Dec
Kelly to be named Bomber Head Coach Today
Courtesy Winnipeg Free Press:
The coronation of Mike Kelly as the next head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers will finally be made official today.
The CFL team has called a press conference for 11 a.m. at which time it’s expected it will be confirmed what has been speculated since the day Doug Berry was fired three weeks ago, that Kelly — the popular Bombers offensive co-ordinator from 1992-96 — would become the 27th boss in the team’s 78-year history.
“I’m not going to say anything,” said Kelly when reached by the Free Press Monday night. “I’m going to be a quiet guy on this one.”
Bombers president and CEO Lyle Bauer was equally hush-hush, confirming only that his coaching search “will be coming to an end shortly, hopefully within the next (few) hours. We have made our decision. There’s just a few things I have to get in order and we’ll move forward with that shortly.
“I think people will be pleased.”
Now, while Bauer has been spearheading the search, the Free Press can confirm that during Grey Cup week in Montreal — at which time Kelly and current defensive coordinator Greg Marshall were formally interviewed — Kelly also met with Bombers board chairman Gene Dunn and would-be owner David Asper. And while Marshall kept a low profile before and after the interview, Kelly was spotted kibbitzing with Bomber fans at the Touchdown Manitoba party the Friday before the Grey Cup game.
The decision to hire Kelly will have to be approved by the Bombers board, as will the details of a new three-year contract which will likely make him both the GM and head coach — a move that will free up Brendan Taman to handle more scouting and personnel work.
Asked if the interview process was even necessary given the widely-held belief Kelly was the No. 1 choice right from the get-go, Bauer insisted the hire was not a slam dunk.
“It doesn’t matter what people say in that respect,” said Bauer. “Regardless of what people may think or perceive, I know how this process played out and it has been very good. It gave us time to take a look at candidates and profile what we were looking for in the search.
“I know it’s not as public a process as some people would like, and yet you can liken it to an executive search. Most times executives being considered for positions elsewhere aren’t necessarily in the public eye or may have the condition that the interview is conducted under complete anonymity.”
Kelly and Bauer have worked together before — Bauer was the assistant GM to Cal Murphy from ’92-95, assuming the interim GM title during Murphy’s absence from the club for heart transplant surgery in ’92. Kelly was brought to Winnipeg that same year by Murphy and, after being passed over for the head coaching job in 1997 when the organization hired Jeff Reinebold, spent three years as the head coach at Valdosta State, as well as a stint with the XFL’s Orlando Rage while coaching and working in the personnel departments of both the Philadelphia Eagles and Washington Redskins.
