CFL.ca
As Tim Burke heads into his first training camp as a head coach, the Bombers boss says he will have a couple of simple and basic messages for his players.
Burke says it’s important for the rookies to “respect the CFL game” and also says that any player from the U.S. who makes the mistake of thinking the Canadian game is somehow inferior will find out that they won’t last very long.
Most of all, however, the sideline boss thinks the Bombers have to learn how to walk before they can run.
| Bombers Off-Season Timeline |
|---|
|
|
“You have to try to get better every day and develop a winning standard of performance. You have to have a winning standard of performance before you can go out and win games. We think we established great practice and study habits at the end of last season, but we certainly have a long ways to go,” he said.
Burke places particular emphasis on training camp and the pre-season being the place to sort out the pecking order at the quarterback position. The leaner and meaner looking Buck Pierce will be the starter and Justin Goltz will go into camp as the backup. The number two spot could change depending on the performance of Goltz, Max Hall and Chase Clement.
“Definitely there will be a lot of reps for all the quarterbacks. Normally you go into a season saying here’s our number one guy, here’s our number two guy and here’s our number three guy and you proportion your reps accordingly,” said Burke.
“In this camp, we will try to get everybody a lot of reps to properly and accurately decide who will hold down the number two, three and four spots.”
He says that while the offence performed at a more than respectable level in the final six or seveb games of last year, he pulled no punches when discussing the disappointing performance of the defence. In particular he mentioned the defensive backs.
“I think there is going to be a lot of competition in the secondary. We signed safety Cauchy Muamba as a free agent, and brought in seven new import defensive backs because I didn’t think our secondary played very well last year. Certainly the guys who were here last year are going to have to play better or they won’t be here,” he said.
Without mentioning names, that was clearly a reference to the work of holdovers Jonathan Hefney, Alex Suber, Brandon Stewart and Jovon Johnson, all of whom turned in all-star caliber performances in 2011 when the Bombers rode the play of their defence to a Grey Cup appearance.
Like all coaches, Burke says competition will be the essence of the pre-season, and in particular the loss of Marcellus Bowman as a free agent to Hamilton and Jason Vega to the NFL’s New England Patriots has created openings at will linebacker and defensive end.
But it wasn’t all disappointment from Burke. He mentioned he was satisfied about his strong nucleus of returning veterans. Returning on the defensive side of the ball are defensive tackles Bryant Turner and JT Gilmore, defensive end Alex Hall and linebacker Henoc Muamba.
On offence, offensive linemen Glenn January, Chris Greaves, Steve Morely and Justin Sorensen, receivers Chris Matthews, Terrence Edwards, Clarence Denmark and Cory Watson as well as tailbacks Chad Simpson and Chris Garrett will all return, too.
If there is a consensus about the Bombers chances of competing for a championship in 2013 it revolves around the quarterback position. The club believes that they have enough talent to compete with anyone, providing they get consistent production from their signal caller. Their fondest hope is that Pierce plays 16 of 18 games, as he did in 2011 when the club went to the Grey Cup. That hope also includes Goltz, or Hall, or Clement, emerging as a bonafide backup who will help win some games.
“I don’t know what a realistic target is, but my target is to win more games than you lose. If you can win 10 games, you will be in the playoffs. Two years ago, we won 10 games and won the East, so I think my goal is for us to get into the playoffs. If you get into the playoffs anything can happen,” said Burke.
“Toronto got in last year with a 9-9 record and won it all. A few years ago Calgary was 8-10 and won the Grey Cup. You just got to get to the dance so you can have a chance. I think we are capable of winning a championship this year, but that will depend on how we develop.”
