Hope and pray…

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/06/2009 (6209 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

He’s heard it. Make no mistake he has heard it, read it and seen it. And now Mike Kelly begins the long process of trying to prove every word of it false.

All winter — in between taking a chainsaw to the roster and ruffling feathers occasionally when he opened his mouth — the new Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach has heard the whispers that his handiwork had ‘Jeff Reinebold written all over it.’

And for a man who desperately craved this gig when he interviewed for it a dozen years ago but was a runner-up to Reinebold, you have no idea how much that reference stings. We got a brief snippet of that the other day when we asked him straight up what he thought of the comparison and a reign of error that featured some of the worst football in Bombers history.

Kelly considered the question for a moment and then said through pursed lips:

"Next question."

Thing is, this is THE question hovering over the franchise until July 2 when the curtain lifts on the 2009 CFL season. Credit Kelly for having the stones to revamp the squad aggressively and not just take the safe route, but the truth is no one can be sure how this story will play out initially, let alone how it will finish.

All Bomber fans can do right now is cross their fingers, pray, and HOPE Mike Kelly’s blueprint is the answer to ending the CFL’s current longest Grey Cup drought — now 18 years and counting. And so with main training camp about to open, we present our annual 10 Question/Issues the Bombers must answer to finally get back to the winner’s circle:

1. Mike Kelly: Jeff Reinebold revisited or the next Mike Riley?

Let’s all agree that last year’s 8-10 record and quick playoff exit wasn’t good enough. Still, more than a few eyebrows were raised when Bomber boss Lyle Bauer whacked head coach Doug Berry — one year removed from a Grey-Cup appearance — despite three consecutive playoff appearances and a 27-26-1 won-lost record.

Bauer then tapped an old pal on the shoulder in Kelly, sticking his neck out considerably when there were safer options. The rationale was based on this: since ’97 when Kelly was a runner-up to Reinebold, he has padded his resume working as an NCAA head coach, XFL offensive co-ordinator and with two NFL teams before returning to the CFL last year.

But, really, there is no middle ground here: this will either be a stroke of genius — Cal Murphy shocked a lot of folks when he hired Riley in ’87, but all he did was win two cups in four years and be named the CFL’s Coach of the Year twice — or the boss & his compadre will be at the centre as another mushroom cloud billows over Maroons Road.

2. And the starting QB is…?

If Bauer picking Kelly was the off-season’s biggest move, then 1A was Kelly cutting adrift Kevin Glenn, the starting QB in these parts for 4 1/2 years, and then dealing draft picks to Edmonton for Stefan LeFors. Here’s the deal: LeFors’ CFL credentials scream out ‘unproven’ and backing him up are Ryan Dinwiddie, Bryan Randall, James Kilian and Darrell Hackney. That doesn’t exactly evoke memories of Clements-Hufnagel now, does it?

3. How much is too much?

Change can often be a good thing. And when a franchise is 0-for-the-last-18-years in terms of championships, then a fresh approach is certainly worth embracing. But this wasn’t just a nip here or a tuck there. Kelly & Co. have made significant changes that include Glenn, Dan Goodspeed, Alex Gauthier, Dominic Picard, Jerome Haywood, Tom Canada, Kai Ellis, Cam Hall, Zeke Moreno and Kelly Malveaux, among others. On top of that the all-time TD king, Milt Stegall, hung up his cleats for good.

Oh, and did we mention six of the first nine games are on the road? All of which begs this question: when (or if) this team comes together, will there be enough of the schedule left to make a run at late November football?

4. The annual soap opera — who hoofs the ol’ pigskin?

Alexis Serna finished the regular season hitting on 10 of his last 11 field goals and is said to have added five yards to his punting over the winter. But there’s no hiding from a field-goal percentage of 66.7 and a net punting average of 31.9, both league worsts. Enter 39-year-old veteran Dan Giancola to push Serna and make the storyline juicy. Just the same, this is a tired story that simply won’t go away until somebody wraps their fingers around kicking chores and squeezes tight.

5. Who mans the air defence?

Considerable gnashing of the teeth in Bomberland with the exits of secondary regulars Anthony Malbrough, Stanford Samuels and Malveaux. But Kelly had an up-close look at this unit last year while coaching the Eskimo receivers and Ricky Ray lit them up in three games. A number to munch on while the debate rages about massive turnover: The Bombers have been last or second last in interceptions in each of the last four years. By comparison, the last time this franchise won a Grey Cup the secondary set a CFL record with 48 interceptions. The Bombers have 38 steals over the last THREE years.

6. Then again, if the front seven is dominant…

Of all the uncertainties that are swirling around this football team, there is a given: The defensive front seven is as good as any in the land and will help take some of the heat off the air defence. Fred Perry, Riall Johnson and Tyrone Williams join Doug Brown and Gavin Walls on the defensive line to create nightmares for opposition QBs. A healthy Barrin Simpson and Joe Lobendahn and the addition of Siddeeq Shabazz makes the linebacking corps much better as well.

7. No more woe from the O?

So many issues with the Bomber offensive attack a year ago, but an attack that featured three 1,000-yard receivers, a solid backfield and an O-line that yielded the second-fewest sacks shouldn’t finish dead last in scoring (20.9 points per game). It’s here where Kelly’s impact could be most influential. His attack should include a number of different looks and, if they can get decent QB play, will only get more productive.

8. Can the big eaters open giant holes and keep the QBs off a stretcher?

Gone are Goodspeed, Gauthier, Picard, part-time starter Kyle Koch and highly respected coach Bob Wylie. Coming aboard to join Brendon LaBatte are Glenn January, Steve Morley, Luke Fritz, Kelly Bates, a healthy Obby Khan and veteran coach Charlie Carpenter. Some CFL execs think this crew will be one big speed bump. We respectfully disagree.

9. Got Milt? For the first time in years, the answer is no…

It’s not so much what the Bombers will miss from Stegall on the field, but perhaps what the TD machine and future hall of famer provided in terms of leadership in the clubhouse. Are there other leadership candidates ready to step in and fill the void? Certainly.

10. Will the drought end in 2009?

One of the first things uttered by Lyle Bauer when Kelly was introduced in December was ‘managing expectations.’ And with the introduction of any new regime there is a customary grace period. That said, the Bombers are in the midst of the second-longest championship drought in their history — next to the stretch between wins in 1962 and 1984. Nobody asked us, but we believe the expectations should always be the same regardless of whether it’s rookie coach leading a collection of fresh faces or a grizzled old-timer managing a roster full of vets: Grey Cup or bust.

Hang on, Bomber fans, because with all the questions and uncertainty facing this team, ’09 figures to be a helluva ride.

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

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