Bauer holds Kelly intervention

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/08/2009 (6137 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike Kelly woke up on Sunday as head coach, offensive co-ordinator, quarterbacks coach and de-facto GM of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

The team is 2-5 and dreadful in the offensive department. It stands to reason he could use some help and he’ll be getting it.

Blue Bombers CEO Lyle Bauer told the Free Press in a phone interview on Sunday morning that the lack of offensive production needs to be addressed and he’s looking at ways to aid Kelly.

"He’s the offensive co-ordinator, the head coach and the quarterbacks coach. We need to get some relief for him in that regard. There’s only so much one man can do," said Bauer. "Mike wears it. He takes this all on himself. He’d wash the uniforms if you asked him to. That’s the passion he has for this team and this game."

Bauer was unsure if the club would be bringing in an offensive consultant or if they would promote from within.

"It’s easy to say what you’ll do, but you have to go and find it," said Bauer, referring to hiring an offensive mind to assist Kelly. "It’s not that Mike is incapable but there’s only so much one man can do. We’re having discussions right now as to how to remedy this. There are a variety of ways to accomplish this. Whether it’s one of the people already on staff, or we bring someone else in, we’re having those discussions."

Kelly was asked last week if he would consider hiring an offensive co-ordinator and his answer was an emphatic, "No."

Some think the offensive woes are the fault of the players. Others think it’s the scheme.

"There’s nothing wrong with this scheme. I’ve seen it work 1,000 times," said Kelly, when asked after Saturday night’s debacle if it was time to tinker with the game plan. "We have to catch the football. We have to block when we’re supposed to block. Catch when we’re supposed to catch and throw to where we’re supposed to throw. Right now we’re not doing those things. We’ll continue to look at it and we have to execute better."

Following the loss, veteran defensive lineman Doug Brown said he and his teammates had better be ready for change and that no player was safe from being released or traded.

Kelly said Sunday he’s not ready to make wholesale changes. "That’s because that’s what they’re used to. I’m not ready for that," he said.

Bauer, however, can’t afford to wait for things to slowly get better. Kelly can focus on the wins and losses but the financial picture is a major worry for Bauer and having a crowd well below capacity on Saturday night has to worry the CEO.

The Bombers have played just three home games and with the challenge of fall weather soon facing the marketing department, a team that loses in such boring fashion won’t help ticket sales.

"Without question. We’re in the entertainment business and it’s about repeat sales. We sell pro football," said Bauer. "We’ve been successful in two of three facets of this game. Defence and special teams. The fans will make the decision from what they see and decide what they want to support. Our fans have been great. This team has a defence that is its mainstay. We just need an offence that can complement it. We have our challenges but they’re not insurmountable."

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The retired offensive lineman has carved out a nice business career for himself in life after football, but still understands the Xs and Os as well as he does a balance sheet.

"Our defence is of championship calibre, we have a strong running game and up until (Saturday) night our special teams had been solid," said Bauer. "But that’s not enough. You need a passing game in this league and that’s a glaring hole in our game. This team has too much potential to sit back and let this happen. We need a passing game to go along with all the other good things we have here."

Bauer, who brought in Kelly this off-season to replace Doug Berry, said he likes a lot of what his first-year coach has accomplished.

"This team has character and heart. We felt that had gotten away from us in the last couple of years and we wanted to change that," said Bauer. "The fans wanted change and they got it, but they have to understand that there are going to be some growing pains. But we have a lot of talent on this team. We just don’t have a passing game and we’re going to… do whatever needs to be done to rectify that."

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca