Thomas hangs up cleats, picks up clipboard

The longest tenured Winnipeg Blue Bomber is now the newest CFL coach.

After 13 seasons with the Blue and Gold, veteran defensive tackle Jake Thomas is retiring as a player. He isn’t going anywhere, though, as the 35-year-old from New Brunswick has been hired as the team’s defensive line coach.

He’s replacing Darrell Patterson who’s retiring after five seasons with the club.

“He’s extremely intelligent. He’s always been a guy who studies the game well, communicates well to his teammates, so you expect that to continue,” head coach Mike O’Shea said Monday.

“I believe the future for Jake is going to be pretty good. He’ll probably end up being a GM. He can do a lot.

“He’s the type of guy that he could probably do whatever he wants.”

Thomas was drafted in the fourth round of the 2012 CFL Draft out of Acadia. He played in 223 games which ranks fourth in franchise history behind Bob Cameron (394), Troy Westwood (293) and Chris Walby (249).

When the Bombers snapped their 28-year championship drought in 2019, Thomas was the first player to be handed the silver mug.

Thomas, who won it a second time in 2021, retires with 33 sacks, 196 tackles, five forced fumbles and one interception.

“Love the guy. Can sit here right now and picture him hoisting the Cup in 2019. Extremely smart, passionate, good leader,” said O’Shea.

“He’s so highly respected in the locker room and across the league. And, also, he’s really skilled in terms of dealing with humans. If anything were to come up, he’ll handle it.”

“There was a time (2018) where he came late because of a contract issue, he came late to training camp by I don’t know how many days, not much. But the whole practice stopped and everybody went nuts that he walked onto the field. I think that right there speaks volumes about what everybody thinks about him. Not just from the players’ perspective, but in the entire organization.”

Thomas is now the second player to join the coaching staff immediately after retiring as a player. Former special teams ace Mike Miller — a fellow Acadia product — did the same in 2024 when he was hired as special teams co-ordinator after a neck injury ended his playing career.

O’Shea doesn’t see it being an issue that Thomas will be coaching players that he shared a locker room with.

“The biggest problem usually in the transition is trying to figure out how to draw plays, or for me, it was how to even turn the computer on. So, I don’t think he’s gonna have any problems,” said O’Shea.

“He’s so highly respected in the locker room and across the league. And, also, he’s really skilled in terms of dealing with humans. If anything were to come up, he’ll handle it.”

Both Thomas and newly hired offensive co-ordinator Tommy Condell are scheduled to chat with reporters on Tuesday.

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