The Winnipeg Blue Bombers today announce the club has named Jordan Younger as Defensive Coordinator and Mike Miller as Special Teams Coordinator, the latter replacing Paul Boudreau whose contract was not renewed by the club. Richie Hall remains on the defensive coaching staff.
Younger returns to the Blue Bombers for a sixth season in 2024 and his first as the Defensive Coordinator after previously serving as the Defensive Backs Coach. Winnipeg’s secondary has been a force under Younger’s watch, ranking first in passing yardage allowed per game (229.4 yards) and opponent completion percentage against (59.7) in 2023.
Over the last three seasons, the Blue Bombers have finished first or tied for first in passing yards allowed per game, allowing just 216.4 in 2021, tying with the B.C. Lions at 253 in 2022 and then dropping that number to last season’s 229.4. During Younger’s tenure, the Blue Bombers have had two players lead the league in interceptions in Houston (2023) and Winston Rose (2019) while the club has developed Deatrick Nichols, Evan Holm, Houston, Rose, Brandon Alexander, Dee Alford, Taylor Loffler and Marcus Sayles into all-stars.
Younger came to the Blue Bombers in 2018 after working as the defensive backs coach with the Toronto Argonauts (2015-16) and previously with the Ontario Football Conference’s Oakville Titans and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.
Hall will remain in the organization, working with the defensive staff, and 2024 will mark his ninth season as a member of the Blue Bombers coaching staff.
Hall’s association with the league dates back to the beginnings of his playing career with the Calgary Stampeders in 1983 and then with the Saskatchewan Roughriders from 1988-91. His first coaching job in the CFL was with Saskatchewan in 1994 and he remained on staff there as defensive backs coach (1994-2000) before serving as the defensive coordinator from 2001-08.
He was the head coach in Edmonton from 2009-10 before returning to Saskatchewan as the defensive coordinator from 2011-14. Hall is a five-time Grey Cup champion, winning as a player with Saskatchewan in 1989, as a Riders assistant in 2007 and 2013 and with the Blue Bombers in 2019 and 2021.
“JY (Younger) has been an intelligent, creative and passionate leader for many years, and this transition is something that we had discussed a couple of years back,” said Head Coach Mike O’Shea. “Having Richie remain with the organization and provide his decades of experience is something we are all very grateful for.”
Miller moves directly from the playing ranks to coaching after spending the 2023 season working with the specialists in a non-playing role. The CFL’s all-time leader in special teams tackles with 226, Miller missed the entire 2023 season after suffering an injury in training camp. An undrafted prospect out of Acadia University, Miller began his playing career in Edmonton in 2011. In his more than six seasons in Alberta, he established himself as a superb contributor on special teams, further building on that reputation after joining the Blue Bombers in 2017. Blue Bombers President and CEO Wade Miller held the record for most special teams tackles with 184 when he retired in 2005, he was first passed by Jason Arakgi (190) in 2016, before Mike Miller became the all-time leader in 2021.
“Making any staff changes is never an easy decision, and we are very appreciative of the years Bou (Boudreau) spent with us,” O’Shea said. “Mike Miller is a guy who is very well respected across our league, and I think will make a great coach. He is one of, if not the best, special teams player of all-time, and I’m looking forward to seeing him transition into this new role.”
Miller was twice named the Blue Bombers Most Outstanding Special Teams Player (2019, 2021), was the team’s Most Outstanding Canadian in 2019 and was selected as the West Division’s Most Outstanding Special Teams Player in 2019 and 2021. He is a three-time Grey Cup champion, having won with Edmonton in 2015 and with the Blue Bombers in 2019 and 2021.
