Kelly has competition at the top

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/11/2008 (6518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Before the coronation begins and before the nameplate on the head coach’s office door is changed to read ‘M-I-K-E K-E-L-L-Y’ Lyle Bauer wants to make sure every candidate on the Winnipeg Blue Bomber wish list is interrogated in full.

And so, on a day in which Brendan Taman met with the media to explain his change in roles — more scouting, less GMing — Bauer was planning a weekend trip to meet with one of the names that isn’t Mike Kelly, the former Bomber offensive co-ordinator who is in Montreal as his Edmonton Eskimos meet the Alouettes in Saturday’s East Division final.

"You know (Kelly) will be considered and he’s pretty high up there on our list," began the Bomber president Thursday, "but I will be making a trip this weekend to see somebody — and he ain’t in Montreal.

"Even if Mike is the front-runner, you still have to validate that and the best way to validate that is to go through the process."

Sniffing around

What we can tell you after sniffing around a bit is this: as intriguing as the idea is, scratch former Bomber Tom Clements, now the quarterbacks coach with the Green Bay Packers, off the list. Timing means if he was interested in the job, he’ll be tied up with The Pack well into December and the Bombers want their man in place by then. B.C. Lions defensive co-ordinator Mike Benevides may not willing to take the next step to boss yet, and while Calgary Stampeder defensive co-ordinator Chris Jones is an up-and-comer, he is also viewed as still a few years away from the big job.

And asked if he was planning to interview anyone remaining from Doug Berry’s staff — the No. 1 possibility being defensive co-ordinator Greg Marshall — Bauer said: "I haven’t spoke to anybody on our staff in that regard yet. I’m sure I’ll have discussions with some over the next little while, but I’m going to keep who the potential candidates are quiet over the next little while.

"But there’s no question I have some preconceived ideas of who I like."

Stampeder offensive co-ordinator George Cortez is considered a brilliant tactician and may be interviewed. And it would seem the chances of the Bombers going outside the box, as the Alouettes did to find CFL rookie head coach Marc Trestman, are slim. Said Bauer: "That would be pretty risky for us. We just don’t know the history of somebody like that."

All of which keeps all fingers pointed at Kelly, a Bomber assistant from 1992-96 who has worked in the XFL, was a head coach at Valdosta State, worked in the personnel departments with the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins and was even a professor at Drexel University after leaving Winnipeg.

And it could be said what the Bombers have done to change Taman’s role makes the potential Kelly hire that much more a given. Taman will continue to scout for talent, negotiate contracts, play a vital role in free agency and the trading of players but — by taking away the GM title and his in-season dealings with the coaching staff — it also gives the new boss free reign to shape the roster the way he sees fit.

It’s also likely the club will allow Taman to spend more time scouting — while expanding its scouting network — while also hoping to tap into the contacts the new GM/coach already has in place.

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"I’m fine with that, because that’s what I like to do," said Taman on his shift back to the role he first had upon his arrival in 1999. "A lot of that other stuff I don’t like to do. So I’m fine with that. Hopefully, I’ll have the input I’ve had, and we’ll be fine. It’s part of the business. Shoot, I’ve got a job, so that’s a good thing. Ultimately, you’d always like to have the best you can, but when you lose you’re going to pay the consequences and I understand that."

Asked if he expected his compensation to be adjusted accordingly — pay cut — and how he would feel about that, Taman said:

"Possibly… you never know. I’d pay less taxes."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca