Blue must be smarter, tougher and more team oriented to improve in 2015

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/05/2015 (3780 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THEY’VE upgraded their Canadian talent, threw money around like oil barons in free agency and beefed up the behemoths in front of quarterback Drew Willy.

But the one thing Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea believes his club must do to take that proverbial next step from CFL has-been to contender isn’t necessarily found on the black and white of the league’s statistical report or on the team’s training camp depth chart.

It’s an intangible, not easily measured. And while O’Shea & Co. saw some of it last year, they want more.

“We talked about three main points when leaving last year: it’s football IQ, it’s toughness and it’s becoming a team,” said O’Shea in a CFL-sponsored conference call with the national media on Tuesday. “The main one, I believe, is to actually become a team. I don’t think there’s any other way to do it.

“It’s hard to quantify. It’s more of a feel, a sense you get when you are around the guys over a period of time. You put them in positions to get to know each other better and you try and instill a sense that the more they’re playing for each other, the more ownership they take through themselves and through their peers, the better off we’ll be.

“And I know that sounds like a lot of fluff, it really does.”

The Bombers showed more than brief flashes in that department early last season, rallying to secure wins late in games while building up a 5-1 record. But as the season wore on, all of those intangibles — football IQ, toughness and the team thing — were often exposed as wanting.

“What we start with in training camp is teaching football IQ, teaching the game and getting them deeper into the game,” O’Shea explained. “Making it tough for them, scheduling the type of practices that reveal toughness and that type of character and as you go along you allow them opportunities to become more of a team.

“We made some great strides in that regard, but it takes more to become a champion.”

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Thursdays

Keep up to date on sports with Mike McIntyre's weekly newsletter.

Sign up for Mike McIntyre | On Sports

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

Now, while all that reads like it’s been ripped straight from the pages of a coach’s handbook, one component the Bombers did improve will be evident when a chunk of the club steps on the field for the first time Wednesday afternoon with the start of rookie camp.

The Canadian content, long a weakness in these parts, looks to be significantly improved and the Bombers will make official the signings of draft picks Addison Richards and Garrett Waggoner on Wednesday. Richards, a prolific receiver from the University of Regina selected 11th overall, will join first-round pick Sukh Chungh, 15th overall pick Brendan Morgan and the rest of the 2015 draft class — running back Christophe Normand, D-lineman/fullback Ettore Latanzio and linebacker Justin Warden — on the field. Waggoner, born and raised in Sarasota, Fla., but considered Canadian because his father was born in Burlington, Ont., while his grandfather Hal played for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the 1950s, will also provide depth.

Couple those additions with the signings of veteran centre Dominic Picard, linebacker Sam Hurl and defensive end Ivan Brown — all added through free agency — along with ex-NFLer Jamaal Westerman, a healthy Graig Newman and Kris Bastien, a receiver landed in the Cory Watson trade, and the Bombers have the potential for a lot more ratio flexibility on their roster. In fact — get this — they are throwing around the idea of starting eight Canadians, one more than required.

“We’ve got all kinds of options,” said Bombers GM Kyle Walters. “That’s something that Mike and I always talked about: adding flexibility in the ratio and giving as many of the Canadian guys a fair shot to compete and play.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait