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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Kelly gets a helping hand
Bomber assistant Matsakis will help ease head coach's workload
Backup QB Stefan LeFors (17) hands the ball off to Fred Reid, the CFL’s leading rusher, during practice at Rods Field Tuesday. Reid is one of the team’s few bright spots. (RUTH.BONNEVILLE@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)
Manny Matsakis’ stock is on the rise after starting training camp as a guest coach. (PHIL.HOSSACK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA)
Mike Kelly's boss went on the record in this space a few days ago saying he'd like to get the head coach some help and it appears that aid has come from within the Bombers existing staff.
Kelly was asked on Tuesday about CEO Lyle Bauer's remarks concerning the Winnipeg head coach's workload. The first-year bench boss, who is also the offensive co-ordinator and quarterbacks coach as well as the decision-maker on personnel matters, said running backs and offensive quality control coach Manny Matsakis has stepped forward and taken some of the load.
"Manny Matsakis is the guy I'm leaning on more right now. I've allowed him some leeway in terms of running meetings," said Kelly. "Since he's been here he's always offered great insight. He met with me starting all the way back in December. He was with me at my house in Philadelphia and we'd watch film and go through the playbook and how I call things and how I look at things."
Kelly says Matsakis knows offence and can offer experience and innovation to the Bombers in their attempt to score more points than the league-worst average of 17.8 points per game.
"Manny is a very bright man when it comes to throwing the football. He was the offensive co-ordinator at the University of Wyoming and the assistant head coach at Texas Tech when Mike Leach first went in there. So he's been around some systems that have really put the ball down the field and we think a lot alike and I'm leaning a little more on him right now," said Kelly.
Kelly said there have been no changes in titles and Matsakis has not been named the assistant offensive co-ordinator.
"I'd call him a coach that was doing a good job. That's how I put it right now," said Kelly. "I used to give lectures saying that if you felt you were under-serving a staff and you want to take steps to further enhance your career, you need to step up and say, 'Hey look, this particular group is underachieving and I think I can help them and let's go do it.' As a leader I respond to that kind of stuff and I want to see people that want to do more."
Kelly says he sees where Bauer is coming from and there's been no friction between the two on the subject of workload.
"What Lyle's concern is, and I agree with him and there's no head-butting here, is that I need another set of eyes and maybe I can just focus on the quarterbacks rather than umbrella myself the way I have been," said Kelly. "I do have a lot of other responsibilities and that's all Lyle was suggesting."
Kelly says he's still a busy man.
"I haven't given up my whole plate yet but a couple of peas and carrots and I still have the main entree," he said.
Matsakis came to the Bombers training camp this spring as a guest coach but when staffer Andy Cox became ill, he stepped in and accepted a job under Kelly.
Last season, Matsakis was the offensive co-ordinator at Capital University in Ohio.
The 48-year-old native of New Britain, Conn., was a field goal kicker at Capital University in the early '80s before graduating into the coaching field.
Matsakis also worked at Texas State, Texas Tech, Wyoming, Emporia State, Kansas State and Hofstra in a number of offensive coaching roles.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition August 19, 2009 C3
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