Big Blue talking with two

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This article was published 19/12/2014 (4244 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers have wasted no time in moving forward in their search for a new defensive co-ordinator.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders confirmed Thursday morning Winnipeg head coach Mike O’Shea has asked for permission to speak with Riders assistant coach Richie Hall and it was granted.

Sources have also told the Free Press the Bombers have been in contact with former B.C. Lions coach Mike Benevides.

Hall won three Grey Cups with the Roughriders, one as a player and two as a defensive co-ordinator, but was recently stripped of his title. Hall has been retained by the Riders, but his future role with the club is unknown.

Benevides was fired this off-season from his post as head coach of the B.C. Lions after leading the team to the playoffs in three straight seasons, never enduring a losing campaign and compiling a 31-22 record.

Benevides has won three Grey Cups, one with Calgary as special teams co-ordinator and two with B.C. — first as linebackers coach and then as defensive co-ordinator.

Speaking to Benevides at the Grey Cup, he said he’d be interested in taking a co-ordinator position if the situation was right. Whether Winnipeg fits into that category is unknown. Text and voice messages to Benevides have not been returned.

On Wednesday, O’Shea said after firing defensive co-ordinator Gary Etcheverry, he didn’t feel he would rush to hire a new defensive leader, but with candidates of this calibre on the street, it’s hard to imagine him moving slowly. These are elite defensive coaches and they’ll be snapped up sooner rather than later.

Meanwhile, the Blue Bombers also announced Thursday they have signed backup quarterback Josh Portis to a two-year contract extension.

Portis landed in Winnipeg via a mid-season trade and only suited up for the final three games of the season.

The club, though, thinks there might be more to see in the 27-year-old QB.

“We believe Josh has tremendous upside as a mobile quarterback in our league,” Blue Bombers GM Kyle Walters said of the decision to retain the pending free agent. “He works hard at practice and in the film room every day. The ability to have multiple options at the quarterback position, that you can truly feel comfortable with, is invaluable, and as Josh continues to grow he would definitely fall into that category.”

Portis landed in Winnipeg in July, after the Bombers sent a conditional draft pick to the Toronto Argonauts. He’d spent 2013 on the Argos’ injury list. It was his first season in the CFL.

He came north after a roller-coaster ride as an undrafted NFL rookie. Once pegged as a possible backup to Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson, Portis spent time as third-string Seahawks QB and then on the practice roster before being released and then re-signed.

In May 2013, almost two months after signing him to a two-year deal, the Seahawks cut him loose two weeks after he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @garylawless

— with files from Melissa Martin