O’Shea preaches continuity; ‘The sky isn’t falling,’ head coach says Bombers’ roller-coaster season crashes to an end in Montreal By: Taylor Allen Posted: 6:05 PM CST Monday, Nov. 3, 2025

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This article was published 03/11/2025 (331 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For most of the season, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers looked nothing like a group that had been to five consecutive Grey Cups.

Despite falling well short of making it to a sixth, head coach Mike O’Shea calmly delivered a message in Monday’s end of season press conference.

“The sky isn’t falling, and we’ll be just fine. We got a great group of guys in here to make sure of that,” he said.

First, O’Shea needs a new contract to make sure he is one of those guys in 2026. His deal is set to expire, and the same goes for general manager Kyle Walters.

O’Shea said he expects conversations will take place between himself, Walters, and club president Wade Miller shortly, but wouldn’t expand on his future despite being pressed about it several times.

The Bombers lost 42-33 on Saturday in Montreal in the East Division semifinal.

“I’ll never talk about my contract status to the media. I’m never gonna negotiate through the media,” said O’Shea.

After 12 years in Winnipeg, would a new challenge appeal to him? There is a head coach vacancy in his home province with the Ottawa Redblacks, after all.

“I don’t offer myself a lot of time to think about other things,” said the North Bay, Ont., product.

Moving on.

Assuming O’Shea does stay put, he made it obvious he’s not in favour of roster overhaul.

“Do I believe in wholesale change? Never. I think what’s led us to this point is continuity, so, I’ll never believe in wholesale change,” said O’Shea.

“Do I believe in wholesale change? Never. I think what’s led us to this point is continuity, so, I’ll never believe in wholesale change.”

“But it’s pro sport, there’s always some. For what we believe in and what we’ve witnessed, the less the better.”

Some would argue a change needs to be made at offensive co-ordinator. O’Shea was asked if Jason Hogan had shown enough to warrant being brought back as the team’s playcaller.

The Bombers ranked fifth in net offence (345.7), seventh in offensive points (416), eighth in first downs, and last in passing yards (235 per game).

“He’s a first-year OC, but he’s a long-time coach, and he’s one of the hardest working guys you’ll ever be around,” said O’Shea.

“Yeah, he deserves the opportunity to have that conversation, for sure, and to come back. That requires more study and more conversation and some certainty.”

Several times throughout the season players voiced their displeasure with the offence, most notably running back Brady Oliveira. O’Shea doesn’t see that as a cause for concern.

“I think the players, they all know when they say those things that I’m the one who has to clean all that mess up,” he said.

“I also think there was some frustration in their own level of play, too, right? And they wanted things to go better, and it wasn’t quite looking the way they wanted it to look or what they expected.”

Quarterback Zach Collaros shared some insight in his presser Sunday by saying the way they practised in training camp didn’t put them on a path to success.

It also didn’t help that quarterbacks coach Jarious Jackson wasn’t around for camp to attend to a personal matter.

“Repped a lot of things that we didn’t rep during the season. I didn’t get a lot of reps with guys who were playing,” Collaros said.

“Reps with what concepts do we like. What can we, on second-and-six, second-and-five, with the game on the line, what are we going to call because we know we can execute the play? I don’t know if we had that this year.”

O’Shea’s response: “I think that’s a bigger project than just me answering that right now. It’s certainly something he brought up, and I wouldn’t be a head coach if I didn’t look into that. But that’s a much longer study.”

Defence and special teams are more in O’Shea’s wheelhouse, but if there’s something he wish he could’ve done differently this season, it would involve the troops that put points on the board.

“I think I absolutely could’ve been a better support system for the offence. I’m not going to design plays, but I think could’ve been better with them and helped them out a little more,” he said.

Did the Bombers spend to the salary cap? Did they do everything in their power to put the absolute best roster on the field in a year where they’re hosting the Grey Cup? Do they need to move on from some aging vets?

Those questions are better suited for Walters, who will face the music soon.

To supporters who are disappointed with how 2025 transpired, O’Shea’s not going to argue.

“If they were in here every day, they would be less concerned,” said O’Shea.

“We’ve got great fans… and, shoot, they sold out the stadium (the entire season) — they buy the tickets. They’re certainly entitled to have their opinions. The solutions are up to us to find.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca