Hull: "I'm so excited for this."
Ed Tait
@EdTaitWFC
It was almost 36 years ago when Lee Hull latched onto a pass from Tom Burgess for a touchdown in the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 1990 Grey Cup win in what was a highlight for him and the franchise.
And now all these years later Hull — now the Blue Bombers new receivers coach — is living proof of how deep the connections can run in football.
"It's pretty cool," began Hull in a chat with bluebombers.com from his home just south of Dover, Delaware. "Tom Burgess and Danny McManus were the quarterbacks in that game. I talked to Danny throughout the years because he would always be calling me asking about a couple of my guys.
"To be able to work with him again will be great. I saw Brad (Fotty, head equipment manager) last week and his first year was 1990 so it was good to reconnect with him.
"Robert Mimbs just called me and we talked about the job. I know Chris Walby, Rick House, Murph (James Murphy), Rod Hill are all still in Winnipeg. It'll be great to reconnect with them, too.
"In football you have teammates that you may not talk to in five, 10, 30 years sometimes," he added. "And then as soon as you meet each other it's like old times and you don't miss a beat. I can't wait."
The Blue Bombers made the hiring of Hull official on Monday, and he was here late last week to meet with some football operations staff and fellow coaches.
A player with the Blue Bombers from 1990-92 before finishing his career with the Toronto Argonauts, Hull brings an extensive coaching resumé to his new position with his old club.
Now 60, he was a head coach at Morgan State (2014-15) and Delaware State (2023-24) and served as the offensive coordinator and receivers coach at Wagner College (2019) and the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Howard University (2020-22). He was named the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) Coach of the Year in 2014 while at Morgan State.
He also worked as the receivers coach with the Indianapolis Colts (2016), the University of Maryland (2008-13), Oregon State (2003-07) and at his alma mater, Holy Cross (1998-2002).
Hull was a guest coach for Dave Ritchie during Blue Bombers training camp in 1999 and his connections to the club continued after that as he had two minority internships (Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship) when Mike Riley — Winnipeg's head coach in the 1990 Grey Cup — was the boss of the San Diego Chargers (1999-2001) and then joined Riley's staff at Oregon State.
Ultimately, it was McManus who reached out to him this winter to see if he was interested in the receivers coaching gig here in Winnipeg, before head coach Mike O'Shea made contact last month. He also has a CFL connection with current Toronto Argonauts offensive line coach Kris Sweet and the pair have a fellow friend in current Blue Bombers offensive coordinator Tommy Condell.
Hull said there were other opportunities for him this winter in the NCAA, but there was also a special appeal in the Winnipeg offer and the full-circle aspect of the opportunity.
"Everyone thinks that because I've been a head coach that was the only route for me now," said Hull. "There were a couple offensive coordinator jobs in FCS that I was interviewed for, analysts jobs in the Power 4 but the reason I took this job because I won a Grey Cup there and just knowing Winnipeg I said to myself, 'wouldn't it be great to help win one there as a coach there, too?' That makes the opportunity appealing to me.
"It's pro football. Besides the NFL, this is the highest level and so I don't look at this at all as a demotion or a downgrade at all for me. As you get older, the NIL and the transfer portals (in the NCAA) make the job year-round. You get no break, even in the offseason, and your roster changes almost every day.
"That's just part of why I'm so excited for this."
Reached on Tuesday, Hull was already face first into studying film and refreshing his brain on the Canadian game and its many nuances for receivers.
"Coaching receivers — the fundamentals are the same whether you're in the CFL, NFL, UFL, or college football. It's coaching them to get better as players," he said. "What I've got to re-learn is all the little nuances of the game like the Waggle and five receivers on the field almost all the time. The coverages are different because of the extra halfback. It's just relearning it because it's been a while, but I do know it having played up there.
"I keep saying the same thing: I'm so excited for this and can't wait."
https://www.bluebombers.com/2026/04/14/hull-im-so-excited-for-this/