Bombers new offensive co-ordinator excited about return to action

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This article was published 22/06/2021 (1539 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Buck Pierce has been an offensive co-ordinator for nearly 18 months now. But he’s still waiting for the chance to bark his first play into the headset.

Which is why you’d be hard-pressed to find anybody more excited for the pending return of the CFL than the former Winnipeg Blue Bombers pivot, who is champing at the bit to finally see the fruits of his extended labour.

“Even in previous years and seasons, the CFL off-season is a long time,” Pierce said Tuesday during a Zoom call.

“So to have those months away from your teammates and your coaches and the routine of what you do for a living, now you extend that period, I know for me, personally, it was always a very exciting day to walk back into the building and say, hey, there’s my guys. Hey, how you doing, how’s your families, let’s get ready and start to build on this upcoming season. I think it’s going to be emotional for a lot of guys and I think it’s going to be exciting.”

Consider July 10 circled on the calendar, which is when training camp for the 2021 campaign will officially kick off ahead of the Aug. 5 season-opener. Pierce, who was promoted from quarterbacks coach to OC in January 2020 after Paul LaPolice accepted the Ottawa Redblacks head gig, believes the Bombers are up for the challenge of getting to defend their 2019 Grey Cup championship.

Much of that will fall on the shoulders of Zach Collaros, with whom Pierce has forged a strong relationship. All of this idle time has only improved that bond.

“Zach’s at a point now where we’re wanting to build on those positive things that he does. He’s a guy that’s extremely coachable. He’s very hungry. He’s driven to be better and continue to improve his game,” said Pierce. “Throughout the last number of months, I’ve really gotten to know Zach personally and professionally, get to know what kind of person he is, what motivates him. From that front, it’s been great, continuing to work together to get this season off on the right foot.”

Pierce isn’t offering up any predictions, either for his club or the league in general, beyond what he expects to be tremendous excitement from players and coaches to finally be able to do what they all love. But having so many familiar faces back in the fold should help as they try to pick up where they left off so long ago, despite not having any preseason games to work out the kinks.

“These guys, the majority of their life have been playing this game. Yes, there’s going to be a growing process and learning process just from being away from it for so long. But these guys have been training. We’ve set a standard here that we hold ourselves to and that standard doesn’t get lowered because of what has happened in the last year or so,” said Pierce.

A year ago at this time, Pierce was fully prepared for a 2020 season that never came to be due to the global pandemic and the inability to have any fans in the stands, which is the primary source of revenue for the CFL. Now, with case numbers falling and vaccination targets being met, hope is on the horizon.

Pierce insists he won’t need a forklift to deliver his playbook, despite having so long to work on it.

“When the season got cancelled last year we didn’t stop,” he said. “Obviously it was extremely hard. It’s been very hard for the players. But we’ve continued to work. We’ve continued to use this time to our advantage. Continuing to look at what we do internally, and trends throughout the league, what other teams are doing. Which way the defences, situational football, all those different aspects we’re able to dive into a little bit deeper.”

In their run to Grey Cup glory, the Bombers utilized a smashmouth style of game led by Andrew Harris on the ground. But the arrival of Collaros in a late-season trade following an injury to Matt Nichols (now with LaPolice in Ottawa) added another dimension in the form of a deeper aerial game, one Pierce believes will continue.

“I think every offence wants to have a balance. You want to be more than one-dimensional. I think a lot of teams, the defences, try to (make you) do. Teams understand that we can run the ball. We believe that we are as physical, or the most physical team in the league, and we play to our strengths,” said Pierce.

“We’re going to build on what we do well and continue to evolve and progress where we need improvement. And if that’s improvement in what we do well, there is always, always growth there as well. So it’s the idea of taking that next step with what we feel we can do offensively.”

Of course, there’s the old mantra that if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, so Pierce expects to stay with many of the systems LaPolice had in place.

“It’s not about myself and ‘what’s the Buck Pierce offence going to look like.’ It’s what those 12 other individuals who come together, what’s their offence going to look like? We believe we have a lot of talented players. We believe we have and have brought the right players into the building and continue to do that. So those guys will show you what it’s going to look like,” said Pierce.

“Other teams are going to be in the same position as us. They’re going to be excited, they’re going to be doing their work to prepare. But I’m sure there’s going to be unpredictability. But that’s what we do in this profession. We adapt to circumstances and we look at opportunity in things that are different. I think the good teams do that. And that’s definitely what we’ve done and we will do.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg