Mike O’Shea mum on timeline for Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ offensive coordinator hire

Courtesy: Brett Holmes/CFL

Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea isn’t in a rush to hire a new offensive coordinator, indicating that there’s currently no timeline to replace Buck Pierce.

“I like where we’re at (in the process),” O’Shea told reporters via videoconference on Monday. “(I’m) working on it, had some good conversations with guys, and just making sure I work through that process to discover what I need to discover and do it right.”

“I don’t know that you rush this process. I think you work on it, you put your time in, and you come up with good answers and the right answers.”

Pierce was introduced as the new head coach of the B.C. Lions on Dec. 3, which means O’Shea has already had six weeks to secure his replacement.

The 54-year-old native of North Bay, Ont. admitted that he needed some time to recuperate after the season and refind his bearings after losing the Grey Cup for the third straight year. He also said the team had already gone through some of the steps of replacing Pierce in previous years when he was a candidate for other head coaching jobs around the league.

“I think we have a pretty good idea of what we want our offence to look like,” O’Shea said. “You’re always looking for somebody to come in and compliment that and bring in their own ideas and they’re gonna have people they want to bring in with them — I get all that. But there’s certainly, in terms of free agents, guys you target that you know can play no matter what the system is.”

Jordan Makysmic, who Winnipeg interviewed for its offensive coordinator position before Pierce officially left for B.C., ended up accepting the same job with his hometown Edmonton Elks. A few other potential candidates, including longtime Blue Bombers receivers coach Kevin Bourgoin and Winnipeg native Markus Howell, have also taken jobs elsewhere.

Potential candidates who remain available are Toronto passing game coordinator and receivers coach Pete Costanza, Montreal passing game coordinator and receivers coach Mike Lionello, former Edmonton offensive coordinator and interim head coach Jarious Jackson, former Montreal head coach and Winnipeg quarterback Khari Jones, and Toronto quarterbacks coach Mike Miller, among others. One source indicated that the club might prefer to hire someone with a quarterback background, which, if true, would presumably give Jackson, Jones, and Miller a leg up.

The Blue Bombers reached the Grey Cup for the fifth straight season this past year, though their offensive production left much to be desired. The team finished eighth league-wide in offensive points scored, sixth in net offence, third in rushing yards, eighth in passing yards, and sixth in passing efficiency. Were it not for Winnipeg’s defence finishing first in offensive points allowed and net offence, it’s likely that the team’s reign atop the West Division would have come to an end.

Winnipeg has several key offensive contributors who remain pending free agents, including star receivers Kenny Lawler and Dalton Schoen and starting offensive linemen Liam Dobson and Eric Lofton. O’Shea doesn’t seem to think the timeline of hiring a new offensive coordinator will be a big factor in retaining those players.

“No matter who you sign as that coaching staff, there will be players that will be drawn to that or pushed away from that, so the timeline is interesting. To rush and get somebody in place before free agency — which I think it’ll be done before free agency, I really do — but I don’t think that’s going to change, necessarily, a big bulk of the players with their decision,” said the veteran coach.

“I think there will always be some guys that say, ‘Oh, I’ve worked with that guy before, I like him,’ or, ‘I haven’t worked with that guy before, I don’t know.’ Some guys might say, ‘I’ve never worked with that guy, I really like that,’ depending on where they’re coming from.”

O’Shea also said he expects Richie Hall will return to the Blue Bombers in 2025. The 64-year-old native of San Antonio, Texas, was Winnipeg’s defensive coordinator from 2015 to 2023 and accepted a demotion last year when Jordan Younger, the club’s longtime defensive back coach, was promoted to the role of defensive coordinator.

Hall interviewed for Ottawa’s vacant defensive coordinator position earlier this offseason but wasn’t the successful candidate as William Fields was hired away from the Toronto Argonauts after helping the team win the Grey Cup.

O’Shea recently attended the annual ‘mentors trip’ with the Toronto Maple Leafs, an opportunity reportedly afforded to him by team massage therapist and osteopathic practitioner Todd Bean. The former linebacker declined to give any details about the trip, citing how he values his time “away from the spotlight” during the offseason. When pressed, he gave a brief comment on he experienced.

“Excellent trip, well worth it,” he said. “I had a lot of fun. I learned a lot, enjoyed my time, very grateful that I was afforded that opportunity.”

Perhaps O’Shea, an avid hockey fan, asked Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube, a self-professed Argonauts fan who grew up watching the CFL, for advice about hiring an offensive coordinator. If so, Berube apparently didn’t stress the importance of making a hire anytime soon.