Pierce drawing from his time with the Bombers

VANCOUVER — The West Coast looks good on Buck Pierce.

Sure, the B.C. Lions’ head coach is a little busier these days than the last time pro football brought him here as a player, but he’s often reminded why this was the perfect place to land his first gig as a bench boss.

“It’s good. It’s kind of full circle, right? I grew up on the West Coast, so being back out here, I consistently have family and friends coming up to games. So, there’s some familiar parts about it,” Pierce, who was raised in Crescent City, Calif., said Friday in a chat with the Free Press.

“There’s some familiarity, absolutely, but being in Winnipeg for the time that I was there, I also got accustomed to that. Life moves a little faster out here,” he added while chuckling. “It’s a little busier. But there’s obviously things that I’ve missed about living here, but there’s things that I miss about Winnipeg, too.”

The 43-year-old spent the first 10 years of his coaching career with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, two as a running backs coach and three working with quarterbacks, before taking offensive co-ordinator duties for four seasons. Hired by Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea at the beginning of his tenure in 2014, Pierce didn’t waste many opportunities to learn from one of the all-time winningest coaches.

That time together has already served him well, as Pierce often finds himself drawing back on his time with O’Shea.

“I mean, I learned a ton — football related, unfootball related. I really enjoyed our relationship, obviously, as co-workers, but just as two guys who wanted the same thing, and very like-minded. I ask myself all the time, ‘What would we have done in that situation?’… and I have no issues ever picking up the phone and asking either.”

The off-season was different than what he was used to, being onboarded then getting right into building a roster around his franchise quarterback Nathan Rourke.

Pierce was quick to correct himself, saying he doesn’t have an off-season now. His phone is always on because he needs to be reachable. He’s also spent less time watching TV, something he was able to do as an offensive co-ordinator.

Though the added responsibilities have life moving at Mach 50, Pierce said those are the most enjoyable parts of the job.

“You understand the role to an extent, but you don’t know until you actually do it. It’s more of the off-the-field stuff. It’s being more involved with communications throughout the organization, on every level. And then the field stuff is the field stuff. It’s about football and getting to know the guys, and all those types of things,” he said.

“Somebody asked me about what was one of my favourite things about it: it’s just about being around the players and seeing how they react, and what they need. So being able to help it in that role of being a provider for them and making sure that their needs are being met, and if they’re not, what can I do to help?”

That was also his favourite part about being an offensive co-ordinator, but now that duty is extrapolated as the leader of an entire team.

“Being able to communicate with the entire roster, and getting to know guys, maybe a little bit more personally than what you would in different roles. But, as far as being a co-ordinator, to a head coach, I think you have more communication with the whole team, and I think that’s excellent and that’s what I enjoy.”

That sentiment quickly resonated with his players. It didn’t take long for Pierce to win over the locker room and get team members to buy into his message.

“He kind of just wears it on his sleeve. It’s kind of who he is,” said quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who will start for the Lions when they face the Bombers at BC Place on Saturday (6 p.m. CT).

Masoli called Pierce “an open book” who has instilled a “no-nonsense” mentality around the club. It’s made it easy to rally behind him.

“We talk about grit at this place and just having that heart, and he kind of walks around and exudes it just with his personality,” he added. “It just kind of permeates through the locker room, and we all got to follow suit.”

How Pierce has changed from his time as an offensive co-ordinator is a question perhaps only centre Michael Couture can answer. The nine-year vet spent seven of those working with Pierce in Winnipeg — two of which he was calling plays for — before heading west in 2023.

“For me? No,” said Couture. “I’m getting the same guy, the same guy that I remember. He was one of the first people I got to talk to when I got into the building in Winnipeg, my rookie year in 2016, and to me, he’s been the same guy ever since then. It’s been familiar, which is nice.”

Couture was asked by several teammates about their new head coach when he was hired in December. The centre did his best to talk him up, but it appears Pierce has done a fine job of selling himself.

“His attention to the details as a coach,” Couture said was his best quality as a head coach. “I think that’s something I’ve heard throughout the locker room that has been a big point so far this year, and I think guys respond really well to his message day in and day out. It’s very consistent, and it’s something that a lot of guys can relate to, being that he’s been in our position before. So that’s huge coming from the head guy.”

Pierce has already won and lost as a head coach, as the Lions carry a 1-1 record into Week 3. His first tick in the loss column came against his former longtime club in disappointing fashion — a 34-20 decision in Winnipeg — but not all was bad on the trip.

It was an emotional return to a familiar place for Pierce, who was honoured with a tribute video and a standing ovation from the sellout crowd inside Princess Auto Stadium. A defeat is never enjoyable, but that moment certainly took a bit of the sting out of the final result.

“I would not be telling the truth if I said there wasn’t emotion going back into the building and being on the other side. We’re humans, and they did a great tribute there during the game. I have such fond memories of the people there. It’s the people there that I’ve been through it with and got relationships with,” Pierce said.

“So, yeah, it was good to be back.”

He paused briefly and revealed a telling grin.

“But we’re excited to see them again, too.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam