This Bomber group is ready to take off
WINNIPEG — Eight months after the Hamilton Tiger-Cats installed Kent Austin as the vice-president of football operations, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers made a leadership change of their own, naming Kyle Walters as general manager.
Almost five seasons later, the Bombers are positioned for sustained success while the Ticats are fighting for their playoff lives facing an off-season full of questions.
Walters was, in many ways, a surprising choice. Then just 40, he was not only a first-time general manager, he was also Canadian and without an extensive background in football operations south of the border.
Born in St. Thomas, he played seven years with the Ticats before coaching at the University of Guelph and then in Winnipeg before moving upstairs.
His inexperience was hardly the only problem, however.
“We weren’t very good organizationally and I don’t think we were well respected around the league,” Walters said this week in advance of Friday’s game between the Bombers and the Ticats. “I was young so it was important to put people around me that I trusted.”
His interim tag removed at the end of 2013, Walters hired a team that included head coach Mike O’Shea — it was his first time in that role as well — and assistant general managers Danny McManus (another former Ticat) and Ted Goveia. The team was coming off two straight seasons without a playoff appearance and facing an increasingly disgruntled fan base.
“We turned over everything. The way we scout, the negotiation list, cleaning up the Canadian roster,” Walters said.
“It’s not a quick, easy process and we were all young and inexperienced in our roles. President Wade Miller, to his credit, let us grow as a group. You’re starting to see the fruits of that vision.”
Walters and his team prioritized finding a quarterback, drafting and developing Canadian talent and revamping their American scouting. But the challenges were significant.
“Back when we started, quarterback was an issue here. At the time, Zach Collaros and Henry Burris were free agents and those were the guys that everybody wanted. There was zero interest from either of those guys in coming to Winnipeg,” Walters says. “At the time, you couldn’t blame them because of the state of our organization.”
Instead, they signed former Saskatchewan backup Drew Willy who played well in spurts but was unable to lead the team to a sustained period of success.
It wasn’t until the emergence of Matt Nichols, who was acquired via trade with Edmonton in 2015, that the position solidified.
Meanwhile, Walters was busy rebuilding the roster, particularly on the Canadian side. Draft picks Mattias Goossen, Sukh Chungh are now starters on the offensive line while defensive lineman Jake Thomas and Trent Corney have developed into solid contributors. Safety Taylor Loffler was a West allstar in his rookie season.
“We draft and develop our guys,” Walters said. “I tell our coaches, let’s give these guys two years, we’re not going to make a snap j udgment.”
The team also dipped into the free agent market to sign Canadian running back Andrew Harris, offensive lineman Travis Bond and defensive back Chris Randle, hoping to provide veteran leadership to an otherwise young group.
“You’d better be right i n free agency … your top guys need to perform like top guys,” Walters said. “My ultimate goal is to get away from free agency because you have to overpay. I find it much more cost effective to re-sign your own guys.
“Now, with this f acility and our head coach, if it’s a fair offer, I think guys are going to come back here.”
It hasn’t been a linear progres- sion. After a 7-11 campaign in 2014, the Bombers slid to 5-13 the following year and when they started 1-4 in 2016, there were questions about O’Shea’s job security.
“We were two years in, optimism was up and the beginning of that year was tough,” Walters said. “That was by far the hardest time.”
But after replacing Willy with Nichols at quarterback, the team has gone 20-7 and is poised to secure a home playoff date for the first time since 2011. Walters said the goal is to win a championship — the Bombers have the longest drought in the CFL at 26 years — but also to become a perennial contender.
“The more you win, the more it becomes a habit and guys start believing in themselves and the confidence goes up,” Walters said. “It’s nice to be a boring, vanilla organization that nobody really talks about in terms of chaos. We just go about our business.”