Blue Bombers -- 2025/26 Offseason -- Discussion Thread

[GCn20]

1 hour ago, Tracker said:

Unless O'Shea has had an on-the-road-to-Damascus epiphany, he is most likely to play non-pets in minor and/or losing situations so as to try to discredit them, then do an I-toldyaso riff. All passive-aggressive stuff.

For some reasom, you are confusing a realistic assessment of Thomas as ineffective and an obatacke to developing younger, better players. with hatred for him. So far as I am aware, he has not eaten any puppies or beaten up any orphans, but am willing to be proven wrong in that regard.

I agree totally that he was an obstacle as a player. That, however, has absolutely nothing to do with my post. Some people, without seeing any results whatsoever are pegging him as a bust as a coach. That assessment can only be created by a massive bias against him.

[wbbfan]

20 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

I agree totally that he was an obstacle as a player. That, however, has absolutely nothing to do with my post. Some people, without seeing any results whatsoever are pegging him as a bust as a coach. That assessment can only be created by a massive bias against him.

I agree. I'd add that he has completely earned the stigma and bias against him. But I think the floor is very high for a replacement, given how we have struggled to coach and develop talent on the DL. The verdict is out on Jake as a coach, but I am not really worrying about him. 

[GCn20]

25 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

I agree. I'd add that he has completely earned the stigma and bias against him. But I think the floor is very high for a replacement, given how we have struggled to coach and develop talent on the DL. The verdict is out on Jake as a coach, but I am not really worrying about him. 

How did he earn the stigma and bias against him? What specifically did he do? I get that his usage was awful, but how is that on him? Imo, he is being unfairly criticized for playing a role that his coaches asked of him. He signed a contract and went on the field when he was told to do so. We can hate the role he played but now it is carrying over into dislike for him personally and that isn't fair for us to do.

Edited 1 hour ago by GCn20

[Noeller]

3 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

How did he earn the stigma and bias against him? What specifically did he do? I get that his usage was awful, but how is that on him? Imo, he is being unfairly criticized for playing a role that his coaches asked of him. He signed a contract and went on the field when he was told to do so. We can hate the role he played but now it is carrying over into dislike for him personally and that isn't fair for us to do.

Also the whole "he's a giant fat mess" thing somehow got stuck in him. Have you ever seen him in person? He really isn't. He's just built like a whiskey barrel...

[GCn20]

1 minute ago, Noeller said:

Also the whole "he's a giant fat mess" thing somehow got stuck in him. Have you ever seen him in person? He really isn't. He's just built like a whiskey barrel...

He's never been the model of lean and mean, but not many DTs are. The guy played with heart, and worked hard as a player. Not sure why there is so much vitriol when his name is mentioned....or at least why it's being directed towards him.

[kelownabomberfan]

Last checked in to this thread in early December, saw that the number one topic was Jake Thomas.  Now I come back end of January....looks like I didn't miss anything...lol...

[SpeedFlex27]

7 hours ago, GCn20 said:

I guess we should just fire JT now. Obviously he has nothing to offer. Sad, that the hate is so strong for a guy that showed up to play for us game in and game out. We may not like his usage over the past few years but now we are blaming him for it. 

Oh, lighten up. There's no hate there. A joke for sure, but no hate. Thomas has been handed his starting job at DT & now a coaching position by Osh. The feeling is he is entitled as he never quite earned it with his play. Especially the past 3 or 4 years. Hence the bad one liners. The fans aren't stupid. They're a lot smarter then the coaches & managers think they are. They can see what is going on.

With that damned coaches cap, the Bombers can bring in Thomas with no coaching experience & not pay him what an experienced DL coach might make. CFL teams can only have up to 11 assisitants. Which means prior to the cap, Thomas could have been a defensive assistant under an experienced pro coach as we'd have had the flexibility to hire another coach. Now, he has to take it on all by himself for the Bombers to adhere to that cap with just 11 assistants. Seems we hire 10 to save more money, anyway.