Blue’s Murphy keeps options open

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This article was published 14/01/2010 (6036 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

John MURPHY has been a loyal company man for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, but he’s now played a card that might make the search for a new vice-president of football operations a whole lot more intriguing.

Murphy, the club’s current director of player personnel, hired a year ago to replace Brendan Taman, told the Free Press Wednesday that he has applied for the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ vacant general manager’s job while waiting for the Bombers to complete their own hunt.

Coincidentally, Taman is in the running for both the Riders job and the one here.

"My main goal is to see (the Bombers’ search) through to a resolution, and hopefully that resolution includes me being given an opportunity to interview for the job," Murphy said. "But with the approval of the board and interim president, I’ve decided to go ahead and put in a resumé for the Saskatchewan GM job and also speak to NFL people who have shown an interest, just to see where it’s all at.

"At the same time, I don’t want to make any final decision for myself until I know what’s available here for me, because at the end of the day, this is where I want to stay. I want to see through what we started."

Murphy, 37, has already been interviewed by the headhunter hired by the Bombers and is said to be on a candidate list that includes Taman, CFL director of officiating and longtime Edmonton Eskimos/Calgary Stampeders coach/executive Tom Higgins, Stampeders vice-president of personnel Jim Barker, Montreal Alouettes scout Mike McCarthy, current interim vice-president of football operations Ross Hodgkinson and former Bombers personnel man Joe Mack, who worked in the NFL until seven years ago.

Working in Murphy’s favour is his ability to find talent like Jonathan Hefney, his knowledge of the salary cap and his efforts in keeping the ship afloat by signing would-be free agents Alexis Serna and Jovon Johnson over the last week.

But there are some in the organization who aren’t sure he’s ready for the big football gig.

"The contract I was given by (former president and CEO) Lyle (Bauer) a year ago was OK’d by the majority of this board a year ago, but I need the opportunity to present myself to them," Murphy said. "To be fair, while I’ve met most of them, it’s been mostly as a handshake before or after a game.

"But part of this (the decision to apply for the Riders job) comes from not knowing what’s going to happen here and what the job criteria might be. The Riders are a good organization, and if you’re not going to be afforded an opportunity here, then you have to look somewhere else.

"No matter how it plays out here in Winnipeg, I either want to stay here or walk out of here with good relationships built. The major things I was asked to do here this month (help re-sign Serna and Johnson among them) have been accomplished. So I don’t feel like I’m doing any injustice to the Bombers, but I have to make the right decisions for myself as well."

The Bombers would like to have a new vice-president of football operations in place within the next two weeks and hope that individual would then move quickly to hire a head coach. Former Bombers defensive co-ordinator Greg Marshall is a candidate and has also been interviewed by the Toronto Argonauts, while Calgary assistants George Cortez and Chris Jones, Alouettes defensive co-ordinator Tim Burke and Saskatchewan offensive co-ordinator Paul LaPolice are also apparently on the Bombers’ list.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca