has to be considered a longshot.

Edited November 22, 20196 yr by gcn11

Just now, gcn11 said:

The majority of the league is on one year contracts. You don't think that every decent player that Toronto has isn't looking to jump ship after the season they just had? Also, Toronto is a crap show for facilities for the players. Tons of complaints this year that the players didn't even know where they would be practicing from week to week because they rent their practice facilities from wherever there is some available. BMO is a 3rd rate stadium and the soccer team gets first dibs on time use there.

BMO is not a third rate stadium, they're just treated like third rate customers. 

3 minutes ago, JCon said:

BMO is not a third rate stadium, they're just treated like third rate customers. 

I went to a game there. It's garbage.