Mike O’Shea will soon have his named chiseled into Winnipeg Blue Bombers history atop a list of coaching legends that includes Bud Grant and Cal Murphy, Dave Ritchie and Ray Jauch, Bud Riley and his son Mike.
And, truth be told, the Blue Bombers head coach — one win from becoming the all-time leader in franchise history with 103 victories to his name — would rather converse about any other subject in our solar system.
Case in point, we give you this clip from his daily post-practice media session on Thursday when the Blue Bombers head coach deflected virtually every query on the subject:
“I’ve learned to only focus on the things that are important to the process and winning and losing,” he said to one of the questions, “and this might not be one of them.”
That said, whether the ‘W’ comes in Saturday’s Banjo Bowl against the Saskatchewan Roughriders or down the road this season, it IS coming. The next Blue Bombers win will be the 103rd since O’Shea became head coach in 2014 and move him past Grant atop Winnipeg’s all-time list and past Grant and John Hufnagel into ninth place on the Canadian Football League’s all-time list.
Yet, there was O’Shea after the Labour Day Classic win insisting his name should not be mentioned in the same sentence as Grant’s. Asked to expand on that on Thursday, he praised the man honoured with a statue outside Princess Auto Stadium and an icon down south as Minnesota Vikings royalty.
“I mean, look at what he accomplished in his entire career… (I’m) not even close to that,” he said. “(Grant) leaves here and goes down and has an over .600 winning percentage in another league and goes to multiple championships and has a very long career in an industry where people don’t have long careers — in TWO leagues. He’s pretty special.
“And then you look at what else he did athletically, he also won an NBA championship (as a player with the Minneapolis Lakers in 1950). In the few times I met him he was just impressive to be around, too. The short conversations we had, I think about those often. He just has some pretty important points that come to fruition as time goes along, some of which I’m not going to share because he could be a little bristly, too, and that’s the side I probably liked.”
Make no mistake, O’Shea has a deep understanding of the history of the Blue Bombers. His office walls feature, among other things, photos of Grant, Murphy and Riley and he’s well aware of all of their accomplishments during their days on the sidelines.
It’s just that — true to his personality — he would just as soon the spotlight is pulled back from him to include the others that have played such important roles in getting to 102 wins… and counting.
“It’s pretty easy just to say that if you surround yourself with people that love doing what they’re doing and are excellent at what they do and are easy-going people… it’s just easy,” he said. “And we’ve got a building full of guys like that, that value the team and value sticking together over other things.
“It’s been good for everybody and it just works out that my name’s attached to a number when it really belongs to everybody down here. I mean, Buck (Pierce, offensive coordinator) and I have been together from the beginning. It should be just as attached to his name. And Marty (Costello, offensive line coach) and Richie (Hall, defensive assistant) show up and there some guys who have less experience with us, but… Mike Miller was with the team for quite some time before he got this job, which is just as important. I’m really just fortunate to be around so many guys who are excellent and care so much about it.
“Once again, I just think there’s a number attached to my name probably unfairly. I think the story should be painted with a much wider brush.”
Fair comment, of course. And this narrative will only irk him because it takes away from goal #1: winning on Saturday. Still, the history can’t be ignored, either.
Said defensive coordinator Jordan Younger earlier this week when asked why the boss hates the spotlight so much:
“Because this is a team game. Ultimately everything revolves around ‘us’ and ‘we’ and when you make it about his individual accomplishment, he feels that takes away from what we as a group accomplished.
“It IS worth celebrating. It’s a helluva accomplishment. I’m really happy and proud of him.”
FROM CFL HEADQUARTERS: The CFL issued its weekly discipline report on Thursday and Saskatchewan defensive tackle Miles Brown was fined an undisclosed amount “for delivering a high hit on Winnipeg quarterback Zach Collaros.’
No suspension was levied meaning Brown will suit up in Saturday’s Banjo Bowl. A year ago, then-Riders defensive end Pete Robertson was suspended for the Banjo Bowl after he head-butted Collaros after the whistle.
BIGHILL OUT: The Blue Bombers held a closed-to-the-media practice on Thursday, but the daily injury report did offer some insight — veteran linebacker Adam Bighill, who injured his knee in the Labour Day Classic — has been ruled out for Saturday.
Injury Report: September 5, 2024#ForTheW pic.twitter.com/LKqr5xwjE9
— Winnipeg Blue Bombers (@Wpg_BlueBombers) September 5, 2024
