Blue boss keeping loose lips on a leash

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/02/2009 (6334 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The camera lights had been turned off, the microphones and tape recorders packed away.

"So," the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers chuckled to one scribbler, "did I piss anybody off?" Baby steps. Mike Kelly was kidding, of course, but it’s clear the usually affable new boss has been chastened by events of late — and it’s equally apparent the local media will show up any time he speaks to see if there’s one more cleat Kelly can cram into a mouth that sometimes runs like a two-minute drill.

Let’s be clear: Kelly has been careful — and it continued Monday while introducing his coaching brethren — to keep his opinions on some hot-button topics, such as the work of former GM Brendan Taman, out of the public domain.

In fact, Kelly’s knuckles are probably still stinging from the backlash after suggesting last week that Taman (without actually naming him) must have done a lot of his work on "paper napkins." What Kelly didn’t know was that Taman took the personnel job with the Bombers around the same time employees were bringing their own toilet paper to work — just to give you an idea of the resources Taman had while working without a net. Or a gross, for that matter.

Paper napkins would have been a luxury.

But like we said, Kelly went out of his way to make light of the elephant in the room — without making light of it, if you know what we mean.

For example, Kelly was asked if he was going to be the head coach? "Yes."

And the offensive co-ordinator? "Yes."

And the quarterbacks coach? "Yes."

"And," Kelly concluded, "the media darling."

Well, not so fast. But at least he was trying yesterday as he announced his stable of assistant coaches, with only two familiar faces in Bobby Dyce (receivers coach) and Richard Harris (defensive line coach).

That’s a lot of new blood in the office, but Kelly insists — despite the perception involved with shedding some marquee names — the Bombers are resisting the word "upheaval", preferring the word "tweak."

"We traded for a quarterback (Stefan LeFors) and got another defensive lineman signed (Tyrone Williams), a bigger body. We’ve only made two moves. I don’t consider that a major overhaul. I don’t think there’s any major upheaval."

Well, there’s also the release of offensive lineman Matt Sheridan, the probable retirement of Milt Stegall, the dismissal of Troy Westwood, the attempted trade of Tom Canada, the pending trade of Kevin Glenn, the release of DL Jerome Haywood, the trading of Charles Roberts last season, and the distinct possibility that O-lineman Alex Gauthier and Dominic Picard might bolt as free agents.

Oh, and cleaning out most of the front office.

But, hey, other than that, you can pretty much reprint the 2008 media guide, right?

In fairness to Kelly, much of the aforementioned evolution began long before his ticket was punched late last year. It’s also true that perception of major change can be weighted by the names more than the numbers. For example, the only quarterback not returning (barring unforeseen circumstances) is Glenn. That’s just one. It just happens that Glenn used to be No. 1.

The majority of the receivers will be back, too. Just probably not Milt.

"I mean, this team is two years removed from a Grey Cup," noted Dyce, who will also be responsible for Canadian personnel. "We don’t feel that it’s a team that’s building from ground zero. It’s a team that needs some tweaks and some changes. Hopefully to get us back to that big game."

Which gets us back to Kelly, who was admonishing himself again about something silly he told reporters awhile ago. The subject is irrelevant.

"I opened my big mouth way back then," he recalled. "I guess I haven’t learned much over the years."

Or maybe Kelly has, at least when it came time to articulate not so much the change in personnel, but the organizational structure of a team that hasn’t won a Grey Cup in 18 years.

"What I’m trying to do is put in a system now that can run, that there is a chain of command," he said. "When I was with the (Philadelphia) Eagles, it was such a great feeling knowing what your responsibilities were every day and how they intertwined with everyone else. Everybody just came in and it began to click.

"That’s what I’m trying to achieve here. I don’t mean to upset anyone when I say I’m trying to reach a different level of professionalism. I’m just trying to incorporate a different management system that’s not what it was. Lyle recognized it. That’s why he brought me here, to try and get things organized in a different manner."

Funny, if only Kelly would have simply said that in the first place, he would have saved himself a lot of grief.