Press Conference Recap | Building On A Solid Foundation

The mission remains the same for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers: end a long championship drought by bringing a Grey Cup title back to Manitoba.

That was the underlying sentiment from the club’s football brain trust on Friday – President & CEO Wade Miller, GM Kyle Walters and head coach Mike O’Shea – upon the announcement of three-year contract extensions for the GM and coach.

“This wasn’t a tough decision at all,” began Miller. “What Kyle and Mike have done has been phenomenal from what we started from to where we are in 2016. Finishing with the record we did this year, which was the best since 2003 is definitely an example of that.

“Obviously we want to win a Grey Cup every year and that’s where our focus is, but we had a good run in 2016 and now it’s time to build on that in 2017 and these are the two gentlemen to do it.”

Miller said Friday that he and Walters had held informal discussions on a new deal for the GM periodically during the season. And after the exit meetings were done with players following the season, Walters and O’Shea cranked up their chats on getting the head coach signed to a new contract as well.

“I knew I wanted Mike back as the head coach,” said Walters. “I knew that all along. There was never any doubt, ever, with that. Once the Grey Cup ended and Mike cleaned up his business with the players we sat down and figure it out. It was evident Mike wanted to be here and I wanted him here, as did Wade. The process took a little bit of time, but we sorted it out.”

The Bombers finished 11-7 in 2016 and made their first playoff appearance since falling in the 2011 Grey Cup. Friday’s signings provide a sense of stability for an organization that has had a revolving door at the coach and GM positions over the last eight to 10 years.

Our main story on what the contract extensions mean can be found here and here are some quotes, tidbits and talking points that came out of Friday’s press conference:

• Walters on what O’Shea brings as a coach:

“The players respect him; the players play for him. He’s a leader in this locker room and the players will follow him, they’ll fight for him and do whatever is asked from him. It’s evident to see the leadership qualities that he brings and the integrity he brings and to get a locker room of this size with the different dynamic and diversity of players to all buy in to what he sees as the winning formula… it’s easy to see and it’s easy to believe in him. I certainly do, as do the players.”

• Miller on Walters:

“Kyle and I from Day 1 have had the same vision. Kyle was the first person I spoke to in this organization when I started back in 2013, so we’ve been down the same path and had the same vision since back in August of 2013. It’s pretty easy to continue that on with the work that Kyle and his scouting department have done. This year you’ve seen that… look at the five (Bombers) all-stars. You see one that came through a trade (T.J. Heath), another that came through scouting (Travis Bond) and through free agency (Justin Medlock and Andrew Harris) and then through the CFL Draft (Taylor Loffler). It’s a good representation of the work that Kyle and his team have done in the scouting department.”

• Miller, on what’s different about the record of this regime compared to the one before?

“You can see that there’s building that’s going on. I think in 2014 we may not have been as good as our record, in 2015 I knew that we were better than our record, and now you saw in 2016 where we ended up and where we’re going to grow to in 2017.

“You look at having two picks in the first round this year, you look at what Kyle and his team are doing in the scouting department… it’s completely different than what it was three years ago. It’s the quality of the players that are in here. You see a team that is built, you see a team with five CFL all-stars this year. It’s completely different.”

• O’Shea on what was the most appealing factor in staying when he may have had other options:

“We’ve started something. I don’t know that there’s many people in this role in whatever league that want to leave something half finished. I just don’t believe that. I don’t know that it’s anything unique, but we’ve started to build something here, we’re all leaving our fingerprints on it – and the players are, too – and we want to turn it into something great.”

• Walters when asked about his reference to the decision bringing O’Shea back was a ‘no brainer’ given what happened in the two previous seasons and whether one year is enough to build a winning culture:

“I know the type of man Mike is and I know the type of leader he is. And I know what I want in this organization from a head coach and it’s Mike O’Shea.

“I don’t think it was one year. I think it’s what we’re building towards… when Mike came in and we started to fill the locker room with the players he believes he needs to win and to buy into his philosophy and his vision. The players are seeing it. This isn’t one year, this is a build that you’re seeing. The players we are retaining are staying in this locker room and are building towards it. It starts at the top with Wade all the way down… the player see the type of organization this is. It’s a small league, they talk about it and players want to be here and it’s not because the record was a one-year turnaround. It’s been a three year slow build and it’s recognized by the players within the league.”

• Walters on discussions with the agent for prospective free agent quarterback Matt Nichols:

“We’ve talked numbers and I’m not going to get into it publicly. I respect Cameron Foster, his agent, this is normal… it’s not for public consumption. He and I will continue to talk and we’ll see if we can get something figured out.

“I’m cautiously optimistic, but when you head into contract negotiations they’re all different and you don’t know. I can’t speak for what Cameron and Matt are thinking; I can only tell you what I’m thinking. It’s very hard to predict.”

QUOTABLE:

“The goal every year is to win a Grey Cup. We’ve fallen well short of that. It’s unacceptable and we need to keep going. This past year we made some significant strides, but we’re still not satisfied.” – O’Shea.