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Jim Barker has the CFL background and the parka to prove it: Grey Cups as an offensive co-ordinator in Toronto and Montreal and one as GM in Calgary. (GRANT BLACK / CANWEST NEWS SERVICE ARCHIVES)

It's decision time for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers board of directors as they've narrowed their search for a vice-president of football operations down to two men.

The board is wrestling over this potentially franchise-changing move, with the club's former director of player personnel Joe Mack and Calgary Stampeders GM Jim Barker said to be the final contenders.

The selection committee of Paul Robson, Joe Poplawski, Gene Dunn and Bill Watchorn is expected to make a recommendation to the board at a meeting today with an answer expected by the end of this week or the beginning of next.

Interim vice-president of football operations Ross Hodgkinson is still on the edge of the picture but has to be termed a long shot. Former Bombers GM Brendan Taman, who was a strong candidate, has removed himself from the contest and it's expected he'll be announced as the next football czar of the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the coming days.

It's understood the Bombers board was very close to offering the position to Taman and wanted him to include Mack as part of his management team. Mack was hired by Robson in the 1980s to work for the Bombers as director of player personnel and the board likes his connections with the football community in the U.S.

Taman elected to take the Riders position, leaving the board with Barker and Mack at the top of their list.

The hiring of a new Bombers head coach will follow shortly after the VP announcement, with the search for a new president/CEO expected to take longer.

While doing its best to keep things quiet on the subject, sources say there is a power struggle at the board level over this hire and despite the urgency associated with this decision, there is no guarantee it will come easily.

Not knowing which way the board is leaning at this stage, we put out a call to CFL players, ex-players, coaches, GMs, media and agents to collect their opinions. Replies were solicited with the promise of anonymity.

Here's what some members of the CFL community had to say on the subject:

"ö "Barker is the safe choice. If he's hired he already knows who he'll bring in as a coach. Mack is a great ambassador and knows the NFL. It would likely take Mack a little longer to get up to speed on free agents and coaches. Which might actually be better because his coaching search would be more objective. But I would hire Barker because of his ability to quickly get up to speed."

"ö "The thing I like about Jim is that he always has the big picture in mind. He's always looking for help in the short-term to improve a team, but he also never forgets about how a move could affect things two or three years down the road."

"ö "Jim Barker is a winner. He has won as a coach and as an executive. He knows the players in the league and what it takes to win. No offence to Joe Mack, but it will take him four months to learn his own roster. By that time free agency has come and gone along with the CFL Draft. I have a hard time believing that there is even a debate over these two candidates."

"ö "Jim Barker would immediately deliver a staff. He's good with the media and he knows offence. He'd give Winnipeg instant credibility. Joe Mack has been out of the game too long."

"ö "This is a tough decision for the board. It reminds me of the decision they faced when they replaced Cal Murphy with Jeff Reinebold. They don't want that to happen again. It would be easy to go with Jim Barker. But the Bombers have a problem with talent, specifically at quarterback. Joe Mack's connections in the U.S. make him a strong choice. He's got better access to those resources. Mack also knows the community and how important this team is to Winnipeg. I'd hire Mack."

"ö "We won a Grey Cup with Joe Mack. He's a big personality and he knows the city. He has an eye for talent and he would bring people back to the park. I don't know as much about Jim Barker but he obviously has credentials. But if I had to choose, I'd go with Mack."

"ö "For me, Barker is a problem because he's going to want to bring in Scott Milanovich (Alouettes offensive co-ordinator) as his head coach. Greg Marshall is the preferred coaching candidate and the board can sway Joe Mack into bringing in Marshall. I think it's going to be Joe Mack."

"ö "Optics are everything. Jim Barker is a departure from the old boys' club cries that hiring Joe Mack would bring. Winnipeg has seen that act before and it hasn't worked. On the flip side, if Barker is selling the selection committee on big coaching staff hires (that may or may not come to pass), then the Blue Bombers should be a nervous with him. That high-on-promise-low-on-delivery path in 2009 got the club to this point. Whichever way the board decides to go, the right man will come with question marks."

"ö "It can't hurt to have your general manager be the guy who -- in tandem with John Murphy in Calgary -- put a lot of the names and faces together that won the Stamps the Grey Cup in 2008. Calgary is a very professional organization and I imagine that has something to do with Barker."

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca

The Jim Barker file

Current position: Senior vice-president, football operations/director, player personnel with the Calgary Stampeders

The resumé: Barker has been involved in football as a coach and manager for more than 30 years. After spending the 1980s and part of the '90s as a U.S. college coach, he moved to the CFL in 1996 as an assistant with the Montreal Alouettes.

During his time in the CFL, Barker has won a Grey Cup with the Toronto Argonauts as an offensive co-ordinator, a Grey Cup with the Montreal Alouettes as offensive co-ordinator and a third with the Calgary Stampeders as a GM.

Barker also coached the Los Angeles Xtreme to the XFL's one and only championship.

The skinny: Barker has done it all, from coaching to recruiting to negotiating. He's good in the community and knows how to handle himself with the media. A strong face-of-the-franchise type. Well-liked in Calgary but no longer in a real position of power with head coach John Hufnagel having final say on personnel decisions.

-- Gary Lawless

The Joe Mack file

Current position: Independent sports consultant who, for the past five years, has provided "insight and expertise on a high-level consulting basis" according to his professional profile.

The resumé: Former Blue Bomber player personnel director from o 1984-87, Mack exited the CFL to work in the NFL, with the Atlanta Falcons, Washington Redskins ('89-'94; including 1991 Super Bowl champions) then as the assistant GM of the expansion Carolina Panthers ('94-'97) and the Cleveland Browns director of football operations ('98-01).

The skinny: Mack has extensive background in personnel and is a winner, having won with the Bombers and Redskins. Also has knowledge on building franchises from the ground up, working with the Panthers in their infancy and having been assigned by former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue to help with the restart of the Browns.

There are questions about his current working knowledge of CFL personnel, but his credentials and contacts in the game are impeccable.

-- Ed Tait

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 21, 2010 C3