O’Shea stands by his plan

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This article was published 22/11/2024 (302 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Mike O’Shea would do it again.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ head coach began his end-of-season press conference Friday explaining what he would’ve done differently in the club’s 41-24 loss to the Toronto Argonauts in the 111th Grey Cup.

“I’d use the challenge flag earlier. Call a time-out. Check on the guys more during the game. Say something differently… I don’t know. Those kinds of things, for sure,” he said ro begin the 30-minute question period at Princess Auto Stadium.

What O’Shea omitted from his list of potential do-overs was the decision to put quarterback Zach Collaros back in the game after he left in the third quarter with a deep cut on the index finger of his throwing hand that required five stitches and left him hardly able to grip the ball, a decision that has been heavily scrutinized in the days following the team’s third consecutive loss in the championship.

O’Shea recognized he put his pivot back into the game despite Collaros being uncertain on whether he would help or hurt the team by playing. Despite telling the receivers they would need to work harder to catch his passes, which he warned would be underthrown. Despite him throwing an interception on each of the next three drives, one being returned for a touchdown, and the club’s championship hopes unravelling in a span of about four minutes following his return.

O’Shea stood by his decision.

“Yeah, absolutely. That’s not even something I really thought about,” said O’Shea, the winningest coach in franchise history. “First of all, that internal debate is what makes Zach a great teammate and a great leader because he’s always trying to put the team first.

“The second part of that is he’s the best, and then watching him throw I thought, ‘Yeah, this is something he’s going to be able to work with.’ And then, thirdly, he absolutely deserves every opportunity to lead this team. From what I saw and from chatting with him very briefly I felt really comfortable with that.”

“Putting Zach back in the game… I put him in a bad spot but he’s a leader of our team and he’s a fiery competitor and you just believe in him.”

It was a similar tune following last season’s loss in the Grey Cup, when receiver Dalton Schoen (ankle) and linebacker Adam Bighill (calf strain) were both listed as doubtful to play but wound up giving it a go. Neither played to their full capability — Schoen recorded three catches for 36 yards while Bighill managed just one tackle — but their participation hinged on O’Shea paying respect to what the players had done rather than what they might be able to do.

Collaros, who re-entered the contest when the Bombers were trailing 24-16, went 10-for-17 with no touchdowns and three interceptions after his injury.

“I didn’t,” O’Shea said of whether he had the same internal debate as Collaros before sending him back in. “You know your leaders. I’ve seen the greatness guys achieve if we let them. I’ve seen what happens over time, especially as football has gone the way it’s gone, how we refuse to let players be great in big moments.

“I’m a firm believer in that we have to let our leaders be great. And not maybe our leaders, we have to let players, give them the opportunity, to be great.”

On that note, why didn’t the Bombers unleash running back Brady Oliveira in the biggest game of the year?

The CFL’s Most Outstanding Player, Oliveira recorded nine touches before the score got out of hand and finished with 13 in total. He logged fewer touches in just one game this season, Week 3 against the B.C. Lions when he was nursing an injury.

“We called about 17-18 runs,” O’Shea revealed.

“You call that many runs and then a pile of them get pulled because of the structure of the defence. That’s OK with me at that point. You have to make a decision and live with it and everybody has plays designed to have options on them and you try to put the defence in the worst possible spot depending on how they show up.”

O’Shea and Oliveira had not had their exit meeting, as of Friday. If Oliveira’s comments during Tuesday’s player portion of the end-of-year interviews were any indication, it figures to be a lengthy one.

Oliveira noted he expected the game plan to feature him heavily, as per usual, and believes he’s earned the right to know why that didn’t came to fruition.

Whether there was a moment when O’Shea advised offensive co-ordinator Buck Pierce to lean on Oliveira more — especially in the third quarter when it was backup quarterback Terry Wilson and an injured Collaros under centre — is unknown, although, feels unlikely given the defensive stance of the game plan.

O’Shea said the Argonauts allocated more defenders to stopping the run while Collaros was getting stitched up, a process that lasted long enough for the Bombers to run four offensive plays. It’s also something this team is used to with the ground game being its identity and given the success it’s had when salting away the clock with a lead.

He continued to stand by his and his staff’s decisions.

“We hadn’t really had success against Toronto like that. So we had a very good game plan. By my counts, we only had six plays in the third quarter. We need to stay on the field, we need to convert (on second down),” he said. “That would have given us more plays, especially in that quarter.”

Pierce, who has been subject to just as much scrutiny for his game plan, is reported to be one of the leading candidates for the B.C. Lions’ head coach position. O’Shea said he’s already thought about who would be next in line to run his offence but did not give names.

He quickly shut down any thought of moving on from Pierce if he did not get the job.

“Not a chance.”

joshua.frey-sam@freepress.mb.ca

X: @jfreysam