Bombers coach expects business as usual next week

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This article was published 01/11/2013 (4641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Tim Burke says as far as he knows, it will be business as usual for him at the Bombers offices next week.

Burke says he’s been given no indication yet by his superiors about when he will hear about his future and so he intends to report for duty as usual following the Bombers final game of the 2013 season this Saturday at Investors Group Field against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

“I’m getting paid, so I’m going to do my job,” Burke told reporters Friday morning following an abbreviated light practice — his team’s last of the year — at IGF.

And Burke might be doing that job for a while yet. While he’s widely expected to be fired at the end of a season in which the Bombers have won just three of their first 17 games, Burke says a simple look at the Bombers current corporate structure tells him the team is still not ready to make any coaching decisions.

“I think first of all, Wade (Miller) is the acting CEO. So he would have to be named the CEO. And then after that, he’d have to hire the GM. And then the GM would have to hire or fire the coach,” said Burke.

Until all that happens, Burke said he’s going to spend his time at the Bombers offices doing the post-season work that every head coach is expected to do.

“Sunday, we’ll have our final meeting with the players and talk to them about how they can get better and all that,” said Burke. “And then after that, we’ll do free agent evaluations, evaluations of our own team, how we’re going to set ourselves up for the dispersal draft, things like that.”

But first, the Bombers will have to play one final time this season against a Ticats team that is 3-0 versus the Bombers this season — but who will be resting many of their key starters tomorrow in a game that is meaningless in the standings to Hamilton, who’ve already clinched second place in the East.

Ticats head coach Kent Austin told reporters in Winnipeg Friday afternoon that tailback CJ Gable and slotback Andy Fantuz will be among the starters who sit out tomorrow. And Austin said QB Henry Burris will start the game tomorrow but won’t finish.

Burris said how long he plays depends on how well he plays. “I think it’s all based on having early success. If we come out, do some good things, put some points on the board, finish off drives, leave a good taste in Kent’s mouth — I’m pretty sure he’ll get us off sooner than later.”