Bellefeuille plans for ‘complete overhaul’ of Bombers offence

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This article was published 18/12/2013 (4322 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With a full off-season to prepare and the confidence of the new head coach, Bombers offensive coordinator Marcel Bellefeuille is ready to install a whole new offence he hopes will turn the good ship Bomber back around.

The veteran coach spoke to media in a conference call on Wednesday, after the team announced he would be staying on in the OC role. Bellefeuille joined the Bombers midway through last season, initially as a consultant to struggling offensive coordinator Gary Crowton. In a move that shocked absolutely no-one, he took over after Crowton was fired shortly thereafter.

“In terms of challenges last year, they were obviously evident,” Bellefeuille said. “We couldn’t change an offence halfway through… There will be pretty much complete overhaul of offence.”

Bellefeuille said he plans to retain about 20 per cent of the concepts from last season, and will tweak plans as the team gets a better sense of what their roster could look like for 2014. The biggest question mark remains around the quarterback position, where Max Hall did show improvement as the year went on but still often looked unready for a full-time starting pivot role.

“I feel like we can get better in every area,” Bellefeuille said about the personnel situation. “I’m very excited about how Max picked up his game, and started to be more productive. Obviously we’d like to get better at every position, and that will be an ongoing process.”

The arrangement allows Mike O’Shea, going into his rookie campaign as head coach and after just three seasons as a special teams coordinator, the benefit of experience. Although just four years O’Shea’s senior, Bellefeuille has 15 more years of coaching experience, most of it in offensive roles.

O’Shea said Bellefeuille’s time as head coach of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats will especially come in handy. “That to me is going to prove invaluable,” O’Shea said. “I expect to spend a lot of time talking to him about the actual duties and the things I need to do as head coach. I’m going to lean on him extensively for that.”

Melissa Martin
Reporter-at-large

Melissa Martin reports and opines for the Winnipeg Free Press.

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