St. Catharines Standard e-edition

O’shea looking forward to players interacting again

DAN RALPH

Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’shea still has a linebacker’s mentality.

Earlier this week, veteran Winnipeg linebacker Adam Bighill quipped that what he missed most during the Canadian Football League’s down time was hitting people.

O’shea, who played 16 seasons as a middle linebacker before entering the coaching ranks, fully understands the sentiment.

“Hell, I’m 50 and I still miss hitting people,” O’shea said during a video conference Friday. “I miss just seeing the players interact.

“I like competition, I like the planning, I like seeing guys compete on the field in practice, in games, all that stuff. But I do miss just the daily stuff that goes on, the way the players interact with each other on a daily basis. I really get a charge out of watching guys be teammates. That’s been missing for sure.”

The CFL’S board of governors voted Monday in favour of starting a 14-game season Aug. 5 and opening training camps July 10. The league didn’t play in 2020 due to the pandemic.

Winnipeg has the distinction of winning the last CFL game played. The Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-cats 33-12 in the 2019 Grey Cup, the franchise’s first championship since 1990.

Some 19 months later, the Bombers can finally look at defending their title, even if it will be amid COVID-19 safety protocols and limited fans in stands. “I think it will be a great lesson in resiliency and flexibility, I really do,” said O’shea, a native of North Bay, Ont. “Every team will experience that, where things come up during the season and you have to be able to adapt very quickly.

“I fully expect our guys to be able to do that, we’ve got a bunch of pros. There are points inside our room where I want our guys to be flexible so they’re kind of used to that. I don’t see any challenges that won’t be overcome by any team, really.”

O’shea is entering his seventh season as Bombers head coach. The 2019 championship was his fifth but first as a head coach and first with Winnipeg.

O’shea’s first three titles came as a Toronto player (1996, 1997, 2004) before he earned another as an Argos assistant coach (2012). O’shea enjoyed a decorated playing career, being named the CFL’S top rookie (1993) and outstanding Canadian (1999).

He became the first Canadian to surpass 1,000 career tackles and was named to the Argos’ all-time squad in 2007. O’shea was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 2017.

When Winnipeg opens camp, it will do so with many veterans from its 2019 squad, something O’shea feels is crucial in a shortened season and with teams not playing any exhibition games.

“It’s a necessity, it really is,” he said. “I do think hitting the ground running on a shortened season and getting off to a great start is important.

“It’s not the only thing. You know how we approach things looking only at what the next day holds in store but I do always value a veteran presence and in this particular year it should prove its worth.”

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2021-06-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-06-19T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://stcatharinesstandard.pressreader.com/article/282063394924829

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