Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
The last time the Winnipeg Blue Bombers appeared in a CFL postseason game they lost the 2011 Grey Cup 34-23 to the BC Lions.
The head coach of the Bombers that day at BC Place Stadium was Paul LaPolice.
LaPolice will be part of Winnipeg coaching staff Sunday when the Bombers face the Lions in the CFL Western Division Semi-Final. If LaPolice is feeling any sense of déjà vu about his return to Vancouver, he isn’t admitting it.
“I had not even thought about it,” said Winnipeg’s offensive coordinator and receivers coach. “It’s in the past.”
After missing the playoffs for four consecutive years — matching the previous longest streak between 1967 and 1970 — the 11-7 Bombers underwent a revival this season. Up until late in the year they were challenging for second place and a home playoff game.
LaPolice has also come full circle. After being fired by the Bombers in 2012, he spent three years working as an analyst for TSN before joining head coach Mike O’Shea’s staff in the off-season. LaPolice believes the time in the broadcast booth helped him professionally and personally.
“I was able to do a little bit more professional development than you would if you were still coaching,” he said. “I was able to literally watch every game played in the CFL over the last three years.
“I was able to travel more down into the U.S. and get some ideas on certain things we are doing now. Those things have really paid off offensively for us this year.”
Wearing a microphone instead of a whistle also allowed LaPolice to watch the sport with a more relaxed eye.
“After the games (when working for TSN) you don’t care who won or lost,” he chuckled. “Right now it’s a different deal. When you win or lose you carry it all week.”
This is LaPolice’s third stint with the Bombers. The 46-year-old native of Nashua, N.H., was Winnipeg’s offensive coordinator from 2002-2003. In his first year, the Bombers set 14 offence records, but the team struggled in the second and LaPolice was released at the end of the season.
LaPolice went on to work with Hamilton and Toronto and won a Grey Cup in 2007 with Saskatchewan.
He returned to Winnipeg as head coach in 2010. After struggling through a 4-14 season in his first year, Winnipeg was 10-8 the next and finished first in the East before losing in the Grey Cup. He was fired in 2012 after the Bombers started 2-6.
Last season Winnipeg stumbled to a 5-13 record. The Bombers finished last in the CFL in seven of 20 offensive categories including total points (353), net offence (5,238 yards) and first downs (326). Winnipeg also allowed the second most sacks (59).
This year the Bombers have scored 144 more points, gained over 1,200 more yards in net offence, had the fewest two-and-outs (73) and created 63 more first downs. Winnipeg has also allowed 24 fewer sacks.
LaPolice is reluctant to talk about how things were done before he was hired. He credits the players for what the team has accomplished this year.
“We have a certain way we want to do things,” he said. “We felt that running the football was important. We wanted to take hits off the quarterback. We wanted to stay on the football field.
“Those are some things we wanted to make sure we could do offensively. The players have taken the coaching and everyone has bought into what we are doing.”
Winnipeg’s scoring ability has been helped by a defence that led the league in creating turnovers. The Bombers scored 30 per cent of their points after forcing a turnover.
The Bombers also benefited from the addition of running back Andrew Harris, who had a combined 1,608 yards, and the emergence of quarterback Matt Nichols, who threw for 3,666 yards, 18 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
The Lions (12-6) will bring a defence that leads or ranks in the top three in most categories. They are led by the linebacking tandem of Solomon Elimimian and Adam Bighill who combined for 237 tackles and 13 quarterback sacks.
LaPolice said Elimimian and Bighill are cogs in a finely tuned Lions’ defensive machine.
“When you watch them on tape, they are athletic, physical,” he said. “They can run. They can cover a lot of ground. These guys don’t miss many tackles.
“I think an important thing is, you have to space the field well. When you get opportunities, you have to stay on your blocks on those linebackers. If you get opportunities in space, you have to try to do your best.”
The winner of Sunday’s game goes on to meet the Calgary Stampeders in the Western Final.
The Lions also have something to prove in the Semi-Final. BC hasn’t won a playoff game since their 2011 Grey Cup victory.
Winnipeg and BC have played each other seven times previously in the playoffs. The Lions have won five of those games.
The Bombers beat the Lions in back-to-back weeks this season. Both games were decided late. Each was settled by three points or less.
LaPolice takes little comfort in his team’s two wins over BC in the regular season. Back in 2011, the Bombers also swept the season series against the Lions, but then lost the game that mattered most.
“We certainly don’t care what happened in the past,” he said.
“It’s the past.”
