Patience paying big dividends

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This article was published 23/05/2017 (3040 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

General managers in every professional sports league are asked, at one point or another, to sell the qualities that make them good at what they do. Such situations arise as early as the interview process, come up during encounters with the media, or, when things aren’t going so well, can extend as far as to be used to appease a fan base in need of reassurance.

Kyle Walters, on the eve of his fourth season as GM of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, has likely faced all of these scenarios during his time in Winnipeg. But never has a question — in this case, what’s your greatest asset as a GM? — ever been answered by Walters under the circumstances that surrounded him Tuesday: with Walters, for the first time since taking over at the end of the 2013 campaign, entering a new season after posting a winning record the previous year.

Indeed, it’s new territory for Walters, who, along with head coach Mike O’Shea, led the Bombers to a combined 12-24 record in his first two seasons before finally seeing the hard work pay off with an 11-7 mark in 2016 and a trip to the playoffs for the first time in five years. Given that, and the fact Walters prefers to not talk at all, let alone about what makes him successful — “This is excruciating for me,” he quipped — he deflected his answer in a different direction.

“Mike O’Shea. Mike’s my greatest asset,” Walters said. “The best thing I ever did was to hire him as head coach. Him and I have grown the last few years but, unquestionably, having him as our head coach has been the best asset, the best decision I’ve made, easily.”

Despite somewhat dodging the question, what is truly confounding about Walters is that in a span of just one year both he and O’Shea have gone from seemingly in danger of losing their jobs to the undeniable leaders of the future. As they enter the 2017 season, the first year of three-year contract extensions for both men, it can be argued the Bombers are in the best place they’ve been for some time.

Although Walters is more than happy to stay in the dark, he, too, should be recognized with some of the praise. So he was asked the same question again, only this time to take a more personal approach with his answer.

“I don’t have an ego in the sense I’m not going to let a decision that I make hurt the team,” Walters said. “And I don’t mind making mistakes, I don’t mind admitting making mistakes… everyone’s going to make some wrong decisions now and then and I’ll stand up and own the bad decisions.”

There have been a few missteps over the years. One of Walters’ first signings as GM, receiver Nick Moore, was overpriced for his underwhelming numbers. Walters also hasn’t proven he can identify elite quarterback talent, which became glaringly obvious with his commitment to a stable that included Drew Willy, Brian Brohm and Robert Marve for the better part of two seasons. It wasn’t until Matt Nichols proved to be the best option a year later that Willy was then traded to the Toronto Argonauts. Marve and Brohm were cut at the end of the 2015 season). Nichols, who was acquired for a conditional late-round draft pick from the Edmonton Eskimos after Willy went down with an injury midway through the 2015 season, guided the Bombers to a 10-3 record in 2016. He has since signed a three-year deal worth nearly $1.2 million.

Through savvy drafting of Canadian talent (Matthias Goossen, Sukh Chungh, Taylor Loffler), a willingness to spend in free agency (Andrew Harris, Justin Medlock, Weston Dressler, among others) and being unafraid to make trades (Willy was moved for what turned out to be the 2017 first-overall pick — defensive lineman Faith Ekakitie — and all-star defensive back T.J. Heath), Walters has played a key role in transforming the Bombers from perennial cellar-dwellers to a team that is expected to compete for top spot in the CFL’s mightily competitive West Division.

Walters admits he’s taken the good with the bad, and learned plenty along the way.

“I think when you’re young and eager, you make a decision and want to immediately execute that decision,” Walters said of what lessons he’s learned since becoming a GM. “I think the older I’ve gotten, you tend to take a deeper breath sometimes and sleep on things for a little bit and make sure that you’re initial decision is the correct one. That would probably be the one: I’ve been a little more patient in my decision-making process.”

The Bombers hired Walters as special teams co-ordinator in 2010. Before that, he spent four seasons as head coach at the University of Guelph, the same school he played for before being drafted by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the second round — 10th overall — in 1996.

A special-teams guru — his 78 special-teams tackles rank fourth all-time in Tiger-Cats history — Walters also possessed a rare eye for identifying Canadian talent. With that keen sense and connections he made through his time in Guelph, Walters was promoted to assistant general manager and director of Canadian scouting in 2013. After just one season, CEO and president Wade Miller, after firing Joe Mack, hired Walters as the team’s new GM. Together, after hiring O’Shea, the three marked a new era of Blue Bombers football.

An era that Walters feels is on the right track.

“We’re trying to win Grey Cups, that’s what we strive for, so it’s not about, well ‘look at where we were, look at where we are now.’ It’s ‘we’re not where we need to be’ that is our focal point,” he said.

“I imagine none of us in our professions are completely satisfied with where we’re at, so it’s about giving yourself an honest look in the mirror and figuring out where you can improve, what’s working, what’s not working, what do we need to really be re-evaluating and how do we just keep getting better.

“And do I think we’re making strides towards that? I do.”

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @jeffkhamilton