Mike Riley: “Those things that are so important to you, you tend to remember them.”

It’s been almost four decades now — 36 and 38 years, respectively — since Mike Riley was swarmed by his jubilant players and showered with Gatorade baths in those epic celebratory moments after the 1988 and 1990 Grey Cup wins by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Yet thousands of kilometres removed from Winnipeg in his home base in Corvallis, Oregon Riley still follows the team closely and can recall in vivid detail so many of the people and the moments that made the ’88 and ’90 Blue Bombers seasons so epic.

“Those things that are so important to you, you tend to remember them,” began the former Blue Bombers head coach in a chat with bluebombers.com from Oregon. “Those were special, special groups. All those times, all those memories are really, really etched into my heart and soul. I absolutely loved it. I’ll always cherish those teams and those times.

“That is so exciting those teams are being honoured in that way.”

The 1988 and 1990 Blue Bombers Grey Cup championship teams are the 2026 inductees into the Winnipeg Football Club’s Hall of Fame, as the organization has recently worked to further recognize its 12 titles by honouring those who delivered them. Those two teams will be honoured during the Blue Bombers home game against the Toronto Argonauts on Friday, September 25th and then saluted at the Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Fame Celebration in support of football in Manitoba the following day at the RBC Convention Centre.

Riley, along with the late GM Cal Murphy — who is this year’s inductee to the club’s Ring of Honour — were two of the central figures in the franchise’s ninth and 10th championships.

Riley and yours truly recently visited for close to 30 minutes while chatting about the ’88 and ’90 teams, but before we dove into that he wanted to point out that he coached Sergio Castillo in 2019 with the San Antonio Commanders in the Alliance of American Football — “I really, really like him and continue to root for him.”

He then saluted the work of rookie quarterback Taylor Elgersma for managing the game after the injury to Zach Collaros in the win over Hamilton and, in a follow-up text, raved about the team’s recent victory over the Toronto Argonauts.

So, yeah, the 73-year-old former coach — a two-time winner of the CFL’s Coach of the Year Award and one of the nicest dudes in Blue Bombers history — is still following closely.

Riley, whose father Bud was the Blue Bombers head coach from 1974-77, was named head coach of the club in 1987 at just 33 years of age. Murphy had been bumped up to the GM role after Paul Robson left to take a similar role with the Ottawa Rough Riders.

Riley’s first season with the club featured an epic run… and a bitterly disappointing conclusion as the ’87 team finished first in the East Division with a 12-6 record, had three players honoured with CFL Most Outstanding Player Awards in quarterback Tom Clements (Most Outstanding Player), safety Scott Flagel (Canadian) and tackle Chris Walby (Offensive Lineman) while placing 10 players on the CFL All-Star Team: all four of the above plus running back Willard Reaves, receiver Perry Tuttle, linebackers James West and Tyrone Jones and cornerbacks Roy Bennett and James Jefferson.

Yet, that squad fell flat in the Eastern Final, losing 19-3 to the Argos — at home, no less.

And by the time 1988 arrived Clements had retired, Reaves and Jones had headed to the NFL while Flagel had signed with the Calgary Stampeders. So, there were very loud questions about the Blue Bombers ability to get back into the winner’s circle.

“My gosh… we entered a new era in 1988 without a hall of famer like Tommy Clements,” said Riley. “That ’87 team was so good. I don’t think I slept for four months after that playoff loss to Toronto (in the ’87). That was really, really hard. And then we were going into the next season without a quarterback.

“But that ’88 team was special because of the roller-coaster ride we went through. We were 9-6 at one point and my thoughts at the time were, ‘OK, let’s win two out of our last three games and we’ll go into the playoffs with some good momentum.’ We then proceeded to not only lose them all, we lost badly to Toronto and B.C. And Toronto just beat the heck out of us. It was so bad, I had to take (quarterback) Sean (Salisbury) out of the game because he was getting beat up so badly. We went out to B.C., and they almost doubled our score out there. So, we basically limped into the playoffs.

“We ironically had a home playoff game and as great as our fans are in Winnipeg, nobody gave us much hope after the finish to the season. On a snowy day we had 12,210 supposedly showed up for the game against Hamilton and we beat ’em. Still, everybody thought the season would be over because we had to go into Toronto and play in the Eastern Final nobody gave us much hope.”

In that Eastern Final the Blue Bombers got some key catches from Tuttle while cornerback Rod Hill blocked a punt. Said Riley: “I tell people that in 48 years of coaching Rod was the best I ever had at being able to block a kick or punt. He great ability and technique to do it and when you do that in a game, you change a game.”

That then set up the Grey Cup game in Ottawa against a Lions team that had crushed them 45-24 in the regular-season finale.

Grey Cup Long Read | Remembering 1988

“That win was attributed to a lot of things, but one of them for sure was the punting of Bob Cameron because it was a really windy day in Ottawa and Bob had a terrific day,” Riley said. “That team was really built on our special teams and our defence.”

Critical to sealing the victory was an interception by defensive lineman Michael Gray near the Blue Bombers goal line. Riley vividly recalled every nanosecond of the play, with the ball ultimately popping up to Gray who had dropped back after rushing the passer.

“It was a gutty team that just wouldn’t quit and had to play through a lot of doubt. That’s what I appreciated about them,” Riley said. “They just put together some real gutty performances to win the Grey Cup game that year.

“It was difficult to overcome the end to that season especially when our expectations were so different. That’s certainly not a great way to enter into the playoffs when you lost three in a row and then lost to the teams you’re probably going to face in the playoffs.

“That team managed to put it all behind them and won. That’s what made it so very, very special.”

The Blue Bombers in 1989 underwent more change — Salisbury was gone with Lee Saltz and Sam Garza the QBs — and the team struggled to a 7-11 finish before knocking off Toronto in the Eastern Semi-Final and falling 14-10 to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Eastern Final.

And as the 1990 season approached with more questions at QB, Murphy swung a Canada Day trade with Saskatchewan which landed Tom Burgess.

“I’ll tell you what, Tom Burgess was a key, key ingredient,” said Riley. “He was immediately respected by our team. He was a good player, but he was also extremely tough and competitive, and our team followed that lead in many, many ways. The one thing that football players respect about other players is their physical toughness and Tommy was a tough guy. And he made plays and competed like crazy. He was such a great addition. It really changed the dynamic of our season.

“That team was different because I thought we were the best team from the start to the Grey Cup game that year. That was a very good football team. (Running back) Robert Mimbs was such a terrific player and such a versatile guy. He rushed for a lot of yards, and we built a lot of what we did on running the football and he not only ran it productively, he caught a ton of passes — Tommy used him in a very good way.

“And then we were a great defensive team. I’m always telling people about the linebackers we had throughout my time in Winnipeg. Cal Murphy was such a genius when we went to Winnipeg in ’83 and we installed that 3-4 defence with Fred Glick as the coordinator. That was a stroke of genius because no one else in the league was playing a 3-4 and we built it around the linebackers and every year we had at least four great linebackers that allowed us to play a different style of defence than everybody and do it with really good players.

“It was a well-rounded team offensively in the way we were and then we always had the most stable specialists with Bob (Cameron) and Trevor (Kennerd). True pros that performed in the clutch and were very talented. I give Lyle Bauer and James West a lot of credit. We didn’t have elected captains, but they kind of emerged as captains of that team and there were no two better guys to be the leadership of that group.

“That team was so much fun,” Riley added. “Gosh, they were fun to be around. That group, they loved to have a good time and then they went out on the field and backed it up. It was like they put themselves in a corner and then fought their way out of it.

“It was really, truly a team.”

A postscript to this story: in 2015 when Riley was coaching at the University of Nebraska, a videographer and I, both then at The Free Press, visited the former Blue Bombers head coach in Lincoln for a story prior to his debut as the Cornhuskers head coach.

He was as welcoming as ever and eager to welcome two journalists from Winnipeg. What was striking was in his expansive office at Memorial Stadium, alongside photos of Riley with former San Diego Chargers star Junior Seau and from his days at Oregon State, were so many Blue Bombers and Winnipeg related artifacts.

There was a game ball from the 1988 Grey Cup, his Winnipeg Football Club Hall of Fame certificate, and a photo of him at a Bombers reunion that featured Joe Poplawski, James Murphy, Dieter Brock, Ken Ploen, Buddy Tinsley, Cal Murphy, Bob Cameron and Milt Stegall, along with an old seat from Winnipeg Stadium that has been autographed by the ’88 Grey Cup championship squad.

“Those are some of my favourites teams and they hold a real, real close place in my heart,” he said near the end of our chat. “I’m so thankful for all of my time in Winnipeg. I’m really proud to always tell people both of my kids were born in Winnipeg, so we’ll always have the connection.

“It really, really means a lot to me.”

That was certainly evident during our conversation. It is indeed true — those things that are so important to you, you tend to remember them.

THE WFC HALL OF FAME CLASS OF 2026

The 1988 Grey Cup Champions

Police hold back fans at the Winnipeg Airport as the Blue Bombers return home following their victory in the 1988 Grey Cup; photo courtesy Wayne Glowacki/Winnipeg Free Press

The 1990 Grey Cup Champions

Rod Hill celebrates the 1990 Grey Cup; photo courtesy The Canadian Press

Head coach: Mike Riley
GM: Cal Murphy
Coaching staff: Jim Gilstrap, Dave Ritchie, Gene Gaines, Ron Simonson, Bob Padilla
Roster (includes all players who played at least one game in 1990):
Quarterbacks: Tom Burgess, Danny McManus, Sammy Garza
Running backs: Robert Mimbs, Warren Hudson, Matt Pearce, Terry Cochrane
Receivers: Lee Hull, Perry Tuttle, Rick House, Eric Streater, Ken Winey, Rob Crifo, James Murphy, Rodney Hughes, Steve Zatylny
Offensive line: Chris Walby, David Black, Lyle Bauer, Bob Molle, Nick Benjamin, Steve Rodehutskors, Scott Redl
Defensive line: Quency Williams, Stan Mikawos, Mike Gray, Leon Hatziioannou, Jeff Croonen, Jerome Rinehart
Linebackers: Tyrone Jones, James West, Greg Battle, Paul Randolph, Albert Williams, Quentin Riggins, Dave Ward, John Yule
Defensive backs: Less Browne, Ken Hailey, Dave Bovell, Darryl Sampson, Rod Hill, Michael Allen, Burt Cummings, Bobby Evans, Ken Pettway
Kickers: Trevor Kennerd, Bob Cameron