Blue Bombers boast new crop of coaches

Zach Collaros is quick to admit that he’s having trouble adjusting to not having Jake Thomas as a teammate.

Whether it’s the need to change his game day ritual of driving to the stadium together or sitting beside someone new during team meetings, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback is still processing the fact Thomas has transitioned to defensive line coach after spending the previous 13 seasons as a hard-nosed defensive lineman.

“Sad. Very sad. I think he’s handling it better than me,” said Collaros as the Blue Bombers returned to the field for the first time since the roster was trimmed significantly to prepare for Week 1 against the Calgary Stampeders.

“I’m happy that he’s still around, but I miss him. I miss him in the locker room, I miss him sitting next to me in the team meeting, I’m going to miss him on my way to the field. But I’m happy that he’s still here.”

Thomas is happy to remain with the organization that selected him in the fourth round of the 2012 CFL Draft, accepting a job he may not have had a chance to apply for if he had decided to play another season.

Winnipeg had become a second home for Thomas and his family, so the allure of remaining in Blue and Gold — even in a different role — was very appealing.

“It’s great to stay in football, but even more so to be able to stay in Winnipeg,” said Thomas. “I showed up here at 21 with a full head of hair and now I’m 35 with no hair. It was the perfect opportunity for me, not just to get into coaching but coaching here with the right people.”

With training camp in the rearview mirror, what has the early phase of the transition process been like for Thomas?

“I really liked that we had the rookie camp first, that was kind of dipping my toes in the water with none of the guys that I knew. It made that experience a lot easier,” said Thomas. “But I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it so far. I wasn’t sure if I would or if I wouldn’t.”

Thomas concedes that there’s an adjustment period and there are times when he would love to land a big hit or come up with an important tackle.

One of the biggest things Thomas will miss — outside of the camaraderie of being in the locker room — is the physical nature of the sport.

“I don’t know what it will be, but this off-season, I will have to fill my competitiveness somehow,” said Thomas. “I used to be a hockey guy, I might make my return.

“The biggest thing for me is staying in the game. I would like to say I would have transitioned well into a new career, but I really don’t know how that would have gone for me personally.”

Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea sees it as a natural progression for Thomas, given the mentorship role he was already playing in the latter stages of his career.

“It’s not really weird for me. I always saw him as a guy you can rely on to help other guys out and coach as a player,” said O’Shea. “That doesn’t change for me.”

O’Shea did offer a piece of advice to Thomas after accepting the job that he’s found extremely valuable.

“Be authentic,” Thomas recalled. “I’ve been a player when guys are trying to be something they’re not and you can see through it. Just give it my best and be myself.”

Blue Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson sees the same authenticity Thomas demonstrated during his 223 regular-season games and 16 more in the CFL playoffs, including five trips to the Grey Cup.

“When you have to lock in for work, he has to put that coaching hat on, you have to put that player’s hat on, and you have to respect each other’s space,” said Jefferson.

“He’s here to help the guys get better, so you can listen to him and learn. I know he’s a good coach, a good player, and he’s had some time over the off-season to learn some things as a coach so he can add to my belt. So, I’m taking it all in. I’m not the guy in the back going, ‘Oh, I know who he is and how he is, I’m going to continue to do what I do.’ I’m in the back and I’m listening, taking notes, taking it all in.”

Thomas isn’t the only person on O’Shea’s coaching staff that has stepped into a coaching role in the same season he retired, Bralon Addison was officially hired on Monday as receivers coach.

Addison, who spent seven seasons with the Ottawa Redblacks and Hamilton Tiger-Cats initially came to training camp as part of the CFL diversity in football internship program.

But he impressed O’Shea with his work ethic during the past four weels that Addison was ultimately offered a full-time position.

Addison’s familiarity with offensive co-ordinator Tommy Condell’s system was an obvious bonus, but so was his willingness to embrace some of the administrative things that don’t necessarily show up on the field during workouts.

“I’ve been with Bralon for, golly, five or six years,” said Condell. “He knows the offence, he knows the CFL, he’s highly intelligent. And he loves to learn. I do believe that he’s able to command a lot of respect in regards to how he communicates.”

Addison said it became apparent during the off-season that it was time to shift gears and lean into the next phase of his football journey.

“As a kid, being from Texas, my dad was a huge Cowboys fan and just watching football so much, it kind of became part of me. It was something that was just naturally in my blood,” said Addison. “Back in about 2005, when they had Madden 05, I was a kid that sat in the create a playbook mode for about 10 hours a day,” said Addison, referring to the famous football video game Madden NFL 2005 that helped him develop his creativity.

“I’ve had an interest and passion about it since I was a kid. I thought that at some point when I was done playing that I would want to be a coach.”

That opportunity has arrived and Addison is excited to continue to pass on knowledge the same way he did when he was still a member of the receiving corps — interacting with coaches and digging into why certain plays were created and how they were installed into an offence.

“Once I got the opportunity to join for the internship, I was just trying to do as much as possible, learn as much as possible and adapt my mind into something new, to kind of be like a rookie again,” said Addison, noting that Redblacks vice-president of football operations Shawn Burke gave him the head’s up about the opportunity through the CFL diversity program when Burke was Ottawa’s general manager.

“I like to dive all the way into what I am currently doing. I’m not one foot in and one foot out. Once I hung up the cleats, the itch was pretty much gone. Especially with having the opportunity to do this. It would be different if I wasn’t around the game still and not able to go through the day to day process with such great people in this organization. It would be a little different if I was just at home or working another job. Then I might still have that itch.”

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