Bert Faibish
Ticats.ca
Bob O’Billovich has unfinished business, and thanks to Scott Mitchell and Bob Young he’s staying in Hamilton to see it through.
“I truly love being a part of this organization, I love our staff and players and I love fans,” he said. “It was an easy decision.”
On Monday afternoon, the Tiger-Cats announced that they had extended O’Billovich’s contract as General Manager of the club until 2012.
“Bob and I enjoy working together tremendously so its a real thrill to continue that,” said team President Scott Mitchell.
Even though Obie has been in the league for over 34 years, he brings the same drive and enthusiasm to the job that he did when he first started. “This job keeps me young, otherwise I wouldn’t even consider doing this extension,” said O’Billovich.
“I’m grateful that Scott thought I’d be around here long enough to take care of that,” he joked.
O’Billovich has cemented his reputation as one of the best eyes for talent in the league by bringing in players that helped turn the team around, earning a playoff berth and a 9-9 record last year.
“He’s terrific at evaluating talent, he’s done that better than anyone in our league over the last 30 years,” said Mitchell.
“Even though it didn’t show in the record that first year how much better of an organization we were, we made a lot of progress,” he said. “We were close and obviously last year we demonstrated that we weren’t just close, we were a very competitive team.”
Now that he’s created a winning culture within the Ticats, it will be up to O’Billovich and the team that he’s put together to take that next step from competitor to contender.
“The bottom line is we have to win in this profession and thats where we’re headed right now,” said O’Billovich. “I think that things are looking good right now on paper,” he said.
The team is in a different set of circumstances now than in previous offseasons. The problem is not tearing down to start anew but building on a core of young talent to take that next step forward.
“It’s not a matter of wholesale fundamental changes,” said Mitchell. “Its a matter of identifying places we need to get better and finding solutions at those spots,” he said.
“I think thats the exciting part for Obie and the coaching staff.”
