O’Shea in no rush to hire new OC By: Jeff Hamilton Posted: 6:03 PM CST Monday, Jan. 13, 2025

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/01/2025 (330 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike O’Shea might be more than 3,500 km from a Vegas casino, but that didn’t stop the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from keeping his cards close to his vest while making the rounds in another U.S. city.

Surrounded by hundreds of football minds in Charlotte, N.C., — where the CFL is hosting its annual league meetings at the same time the American Football Coaches Association Convention is under way — O’Shea took some time out of his busy schedule to address some lingering questions around the Blue and Gold.

Most notably, O’Shea acknowledged he hasn’t hired a replacement for Buck Pierce as the club’s offensive co-ordinator, with Pierce now the head coach of the B.C. Lions. When asked when he plans to do so, O’Shea poured cold water on the importance of having the role filled with less than a month before CFL free agency opens.

“Working on it. I’ve had some good conversations with guys, and just making sure I work through that process to discover what I need to discover and do it right,” O’Shea said.

“I don’t know that you rush this process. You work on it, you put your time in, and you come up with good answers and the right answers.”

The Bombers have started the interview process from a list including at least two men who held the same position with other CFL teams in 2024, Jordan Maksymic and Jarious Jackson.

“I don’t know that you rush this process. You work on it, you put your time in, and you come up with good answers and the right answers.”–Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea on hiring a new offensive co-ordinator

Maksymic was let go by the Lions and has since been hired in Edmonton, while Jackson was the OC in Edmonton last year and was elevated to head coach after Chris Jones was fired partway through the season. It’s unclear where talks are with Jackson, or whether he remains a potential hire.

O’Shea noted he understood fans might be curious about the vacancy at OC, especially given free agency is right around the corner, but added he doesn’t view it as a concern. While players still looking to re-sign might want some more clarity on who will be running the offence — and ditto for any potential free agent wanting to ink a deal in Winnipeg — he said that hasn’t stopped the Bombers from doing business.

“I think we have a pretty good idea of what we want our offence to look like,” O’Shea said. “You’re always looking for somebody to come in and compliment that and bring in their own ideas and they’re going to have people they want to bring in with them — I get all that. But certainly, in terms of free agents, there are guys you target that you know can play no matter what the system is.”

Winnipeg has already locked up a few key offensive pieces from last season, including re-signing veteran offensive linemen Stanley Bryant and Patrick Neufeld. They join other key contributors already under contract in quarterback Zach Collaros and running back Brady Oliveira, the league’s reigning Most Outstanding Player.

On Monday, the Bombers announced they had inked free-agent receiver Dillon Mitchell to a one-year contact. The 27-year-old Mitchell has spent the last three seasons in Edmonton, where he set career highs in 2024 in receptions (58) and yards (727), while recording four touchdowns in every one of his three years with the Elks.

“No matter who you sign as that coaching staff, there will be players that will be drawn to that or pushed away from that, so the timeline is interesting,” O’Shea said. “To rush and get somebody in place before free agency — which I think it’ll be done before free agency, I really do — but I don’t think that’s going to change, necessarily, a big bulk of the players with their decision.”

“They stay with you forever; there’s no getting over it.”–Mike O’Shea on last year’s loss in the Grey Cup

O’Shea confirmed Richie Hall will be back with the team as a defensive assistant. As for replacing wide receivers coach, Kevin Burgoin, who joined Pierce’s staff in B.C., that will also be addressed in the coming days.

The Bombers coach admitted he still hasn’t gotten over the most recent Grey Cup collapse, with the team losing its third consecutive championship game in November, dominated 41-24 by the Toronto Argonauts.

“I got on it pretty quickly at the end of the season because I thought it was going to be a little rougher than normal,” O’Shea said. “With the way the season went for us, we spent a lot (of time) toiling at the beginning of the year and coming out of that, rising to that point to get to the game and then maybe not doing our best, obviously, in that game. They stay with you forever; there’s no getting over it.”

It hasn’t been all work and no play for O’Shea.

While he did his best to blend into the crowd, it was revealed recently that O’Shea was part of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ mentors trip, where each player and staff member are allowed to take a special guest along with them on the road.

O’Shea was invited by long-time Leafs masseuse, Todd Bean, with the trip including a Flyers game in Philadelphia, followed by a Hurricanes game in Carolina.

“Excellent trip, well worth it,” he said. “I had a lot of fun. I learned a lot and enjoyed my time. I’m very grateful that I was afforded that opportunity.”

Jeff.Hamilton@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jeffkhamlton