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Kyle Walters all but official as Winnipeg Blue Bombers GM  0  

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2013 01:45 PM CST

is all but official that the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will make Kyle Walters their permanent general manager, and it will likely happen early next week.

According to a CFL source, Walters has told at least one potential head coaching candidate that he will have the interim tag removed from his title. Walters, who became Winnipeg’s assistant general manager last December, has been the team’s interim GM since four days after Joe Mack was fired in mid-August.

There has been speculation the Bombers might ask around the league and interview other GM candidates, but that does not appear to be the case. It has been expected for some time that Walters was going to get the job full-time, even though there are more qualified and experienced candidates out there.

After Walters is officially installed as the GM, the next task for the rebuilding Bombers will be to name a head coach and then have him construct a coaching staff.

According to the source, the Bombers have asked for permission to speak to Toronto Argonauts defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones and Calgary Stampeders defensive co-ordinator Rick Campbell.

Winnipeg is also expected to ask for permission to speak to Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterbacks coach Khari Jones, who appears to be the leading candidate to get the gig in Winnipeg thanks in large part to his relationship with Miller. The Bombers have to wait until after the Grey Cup if they want to speak with Jones.

There are reports the Bombers have also asked for permission to speak to Argos special teams co-ordinator Mike O’Shea, who has connections to Walters, about the head coaching gig.

In addition, the Sun reported earlier this week there are rumblings that Canadian Football Hall of Fame quarterback Danny McManus, currently the head U.S. scout for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, is being eyed by the Bombers, likely for the assistant general manager position
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I wonder if there will be heat on Walters for telling people. I suppose it's part of the recruitment process to let prospective coaches know who's in charge.

The impression I got from reading the papers all week is that Miller has been talking to everyone and anyone during GC week in Regina. If he talked to a bunch of front-office types from other teams who said "We like Kyle, we respect Kyle, we'd have no problem working with Kyle as an equal in the league..." then, I've got no problem with them moving forward with him. If they get McManus or someone like that to work the connections south of the border while KW does the CIS stuff that he's clearly gifted at, then what the hell. Just because he's an "easy" hire, doesn't make him a bad one. Time will tell if this is the right move, but for the time being, I'm willing to give it a shot. Now, who the hell do we get as HC...

Kind of reeks of that one Grey Cup week, when a certain bald a-hole named Mike Kelly was walking around with Lyle Bauer basically introducing himself as the next GM and HC. 

 

Not saying that Walters or Khari are anything like Reinbald, just the schoozy friends helping friends stink never seems to leave this team. 

Let's not forget that Walters was chosen by Joe Mack to be assistant GM. If anything, Miller should be commended for not bringing in one of "his guys" here.

Pretty sure there was the same reaction when Mack was hired by some. Not worried. Imwt and all that.

Walters seems like a good football man to have in the organization, but i fail to see how he is any bit qualified to handle such an enormous task as transforming a horrible team that has been mostly crap since 2008 into a highly competitive team that push for division champions each year.

Cis coach to shitty st coach to assistant GM to intermin GM, Not seeing the cfl experience in building a great team from the dog pile we currently are. Sure he has CIs experience but how does that translate into the cfl?

I rather someone like Higgins or someone with similar amounts of experience helping manage teams that have turned from crap into top 4 teams in the league.

Settling with Walters May turn out to be great, but i don't understand our perpetual gravitation to rookie management hires..

Pretty sure there was the same reaction when Mack was hired by some. Not worried. Imwt and all that.

Walters seems like a good football man to have in the organization, but i fail to see how he is any bit qualified to handle such an enormous task as transforming a horrible team that has been mostly crap since 2008 into a highly competitive team that push for division champions each year.

Cis coach to shitty st coach to assistant GM to intermin GM, Not seeing the cfl experience in building a great team from the dog pile we currently are. Sure he has CIs experience but how does that translate into the cfl?

I rather someone like Higgins or someone with similar amounts of experience helping manage teams that have turned from crap into top 4 teams in the league.

Settling with Walters May turn out to be great, but i don't understand our perpetual gravitation to rookie management hires..

The problem is that, other than Higgins (whose qualifications are questionable), the person you are looking for doesn't exist. If they really did their research and determined that Walters is the best guy out there, then I have no problems with it. 

Pretty sure there was the same reaction when Mack was hired by some. Not worried. Imwt and all that.

Walters seems like a good football man to have in the organization, but i fail to see how he is any bit qualified to handle such an enormous task as transforming a horrible team that has been mostly crap since 2008 into a highly competitive team that push for division champions each year.

Cis coach to shitty st coach to assistant GM to intermin GM, Not seeing the cfl experience in building a great team from the dog pile we currently are. Sure he has CIs experience but how does that translate into the cfl?

I rather someone like Higgins or someone with similar amounts of experience helping manage teams that have turned from crap into top 4 teams in the league.

Settling with Walters May turn out to be great, but i don't understand our perpetual gravitation to rookie management hires..

The problem is that, other than Higgins (whose qualifications are questionable), the person you are looking for doesn't exist. If they really did their research and determined that Walters is the best guy out there, then I have no problems with it.

So there are no other coaches or operational guys on any other team or in short hiatus with more experience then Walters and or less then Higgins?

So there are no other coaches or operational guys on any other team or in short hiatus with more experience then Walters and or less then Higgins?

 

 

What you're saying is true…more or less.

Yes, there are more experienced player personnel guys around than Walters. The guy in BC who has been there forever as well as John Murphy in Calgary. And like has been pointed out a couple of hundred times, there's Tom Higgins available who has rebuilt teams as a GM & Head Coach in the past. So, yes there are people out there who can do the job. The thing is, Wade Miller is calling the shots. I don't think too many CFL execs like Murphy want anything to do with him so we get Walters.

 The thing is, Wade Miller is calling the shots. I don't think too many CFL execs like Murphy want anything to do with him so we get Walters.

 

Unsubstantiated and completely unfair to the young wizard, Mr. Walters.

"I've got a bad feeling about this."

Can anyone name an available GM candidate who has experience successfully rebuilding a team. There are potential GM candidates with more management experience than Walters but of the names bandied about none have rebuilt a team as GM. Both times when Higgins was GM in Edmonton he inherited good teams. Murphy, McEvoy and O'Day have never been GMs so they haven't been in charge of a rebuild either.

…What Kyle may be saying in Regina all week.

He doesn't have experience as a GM so we can't make him GM? Knowledge and leadership are important. The fact he was a special teams coach means nothing.

I think he's going to do very well.

If Walters is the best guy for the job then great. Problem is, he's not. Penton said it in his column the other day and everyone already knows this. Miller knows this. So why is he giving the job to Walters? Because apparently an "exhaustive search" in Bomber Land means leaving your office, walking down the hallway, running into anybody you recognize and asking "Oh hey, you know there's a GM job available, wanna do it? But if anyone asks, say you interviewed for it."

This is the impression I get every time the Bombers need to make a new hire and claim they will be scouring the league looking for the best possible candidate for the job. Like they did for a head coach after canning LaPo right? They found the best possible candidate. In the ENTIRE LEAGUE. That's what we got. He was right under our nose the whole time.

The problem is the attitude this organization seems to have every time we go through this. As long as a person is "adequate" or "good enough", they fit the bill. Forget RENEWED RIVALRIES, 2014's slogan should just be those two terms beneath our logo.

I guess anyone with the same experience can do well if the Bombers go out and spend a pile of cash on NI's a Q.B. and an O-line along with the proper number of coaches.

 

It is a wait and see game, if they sit on their wallets yet again I am sure the fans will as well.   

Success or failure will all fall at Wades feet with these hires, maybe he will surprise us.

All of the bellyaching is based on unfounded information at this point. You may all turn out to be right, but it's too soon to tell. Let's wait and see what Kyle does.

All of the bellyaching is based on unfounded information at this point. You may all turn out to be right, but it's too soon to tell. Let's wait and see what Kyle does.

I can't speak for any other poster, but my bellyaching has more to do with the process, then Walters being hired.

 

 The thing is, Wade Miller is calling the shots. I don't think too many CFL execs like Murphy want anything to do with him so we get Walters.

Unsubstantiated and completely unfair to the young wizard, Mr. Walters

Maybe but optics are everything.

 

 

 The thing is, Wade Miller is calling the shots. I don't think too many CFL execs like Murphy want anything to do with him so we get Walters.

Maybe but image is everything.

Unsubstantiated and completely unfair to the young wizard, Mr. Walters

Maybe but optics are everything.

 

 

Optics are everything? 

 

Not if they're an illusion.

 

 

 The thing is, Wade Miller is calling the shots. I don't think too many CFL execs like Murphy want anything to do with him so we get Walters.

Maybe but image is everything.

Unsubstantiated and completely unfair to the young wizard, Mr. Walters

Maybe but optics are everything.

 

results are everything not optics. 

Optics can be an illusion. Illusions can be fantasy. Only reality is the permanence of our being.

Optics can be an illusion. Illusions can be fantasy. Only reality is the permanence of our being.

Heavy man...

I see where you're coming from…in colours.

But, to me, these are only token words, 

 

( or is that spelt with  an i )

 

Optics can be an illusion. Illusions can be fantasy. Only reality is the permanence of our being.

Heavy man...

I see where you're coming from…in colours.

But, to me, these are only token words, 

 

( or is that spelt with  an i )

 

That quaint saying would have been cool in a smokey, drug induced haze in the 70's. That's about it.