QB Hall confirmed Bomber starter, Goltz and Pierce confused

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This article was published 12/08/2013 (4488 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On the day they switched No.1 quarterbacks again this season, there was clear anger and frustration from the two men who remain backups with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

Three days after the team fired its CEO and general manager and installed former player Wade Miller as acting CEO, the team declared that former understudy Max Hall would be at the offensive controls this Friday at home against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

Justin Goltz, who had started the last two games, and veteran Buck Pierce, were not thrilled about that call.

Goltz, who had just finished making his first two career starts after being declared the No. 1 quarterback, was asked if he was maybe a victim of being fired GM Joe Mack’s guy.

“Yeah, I definitely felt betrayed at this point,” Goltz said. “I don’t really understand it. I think it was poorly managed. But I’m 25 years old and I feel like I’ve got a bright future and the best days of my football are ahead of me. Right now I just don’t want to say anything that will put my career in conflict.”

Asked if he thought the team had given up on him, Goltz said: “I don’t know. There are a lot of things I just don’t understand and don’t know. I’ve been told they haven’t given up on me but at the same time, I’m not the one stepping on the football field. It’s just hard to sort out what to believe and what not to believe.”

Pierce, who lost his job earlier because of an injury, was also shaking his head today. He said he didn’t know whose decision it was to go with Hall this week.

“I don’t know,” Pierce said. “You’d have to ask them. I have no idea who’s making any kind of calls anymore. So I stopped trying to figure it out.”

About the overall picture, Pierce said: “I don’t know. I’ve been in this league a long time. You guys have been around a long time. It’s a first. A couple of weeks ago when they made that announcement with me, that was a first. Here we go again this week. I show up every day and try to stay positive. Whoever decides to go in, I’m going help them and support them.”

Pierce called Bombers quarterback decision this season “rash.”

“I think they made a very rash decision after Week 4 saying I’m not going to be (in),” he said. “I think a lot of people are making decisions very quickly. If that’s the direction they’re going to go, then that’s the way they’re going to go.”

The Bombers also confirmed this morning they have added former Hamilton Tiger-Cats head coach Marcel Bellefeuille to their offensive coaching staff and Bellefeuille was on the practice field at University of Manitoba today.

It had been speculated on the weekend that the CFL club would name Bellefeuille a consultant to help their struggling offence.

The Bombers, 1-5 through the first six games of the season, are back on the field this morning for practice. They meet the Tiger-Cats Friday at Investors Group Field.

In the team’s statement today, head coach Tim Burke said: “Marcel is a very experienced coach who has had lots of success on the offensive side of the ball as a position coach, a coordinator and a head coach. He will add experience to our staff and will be another voice in our offensive meetings who our offensive staff can lean on to provide us with new insights and ideas thanks to his wealth of knowledge at the CFL level.”