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Kelly dumbs it down

Teacher overestimated students' cognitive abilities vis-à-vis offensive game plan I shoulda joined a rock 'n' roll band

By: Ed Tait

23/07/2009 1:00 AM | Comments: 15

Blue Bombers head coach Mike Kelly ponders the mysteries of life and football during Wednesday's workout.

JOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Enlarge Image

Blue Bombers head coach Mike Kelly ponders the mysteries of life and football during Wednesday's workout.

Any teacher will confess there are some rather obvious indicators a kid -- or an entire class -- just isn't getting the message.

Blank stares, for example, might be considered a tell-tale sign. Regular mass exoduses aren't good. And snoring is a fairly strong hint the class isn't exactly hanging on every syllable.

But nothing is likely more condemning than bad test scores.

All of which brings us to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and, in particular, their offensive offence...

 

In the wake of last Saturday's 25-13 loss to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats -- a game in which the attack managed just 55 yards in the second half and put the P-U in putrid -- head coach Mike Kelly & Co. have spent most of the last week rethinking everything from the way the message is delivered to its content.

"When I was a professor (of sports management at Drexel University), if I had an exam that was given where the highest grade was in the 70s or low 80s... then I failed those kids; I didn't recognize that they weren't picking up the style of teaching that I was using," said Kelly. "So now I have to find another way to communicate those same thoughts because if your whole class fails that's on the instructor. So you go back and say, 'Obviously they're not understanding this.'

"I'm being very open here... through the first part of some of our teaching here I thought players could conceptualize easier than they could. Now I'm finding with our group they learn better if I actually draw out everything, they follow it better then. You have to learn who you're dealing with also and what is their learning pattern and how they learn best. That's all part of the process."

And so this week's preparation for Friday's game against the Toronto Argonauts has been all about getting quarterback Stefan LeFors and his receivers on the same page. It's about implementing a game plan specific to the Argos, but also mastering some of what the Bombers do offensively.

"We added a couple things, we took a couple things out," said Kelly. "There's a certain number of plays that I'd like to have going into each game. Matt Dunigan used to call it having bullets in your holster and I want so many bullets in my holster. That's kind of the approach I've still taken.

"There's some things we want to do against their style of defence, but we've honed in on a few things. I wouldn't say it was a scaling back, it was maybe a little better awareness of some of the packages."

Awareness in practice is one thing, however, getting it done when it matters is the real proof. The Bombers will be facing an Argonaut squad that was pummelled 44-9 by the Calgary Stampeders last week and has given up 90 points in its last two games. But if the Bombers don't figure out a way to, for example, throw the ball to Terrence Edwards once in a while -- he didn't catch a pass last week -- then Kelly and his charges could be in for a long summer.

And Bomber fans will be suffering, too, because while the defence looks like a force, there's nothing more excruciatingly painful than watching offensive ineptitude in the wide-open CFL game.

Asked Wednesday if he saw some light bulbs going on this week with his players, Kelly grinned and said:

"Some are going on and some are still popping. But for the most part we're all starting to get a little more comfortable. Hopefully we've got something put together that our guys feel comfortable with and can execute."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

 

Woe is the 'O'

 A look at the Bombers offensive production through three games:

 Category Total Rank

Avg. points scored per game 24 7th

Touchdowns 5 8th

Passing TDs 2 8th

Rushing TDs 3 T-4th

First downs 51 8th

Yard offence per game 286.3 7th

Yards rushing per game 147.3 1st

Yards passing per game 151.7 8th

Team passing eff. rating 60.07 8th

Average time of possession 27:58 7th

 

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition July 23, 2009 C1

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15 Commentscomment icon

Let's see, how do you spell it? WINALTON? Maybe . The losers of the CFL. I guess we now have that title. Thanks Mike. O

Kelly has now found someone else to blame for his own pathetic coaching. Now he is basically saying all of his players are a bunch of morons and too stupid to understand his game plan.

I think they don't execute his game plan because none of these pros have seen a high school offense since high school. They are all in shock their head coach is moronic enough to try it in the pros.

If he thinks these guys will play for him after he went to the media and said they are all too simple to understand his plays, think again, this is enough for him to lose this team.

Hello Reinboldt we're back

Mr. Kelly, would you please get Ryan Dinwiddie's phone number, call him & resign him so we can have a decent quarterback & a shot at doing something offensively this year?

When this thing works CPop?? you must be as delusional as Kelly and his band of zeroes. Bring a bunch of guys over from the worst team in west, although they were better than 3 of the eastern teams of last year. Sounds familiar though! Like the guy who brought all his losers from BC a few years back.

Matt Dunnigan's name has come up a few times. Wouldn't he look good as the Quarterbacks coach or Offensive Coordinator.
As with anything in sports, there will be that love the team and those that hate the team. I hope all the negative people out there stay off the band wagon when this thing actually works.
Too many people really know nothing about football and sports in general. They are the ones who keep complaining on the plays.
You need to throw a long pass to open things up for the short pass. You need to run to set up the pass and vise versa.
Armstrong should be asked back unless of course the Bombers did not want him anyways and are using this reason for an excuse to get rid of him. Arland Bruce would look great in Blue and Gold. Seems like a natural trade to me.

Matt Dunnigan's name has come up a few times. Wouldn't he look good as the Quarterbacks coach or Offensive Coordinator.

As with anything in sports, there will be that love the team and those that hate the team. I hope all the negative people out there stay off the band wagon when this thing actually works.

Too many people really know nothing about football and sports in general. They are the ones who keep commenting on the plays.

You need to throw a long pass to open things up for the short pass. You need to run to set up the pass and vise versa.

Armstrong should be asked back unless of course the Bombers did not want him anyways and are using this reason for an excuse to get rid of him. Arland Bruce would look great in Blue and Gold.

At least our running game is still working.

Though a nervous fan, I too am wearying of the negative press. Enough already, though really, I don't think Tait is capable of much else.

I don't care how many bullets you have in your holster, if a guy can't shoot to save his life you're not going to hit anything. Handing the offense over to LeFors was probably premature. Not being ale to break 100 yards passing in the CFL is inexcusable no matter what the circumstances. Kelly better be ready for the wrath of the Winnipeg fans at the next home game because if this offence doesn't start producing soon, fans will start to turn and it won't be pretty.

Well the guy is honest I will give him that. Without a QB it will be tough to get the offense moving. Glen does not look that bad right now. Kelly talk to Matt Dunigan maybe he will make a come back.

Replace the Head Coach with Derrick Armstrong and bring in Arland Bruce the third... and for kooky canooky sakes get rid of Randal and Lafores and bring in Casey Printers as back up to Richie Williams... or vice versa even come on!!!

Hope they keep him on a shorter string than Reinbold. Wins and Losses are one thing, but this team can't even get first downs. If we're 1-6 but actually show some real progress, fine, let's keep the crazy experiment going. But I, like most fans are extremely nervous about what's being done here.

Okay, I guess turnaround is fair play, right, Tait!?
So, last game between Winnipeg and Hamilton, you guessed Winnipeg would win. As a matter of fact, you, and a few other sports writers - including Irving said the same thing. The only one who disagreed was Turner. So, does this mean you don't know your football!? I really am getting just a little perturbed by all the negativity by the writers. Are you going to say you are wrong when the Bombers do come out on top. Give me a break. You guys are beginning to sound like the old Mother who looked at the best efforts of the child only to have her second guess and critique everything they attempted. It really kills the desire to even try.

Yup, a rebuilding year, and this team needs to learn how to crawl before walking. Let's go for the 10 yard passes instead of the 30 to 40 yard gains, just to gain the confidence of the players, and of the fans. The biggest priority should be getting those 1st and 10's, and maintaining them. Then the points will go on the board. The defense can only do so much.

Guess you wouldn't want to use the shotgun cause thats for losers. What a chump.

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