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)

 

1 hour ago, gcn11 said:

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

Oh, come off it. I was there for the Grey Cup three years ago. It's a fine stadium.

3 hours ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

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.

If you believe in your abilities as a head coach then every situation has equal odds of achieving success. If you think O'Shea would be discouraged by walking into a tire-fire like the Argos then you really haven't been paying attention. If he can turn around the Bombers after 2009-2013 then he can handle any situation.

I've given MOS a lot of grief over the years, especially over his coordinator hiring. At the end of the day it's a results orientated business and that's always been my measuring stick.

But now, he's got us to a Grey Cup and it appears he has the respect and admiration of his fellow players and even those are in league. A culture seems to be forming. 

At this point I would fully support an extension of three or more years.

Im happy to be wrong. Go get the cats, Osh. 

14 minutes ago, Atomic said:

If he can turn around the Bombers after 2009-2013 then he can handle any situation.

You bet your sweet bippy..

17 minutes ago, Atomic said:

If you believe in your abilities as a head coach then every situation has equal odds of achieving success. If you think O'Shea would be discouraged by walking into a tire-fire like the Argos then you really haven't been paying attention. If he can turn around the Bombers after 2009-2013 then he can handle any situation.

Not really true, a HC can only do so much, he needs a shared vision and a whole lot of cooperation from those above him to achieve success.  I.e. Rick Campbell.

31 minutes ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

Not really true, a HC can only do so much, he needs a shared vision and a whole lot of cooperation from those above him to achieve success.  I.e. Rick Campbell.

Pretty sure MOS can get on the same page as Pinball.

4 hours ago, Throw Long Bannatyne said:

Not really true, a HC can only do so much, he needs a shared vision and a whole lot of cooperation from those above him to achieve success.  I.e. Rick Campbell.

A coach's IQ rises & falls with the talent of the players he has. It's a simple formula. 

11 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

A coach's IQ rises & falls with the talent of the players he has. It's a simple formula. 

Watch the last two seasons of Last Chance U for an example of why that statement is complete BS.

Consider me someone who would be shocked to see Osh leave. Good situation for everyone involved. If Walters likes our chances he's never mislead us before.

Win or lose osh will be back. Got a chance to be a HOF in Winnipeg opposed to a dumpster fire where nobody cares about the team in TO. 

I'd put 1,000 on it right now. Any takers ?

12 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Watch the last two seasons of Last Chance U for an example of why that statement is complete BS.

JBR, can you win with Justin Goltz or Mike Reilly? Nic Grigsby or Andrew Harris? Think MOS is a genius this season but was a complete dummy in 2014? No, he may be more experienced & smarter now but he's coaching a team this season with more talent than then. 

30 minutes ago, CodyT said:

Consider me someone who would be shocked to see Osh leave. Good situation for everyone involved. If Walters likes our chances he's never mislead us before.

Win or lose osh will be back. Got a chance to be a HOF in Winnipeg opposed to a dumpster fire where nobody cares about the team in TO. 

I'd put 1,000 on it right now. Any takers ?

1,000 what?

1 minute ago, J5V said:

1,000 what?

If it's Smarties, I'm in. 

2 hours ago, J5V said:

1,000 what?

1,000 Canadian cash dollars friend. Although I'd probably go the smarties route too

I'll say this.  At the end of the season before the Collaros trade we basically limped into the playoffs. I expected us to be one & done. I had said that it would be a hard sell to Winnipeg fans to bring O'Shea back as he had only won a single playoff game. That was then & this is now. Two big wins on the road in places that aren't easy to play in. Two victories & hoping for a third to end our nightmarish drought.  So, I say Mike deserves to be brought back & given a new contract. He changed my mind. I always said that he has to win to get a new deal  & so far he has.  I won't change my mind if we lose Sunday. The guy has done a helluva job this season. 

Edited November 23, 20196 yr by SpeedFlex27

5 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

JBR, can you win with Justin Goltz or Mike Reilly? Nic Grigsby or Andrew Harris? Think MOS is a genius this season but was a complete dummy in 2014? No, he may be more experienced & smarter now but he's coaching a team this season with more talent than then. 

It doesn't matter how smart a HC is if he doesn't survive long enough for the roster to be made over, luckily O'Shea had Walters drafting and bringing in the kind of players he wanted.

Win or lose on Sunday he earned an extension. We've gone further this year with GUT and GRIT and a TEAM first mentality.

Nichols has been hurt, but this team is essentially that... a team. it has taken 6 years to instill a culture that no ONE player means more than the TEAM. 

This team has grit. It will play hard on sunday, and play hard for the W.

 

If we win, you will see grown men cry. 1000's of us. 

winning fixes everything... makes you forget all of the crap too...

you can't win without talent on the field, but, it's still possible to have talent and still lose... that's not to say that you can take less talented players and coach them up to make them play better as a unit, but, to be a consistent winner you need talented players...

My gawd, I just realized SpeedFlex has been kidnapped...

9 minutes ago, Mr Dee said:

My gawd, I just realized SpeedFlex has been kidnapped...

I'm okay with that. 

No, you don’t understand. Unless we pay the ransom, they’re going to set him free..

21 hours ago, gcn11 said:

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.

As I understand it, Trestman was fired before the SMS came into effect so his salary is irrelevant. Popp's contract expires next month so there's no impact from that on the SMS in 2020. Chamblin has two years left on his contract. MLSE has money to burn. I don't believe they will let SMS rules stand in the way of getting the coach they want, and I don't believe the league would try to enforce those rules over MLSE's objections. (That said, I don't see MOS leaving Wpg.)

 

5 hours ago, pw13 said:

As I understand it, Trestman was fired before the SMS came into effect so his salary is irrelevant. Popp's contract expires next month so there's no impact from that on the SMS in 2020. Chamblin has two years left on his contract. MLSE has money to burn. I don't believe they will let SMS rules stand in the way of getting the coach they want, and I don't believe the league would try to enforce those rules over MLSE's objections. (That said, I don't see MOS leaving Wpg.)

 

The rule has to be enforced..sms is SMS.. doesnt matter how much money u have..you are only allowed to spend so much

7 hours ago, Mr Dee said:

No, you don’t understand. Unless we pay the ransom, they’re going to set him free..

Fake news. 😉

Edited November 23, 20196 yr by SpeedFlex27

Dave Naylor reporting O'Shea likely to stay in Winnipeg... said Tor would be interested if he was available... but they don't expect him to be available...

2 hours ago, bearpants said:

Dave Naylor reporting O'Shea likely to stay in Winnipeg... said Tor would be interested if he was available... but they don't expect him to be available...

That's a strange comment as it's up to O'Shea if he's available or not. Maybe a more accurate statement is that he's not interested.