The forensic audit on another disappointing Winnipeg Blue Bomber season has begun, but if you ask the players, they don’t want to see major changes. And neither does head coach Mike O’Shea.
When asked on his weekly radio show on 680-CJOB if the offensive line or any other aspect of the team needs to be “blown up”, O’Shea was quick to squash such thoughts, insisting there is a good core of players who the Bombers can win with going forward.
General Manager Kyle Walters, in his post-season address to the media, agreed with that assessment, but also said that they will not be afraid to make any and all changes that are required to get the Bombers back into Grey Cup contention.
“We didn’t win the Grey Cup and that’s a failure. We want to win football games, we want to win Grey Cups. Some sort of hollow victory that we won more games than last year doesn’t sell down here. All we care about is bringing a Grey Cup to this city and we will do whatever it takes.”
Walters went on to say, “We understand the importance to the fans, the people who are running this organization are embedded in the community, we get the importance of the Winnipeg Blue bombers in this community, all we talk about is winning a Grey Cup for this city.”
Veteran defensive tackle Bryant Turner said, “We have the best fans in the league. We ask them to bear with us, be patient, I honestly believe we are working toward something great. It’s bad that we couldn’t do it in one year. I honestly feel that we have some great players on this team and some great things will come out of this locker room.”
And another vet, offensive tackle Glen January said, “We’ve got a lot of good guys in this room, we made strides this season, we had some highs and lows but we were able to change the culture of the locker room.”
January continued, “We have a good core group of guys in here that understand what is needed to be successful. If nothing else we have changed the mentality of the room, we don’t think of this place as a work-place, it’s more of a home.”
From 3-15 in 2013 to 7-11 in 2014 is progress.
With that, no one can argue. There is a good core of talent with the possibility that one of the players uncovered this year can be a franchise quarterback in Drew Willy.
An upgrade to the Canadian talent, one or two key additions through free agency, and an improved offensive line combined with a revamping of some of the offensive and defensive approaches should push the Bombers at least closer, in 2015, to that elusive goal of winning this history franchise its first Grey Cup since 1990.
