Blue Bombers - 2025 Regular Season - Discussion Thread

[wbbfan]

1 hour ago, GCn20 said:

Jonathan Jones sucked when we did play him and was reportedly no better in the dressing room. I get you wanna defend him because you really built him up as our next Bighill...but the reality is he was a swing and a miss by Walters not MOS.

We got enuff reasons to not shed a tear if MOS leaves but JJ isn't one of them. Our biggest mistake was keeping him around too long when he became a cancer

He didn’t play D, he got in on teams. Didn’t build him up into any one. Doesn’t play any thing like biggie and never said he did or that he would be biggie.
Can’t not play a guy and say he’s a miss. 

Also, I said one of many cases.

Got a link to any thing saying he was a cancer? 

33 minutes ago, rebusrankin said:

Where's the report JJ was a cancer 

I’m betting the source will be “trust me bro” 

[ShyGuy]

I'm guessing O'Shea sees the writing on the wall a little bit and has to realize he is on fairly tenuous ground. By all accounts, he seems to really like being here and this is something that he has built over the better part of a decade. I'm guessing he uses the leverage of having the Argos sniffing around to have a bit more stability than the usual 1 year open contract he seems to have favoured the last little bit. Will re-up in the next couple days for 3 years... maybe with some more formal GM duties... maybe Walters is completely gone, maybe he moves up the hierarchy a bit and is less hands on in the GM side of things. The way the roster is currently constructed their almost has to be a fairly significant shake up... multi year gives him at least 2 seasons presumably to get something going again, if he were to come back on a 1-year deal and miss the playoffs... or even be in the cross-over again, that would probably be the end of his time here.

[Noeller]

6 minutes ago, ShyGuy said:

I'm guessing O'Shea sees the writing on the wall a little bit and has to realize he is on fairly tenuous ground. By all accounts, he seems to really like being here and this is something that he has built over the better part of a decade. I'm guessing he uses the leverage of having the Argos sniffing around to have a bit more stability than the usual 1 year open contract he seems to have favoured the last little bit. Will re-up in the next couple days for 3 years... maybe with some more formal GM duties... maybe Walters is completely gone, maybe he moves up the hierarchy a bit and is less hands on in the GM side of things. The way the roster is currently constructed their almost has to be a fairly significant shake up... multi year gives him at least 2 seasons presumably to get something going again, if he were to come back on a 1-year deal and miss the playoffs... or even be in the cross-over again, that would probably be the end of his time here.

What in Christ's good name are you talking about? Writing on the wall? 1 year contracts? He's never signed less than a 3 year deal....

[ShyGuy]

18 minutes ago, Noeller said:

What in Christ's good name are you talking about? Writing on the wall? 1 year contracts? He's never signed less than a 3 year deal....

Apparently I need more sleep and better reading comprehension

I was remember this article from last year https://3downnation.com/2024/11/26/kyle-walters-mike-oshea-unlikely-to-sign-long-term-extensions-with-winnipeg-blue-bombers-this-off-season/

and snippets such as "as of now, Walters expects to work next year without a long-term contract in place, while O’Shea said last week that he hasn’t “put one ounce of thought” into his contract status", and "O’Shea has always waited for his previous contract to expire before signing the next one, though this is highly unusual." and quotes from even before that like https://www.sportsnet.ca/cfl/article/blue-bombers-coach-mike-oshea-unfazed-about-being-in-final-year-of-contract/ "``If you look at the history, I always play out my contracts and figure it out at the end of the year,'' O'Shea told reporters. ``I don't spend a lot of time thinking about it, to tell you the truth.''" have swirled and combined in my head in the past year and formed into "Walters and O'Shea have operated on rolling 1-year contracts" so yeah, I'm the idiot.

So my idea of... O'Shea operating on a one-year contract and if the Bombers tank in 2026 doesn't really make a lick of sense

[Goalie]

Like I said I hope we know preferably by grey cup game the latest cuz yeah, just something that needs to be figured out fast. 

[Goalie]

I’ve seen some quotes from Dinwiddie and I’m not sure if O’Shea wants all that responsibility. It sounds like Dinwiddie did everything from schedules to whatever else. There’s a reason he didn’t give the Argos a chance to match. And RD is a young guy. Osh getting older. 

Edited yesterday at 03:45 PM by Goalie

[Tracker]

20 hours ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

So who do we think Hogan will pick as his assistants? I am betting on Thomas for DC in a dual role.

Anything to keep him off the firld.

[Tracker]

O'Shea for all his faults is not (entirely) stupid. He has to know that his track record for the past 3 seasons was damning and if he wasn't going to be fired this year,, given his personality, it would be next. There is a saying that if you are at the edge of a cliff, if is better to jump than be pushed- you have a better choice of where you land. 

I an and have been convinced for some time that O'Shea's time here was done as he had become a liability. I am waffling about Walters. If he was privately dissatisfied with O'Shea and was engaged in a lost-lose-lose power struggle with O'Shea, then perhaps, with O'Shea gone, he can right the ship. My gut says that was likely the case. Nonetheess, if he leaves, clearing the decks might not be a bad idea.

Sempre avanti!

[blue85gold]

If Montreal wins, that will mean every season since 2018 the Bombers either won the Cup or was knocked out by the team that won the Cup:

2018 - Calgary

2019, 2021 - Winnipeg

2022-24 lost the Cup

2025 - Mtl?

[Mark H.]

MOS thinks highly of intangibles. Both he and Dave Ritchie were/are like that. In their eyes, the veteran leadership, been there done that element, is just as important as on field contributions. They have both said this in interviews.

My question about this approach over the last couple season, would be this: you're got Collaros, Bryant and Neufeld - shouldn't that be adequate? Why is there this need to start inferior veterans?

Also, which one is the bigger factor - philosophy or complacency?

Just my 0.02 - I know I won't get any answers.

 

[wbbfan]

9 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

MOS thinks highly of intangibles. Both he and Dave Ritchie were/are like that. In their eyes, the veteran leadership, been there done that element, is just as important as on field contributions. They have both said this in interviews.

My question about this approach over the last couple season, would be this: you're got Collaros, Bryant and Neufeld - shouldn't that be adequate? Why is there this need to start inferior veterans?

Also, which one is the bigger factor - philosophy or complacency?

Just my 0.02 - I know I won't get any answers.

 

You have a good point, but veteran and great leader don’t go hand in hand. 

Big stan for instance, is known to be a pretty quiet guy. Yoshi was the primary leader of the team, offence, and ol. He was a massive culture setter. Sheed as well. Other guys like hansen, kongbo, biggie, and ba were the leaders on and off field. 

The fact we’ve seen zach soo frustrated with play call, time to relay plays in, wrs, etc as soon as the leaders left says zach is a stoic on field leader type and easy going guy off. but that balance depends on guys who will hold other accountable. 

Tldr, it takes multiple leaders of various types to make teams work together well. We have guys, but not the right ones in the right places imo. 

[HardCoreBlue]

On 2025-11-09 at 5:36 PM, rebusrankin said:

Perhaps MOS would prefer a market like Toronto because there is less pressure.

AND has under ten fans so that helps.

[Booch]

Stay...or go...we be fine...and there are a lot of good younger up and comers in the league...joe fan tho isnt acutely aware of tho

What was Osh when we signed him..a name as a player...as a couch.. pretty much zero experience...was given a st coordinator role but had zero positional coaching experience or any other for that matter...most will agree that turned out well...started bad..almost ended before the good occurred.. and is reverting to bad..stale..redundant...and that's what happens...especially after 12 seasons..and easily predictable...Ossh showed he was stubborn...bordered on arrogant and at times oblivious to the team...

He valued some things over talent...but unlike Ritchie who had a similar trait..albeit more vet over whatever it was Osh sees but Coach Ritchie also valued talent...and had the x and o acumen to facilitate things...Osh lacks that and history shows us without top notch coordinator around him..hes a bit of a dud with his bad traits compound it

Miller is a smart guy and knows what kind of guy to hire..Inhave no worries..If Osh wants to poach a coach have at er..some need to go..the ones that need to stay...they will stay..u can bet on it...we don't need a house clean..Just a few key spots need to be expunged...

I heard a few interesting things the other day...if i able to substantiate it I will share

 

1 hour ago, wbbfan said:

You have a good point, but veteran and great leader don’t go hand in hand. 

Big stan for instance, is known to be a pretty quiet guy. Yoshi was the primary leader of the team, offence, and ol. He was a massive culture setter. Sheed as well. Other guys like hansen, kongbo, biggie, and ba were the leaders on and off field. 

The fact we’ve seen zach soo frustrated with play call, time to relay plays in, wrs, etc as soon as the leaders left says zach is a stoic on field leader type and easy going guy off. but that balance depends on guys who will hold other accountable. 

Tldr, it takes multiple leaders of various types to make teams work together well. We have guys, but not the right ones in the right places imo. 

Yeah in several instances we kept the wrong vets...and valued others where that should have went to some who walked

 

[bigg jay]

 

Was on the Argos neg list earlier in the year but we added him to ours a few days ago.

[GCn20]

On 2025-11-10 at 8:41 PM, wbbfan said:

He didn’t play D, he got in on teams. Didn’t build him up into any one. Doesn’t play any thing like biggie and never said he did or that he would be biggie.
Can’t not play a guy and say he’s a miss. 

Also, I said one of many cases.

Got a link to any thing saying he was a cancer? 

I’m betting the source will be “trust me bro” 

Nope, my name's not Booch. It was discussed on Winnipeg Sports Talk by Andrew Paterson a couple weeks ago or so. He qualified it as something that he never heard directly from anyone in the organization but was making it's rounds amongst the media. Apparently he showed up to camp out of shape, and then wasn't happy about his playing time and let everyone know about it.  Don't have a date or a time, but it's on one of their podcasts if you care to dig deeper.

Edited 4 hours ago by GCn20

[GCn20]

23 hours ago, Tracker said:

O'Shea for all his faults is not (entirely) stupid. He has to know that his track record for the past 3 seasons was damning and if he wasn't going to be fired this year,, given his personality, it would be next. There is a saying that if you are at the edge of a cliff, if is better to jump than be pushed- you have a better choice of where you land. 

I an and have been convinced for some time that O'Shea's time here was done as he had become a liability. I am waffling about Walters. If he was privately dissatisfied with O'Shea and was engaged in a lost-lose-lose power struggle with O'Shea, then perhaps, with O'Shea gone, he can right the ship. My gut says that was likely the case. Nonetheess, if he leaves, clearing the decks might not be a bad idea.

Sempre avanti!

How is his record for the past 3 years damning? This year definitely. However, the two years before that he has West division champs and Grey Cup reps on his resume. If you think that's damning you are huffing paint fumes. The only people who would call that failure are living on cloud 9. Did we win the cup...nope. However, winning your division and becoming your division's cup rep isn't something that any reasonable person would call failure.

What was clear in the past 3-5 years is that Walters allowed a huge talent drain to happen. That is undeniable. If anyone should be on the hot seat it is him. MOS as well to a lesser extent, but I will be extremely disappointed if Walters is our GM going forward. If he is then he needs to wake up and start doing his job.

I can live with MOS coming back with a new GM that actually holds him to account. MOS is a great coach who needs to get out of his own way on a few things. If Walters had done his job maybe we aren't even discussing MOS's rosters etc. At the end of the day, the buck stops with Walters on both talent, and on the performance of the HC. I am really unclear why so many people are hyper focused on MOS (not that he doesn't deserve criticism as well) but barely a word about just how poor Walters has been over the past 3 years especially.

Edited 3 hours ago by GCn20

[Tracker]

1 hour ago, GCn20 said:

How is his record for the past 3 years damning? This year definitely. However, the two years before that he has West division champs and Grey Cup reps on his resume. If you think that's damning you are huffing paint fumes. The only people who would call that failure are living on cloud 9. Did we win the cup...nope. However, winning your division and becoming your division's cup rep isn't something that any reasonable person would call failure.

What was clear in the past 3-5 years is that Walters allowed a huge talent drain to happen. That is undeniable. If anyone should be on the hot seat it is him. MOS as well to a lesser extent, but I will be extremely disappointed if Walters is our GM going forward. If he is then he needs to wake up and start doing his job.

I can live with MOS coming back with a new GM that actually holds him to account. MOS is a great coach who needs to get out of his own way on a few things. If Walters had done his job maybe we aren't even discussing MOS's rosters etc. At the end of the day, the buck stops with Walters on both talent, and on the performance of the HC. I am really unclear why so many people are hyper focused on MOS (not that he doesn't deserve criticism as well) but barely a word about just how poor Walters has been over the past 3 years especially.

 the past three years, the team has gotten worse each year (old news) and he has repeatedly hung onto fading players when they could no longer compete and sat out potentially better ones. This year was no surprise- it was predicted in this forum and was the culmination of what was begun three years ago.

[SpeedFlex27]

On 2025-11-11 at 12:27 PM, blue85gold said:

If Montreal wins, that will mean every season since 2018 the Bombers either won the Cup or was knocked out by the team that won the Cup:

2018 - Calgary

2019, 2021 - Winnipeg

2022-24 lost the Cup

2025 - Mtl?

Is that supposed to make feel better? Who cares? 

[blue85gold]

Just now, SpeedFlex27 said:

Is that supposed to make feel better? Who cares? 

Who pissed in your cornflakes. 

[SpeedFlex27]

2 minutes ago, blue85gold said:

Who pissed in your cornflakes. 

I'll sleep much better tonight knowing that. Lol. 

[Slimy Sculpin]

3 hours ago, GCn20 said:

How is his record for the past 3 years damning? This year definitely. However, the two years before that he has West division champs and Grey Cup reps on his resume. If you think that's damning you are huffing paint fumes. The only people who would call that failure are living on cloud 9. Did we win the cup...nope. However, winning your division and becoming your division's cup rep isn't something that any reasonable person would call failure.

What was clear in the past 3-5 years is that Walters allowed a huge talent drain to happen. That is undeniable. If anyone should be on the hot seat it is him. MOS as well to a lesser extent, but I will be extremely disappointed if Walters is our GM going forward. If he is then he needs to wake up and start doing his job.

I can live with MOS coming back with a new GM that actually holds him to account. MOS is a great coach who needs to get out of his own way on a few things. If Walters had done his job maybe we aren't even discussing MOS's rosters etc. At the end of the day, the buck stops with Walters on both talent, and on the performance of the HC. I am really unclear why so many people are hyper focused on MOS (not that he doesn't deserve criticism as well) but barely a word about just how poor Walters has been over the past 3 years especially.

I think that you've got it wrong. In most pro sports organizations, the GM hires and fires the HC not the other way around. And most GMs have at least "two kicks at the can" (i.e., They get to hire two HCs before their neck is on the line.) IMO, it'll be O'Shea who will be gone, whether he's hired by the Argos or fired by Walters. Of course, Miller (with input for the BOD?) could fire both of them.

[Bigblue204]

31 minutes ago, Slimy Sculpin said:

I think that you've got it wrong. In most pro sports organizations, the GM hires and fires the HC not the other way around. And most GMs have at least "two kicks at the can" (i.e., They get to hire two HCs before their neck is on the line.) IMO, it'll be O'Shea who will be gone, whether he's hired by the Argos or fired by Walters. Of course, Miller (with input for the BOD?) could fire both of them.

MOS will be the HC of the Argos or the Bombers. There is exactly zero chance the Bombers "fire" him.