Blue brass succeed trading experience for exuberance

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This article was published 28/04/2015 (3995 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Part of what often makes first-year professional football players so annoying is the exuberance of their youth. They show up to training camp with unbridled enthusiasm and visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads.

As much of a puppy-like nuisance as they may be to veteran players though, they often remind tenured incumbents of the many joys of the game that can be repressed by injuries and failures. This may be the phenomena that also explains the early success and momentum of the young gun trifecta in the Blue Bombers leadership ranks. While they are short on experience at their respective positions, they haven’t been road-graded by the industry yet and simply don’t know any better than to attack their problems with innovation, energy, and focus.

When the trio of CEO Wade Miller, head coach Mike O’Shea, and GM Kyle Walters took over, the team first needed a better quarterbacking stable, so they got at least three that have — thus far — all demonstrated varying levels of potential. In fact, the biggest problem is deciding how much money to allocate to the No. 1 (Drew Willy) and when to do it. That hasn’t been a problem since Khari Jones got $1 million over three years, more than a decade ago.

They needed more than one scout to scour the entire U.S. for talent so the GM split up his budget into many pieces — instead of keeping the majority for himself — and increased the personnel and thereby the coverage. Now they amass this talent at an annual mini-camp in Florida that has become a virtual well of starting import resources.

Their pivot took a record number of hits and sacks last season and his merry band of blockers weren’t deemed to have enough protective instincts, so they signed the best blind-side tackle in the game, an agitating all-star at centre, and have three of the first 15 picks in what appears to be a very deep CFL draft pool, laden with homegrown heifers.

Replacements

One and possibly two of their starting linebackers may be off to the NFL, but no one is exceedingly worried about their ability to find replacements anymore; which almost speaks louder than any other checked off box.

The defence underachieved mightily in 2014, and accomplished none of what it advertised, so they dealt with the situation and moved on with a tenured replacement in defensive co-ordinator Richie Hall, who has been a fixture for nearly 20 years in Saskatchewan.

The franchise has also started paying down the stadium debt, and with corporate sponsorships apparently on the rise, and the Grey Cup coming in 2015, they appear poised to continue to make these payments in full for the future.

The pace at which these dominoes have fallen is not what we are accustomed to seeing in Winnipeg. This group is not in denial about its shortcomings and has taken immediate steps to address them wherever they have surfaced.

So is it just a wide-eyed eagerness and enthusiasm from these three rookies in their respective positions that is bringing novel and effective approaches to executing their duties, or is it something more?

Speaking to a few inside the Blue and Gold organization, it appears that not only are these three similar in their motivations to prove themselves in their new spots, but from top to bottom there is co-operation and friendship throughout the ranks that has greatly facilitated getting things done.

Yes indeed, the Bombers may actually employ a CEO, a general manager and a head coach that not only work well together and get along, but genuinely like each other, too. No power struggles, no egos getting in the way of decision-making, and enough perspective to realize a collective viewpoint is more valuable than any singular one.

Experience may be critical when it comes to managerial decision-making in pro football, but so far these three have shown there is also something to be said for learning on the job, and the qualities of co-operative and spirited youth.

 

Doug Brown, once a hard-hitting defensive lineman and frequently a hard-hitting columnist, appears Tuesdays in the Free Press.

Twitter: @DougBrown97