Bombers add Jarious Jackson, promote Hogan to OC

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

We have no idea what happened.

The reason it took so long to decide could very well have been because Bourgoin was our choice to be OC but he chose to follow Buck over staying here. And then we were left scrambling so had to find the best case scenario among our existing staff because that's a priority to not change the philosophy.

Or we very well might have not seen him as a leading candidate and he moved on for the promotion.

Good point, begs to ask why not a hint of the process can be revealed to those who are curious to know how it unfolded.

[theaardvark]

We have no idea what happened.

The reason it took so long to decide could very well have been because Bourgoin was our choice to be OC but he chose to follow Buck over staying here. And then we were left scrambling so had to find the best case scenario among our existing staff because that's a priority to not change the philosophy.

Or we very well might have not seen him as a leading candidate and he moved on for the promotion.

His move was lateral, not a promotion, whereas his position, should he have remained, would have been a promotion at least.

Buck is going to wear 2 hats, as HC and OC.  Good luck with that.

[Blueforlife]

His move was lateral, not a promotion, whereas his position, should he have remained, would have been a promotion at least.

Buck is going to wear 2 hats, as HC and OC.  Good luck with that.

Buck will struggle but find his way in a couple years imo.  Two hats are a lot to fill.

[dd]

If Rourke doesn't get his act together, and he didn't in 2024, the Lions are in for a world of pain and Buck will take the brunt of most of it. The Lions were doing fine under Adams Jr. until he got hurt, brought in Rourke to save the day, but he didn't and they chased Adams out of town. Massive mistake. It remains to be seen if Rourke can regain the form he had in his rookie year and if he doesn't, things are going to be rough on the left coast..

[Blueforlife]

I think BC will be average

[TBURGESS]

I think BC will be fighting for 1st in the west. 

[GOLDMEMBER]

BC will be up and down like yo yo

[dd]

BC's performance hinges on Rourke's play---will he come out like last years train wreck, if so, they are 4-5th in the west. If he comes out firing like he did in his rookie season, they are 1-2 in the west.

[TecnoGenius]

BC's performance hinges on Rourke's play---will he come out like last years train wreck, if so, they are 4-5th in the west. If he comes out firing like he did in his rookie season, they are 1-2 in the west.

Who does he have to throw to?  McInnis may have been figured out already: he was neutralized for the last third of the season by every team.  And his body type is going to be prone to injuries now that he's getting older.

And aren't both of the "2 H's" gone?  Or maybe one was retained?  Not good enough.

Our ostensible, middle-of-the-road 2025 REC corps looks stellar compared to BC!

For Rourke to be successful he needs quality guys who can tear down the field or get in the zone hole fast and then catch his insane overloaded heaters.  They should have signed Kenny.

[TecnoGenius]

glad to see others support my rant on the OC.  Probably a nice guy. Under qualified, but he will prove to be overwhelmed.  It's not like anyone has supported the hire as an OC. Sure Brady likes him, but as mentioned earlier, being a coach of 1-3 guys compared to an entire offence couldn't be more extreme.  Totally weird.

Like Younger did (successfully!) in '24??

Maybe we've found the magic sauce:

Noob head coordinator + experienced coordinator-whisperer == success.

Mike Miller (STC) was also a no-experience noob thrown into the deep end and he exceeded all expectations.

I'm totally fine with Hogan and think he'll be great.  And if not, you can hire McAdoo in a hot second off his couch for a 2-4 and some smokes.  It's not like there aren't options out there!

[TecnoGenius]

While Hogan will undoubtedly utilize the existing playbook, early.in tc he needs to establish that status quo with our offence is not good enough

Does the "playbook" remain property of the team?  If so I'd dust off the 2019 Lapo book and start there.  The farther away from the Lapo playbook Buck moved, the worse our outcome.

The only reservation I have is Hogan said his philosophy is KISS, simpler plays that are easier to learn & remember, and then it comes down to execution.

That's all well and good but I really want more creativity and complexity.  If you can do that and KISS for the players themselves (minus maybe the QB), then great.  However I'm not sure how you dumb our O schemes down any more than was done in the 2024 season.

In the GC it seemed like we had a book of only 10 plays and we just thought brute force and execution would win.  TOR did the misdirection and highbrain chess moves a la Lapo and ran circles around us (even before Zach's injury), winning with probably the worst "starting" QB in a generation.  With a revitalized East we'll never win another cup until we get back to highbrain chess tactics.

[J5V]

Does the "playbook" remain property of the team?  If so I'd dust off the 2019 Lapo book and start there.  The farther away from the Lapo playbook Buck moved, the worse our outcome.

If anything it was the opposite, IMO. It was the lack of creativity and the stubborn inability to adapt that I found so very frustrating. Reminded me a lot of Lapo.

The only reservation I have is Hogan said his philosophy is KISS, simpler plays that are easier to learn & remember, and then it comes down to execution.

Like run the ball when you have the best running back in the league?

That's all well and good but I really want more creativity and complexity.

Well you're not going to get that with Lapo's playbook. In Lapo's time do you not remember thinking that the defense knows exactly what we're going to do here"? I sure do.

If you can do that and KISS for the players themselves (minus maybe the QB), then great.  However I'm not sure how you dumb our O schemes down any more than was done in the 2024 season.

In the GC it seemed like we had a book of only 10 plays and we just thought brute force and execution would win.  TOR did the misdirection and highbrain chess moves a la Lapo and ran circles around us (even before Zach's injury), winning with probably the worst "starting" QB in a generation.  With a revitalized East we'll never win another cup until we get back to highbrain chess tactics.

I'm not sure where you get the Lapo high brain stuff. Every defensive coordinator in the league knew exactly what we were going to do on every down when Lapo was here. Does run the ball for 3 yards on first down and throw the ball for 5 yards on second down ring any bells? That's what I remember and it sucked! I don't want Lapo's playbook anywhere near this offense. Yes I agree with you that we need more creativity and complexity and I hope that's what we get because we didn't get it with Buck(Lapo2).

[theaardvark]

A D knowing what you are doing, but you still doing it successfully can be a thing.  You just have to be better at executing the play that the D is at defending it.

Which was our run game (Hogan's) last year.  We ran at will over just about every team.  Until Buck had the brain fart and decided "They know we are going to run, so I'll pass, and he continued that trend even when Zach couldn't grip the ball.

You don't abandon what got you to the GC when you are playing the GC.

[TecnoGenius]

Well you're not going to get that with Lapo's playbook. In Lapo's time do you not remember thinking that the defense knows exactly what we're going to do here"? I sure do.

Did the Ds not have the same advantage with Buck?  Look at the GC.  After our 1 good series the D knew every play ahead of time like they were listening in on Buck's mic.

And it wasn't just the GC... most of our losses seemed to have the Ds "listening in", or making near-100% guesses as to what Buck would do.

Buck was also a "run on every 1st down" guy.  And then "pass on every 2nd & long".  We were probably the last team in the league if you count draw or run plays on 2nd & long.  The only thing you can give Buck is he'd take some shots on 2nd & long, whereas Lapo always wanted to throw for 7 on 2nd & 8 (SSK's current syndrome).

I'm not sure where you get the Lapo high brain stuff. Every defensive coordinator in the league knew exactly what we were going to do on every down when Lapo was here.

Remember the TSN talking heads in our Lapo-OC era?  It was always "the master of misdirection" and pre-snap movement.  We were known for all the complex movements and schemes and every single season after Lapo left we had less and less of that.  Until finally the last GC where there's basically no movement, no misdirection, no nothing.  We just run straight forward and everyone curls and we wonder why Zach gets INT'd (see: GC).

Remember the "do you know the play?  I don't know the play?  What's the play <SNAP>" trick we did on many sneaks in '19?

Lapo is well known as the "X and O genius".  I want to get back to that.  Buck thought we could just run straight forward and bully everyone at all times and while that worked in '21 when we were miles above every other team, it doesn't work so well when 2-4 other teams have caught up in talent.  I hope that Hogan KISS doesn't mean even less misdirection and trickery and creativity.

[J5V]

Did the Ds not have the same advantage with Buck?  Look at the GC.  After our 1 good series the D knew every play ahead of time like they were listening in on Buck's mic.

Agree. Buck was just as bad.

The only thing you can give Buck is he'd take some shots on 2nd & long, whereas Lapo always wanted to throw for 7 on 2nd & 8 (SSK's current syndrome).

It's going to be interesting to see how Buck makes out in BC.

Remember the TSN talking heads in our Lapo-OC era?  It was always "the master of misdirection" and pre-snap movement.  We were known for all the complex movements and schemes and every single season after Lapo left we had less and less of that.  Until finally the last GC where there's basically no movement, no misdirection, no nothing.  We just run straight forward and everyone curls and we wonder why Zach gets INT'd (see: GC).

I don't disagree, I'm sure Lapo knows his Xs and Os as far as play design is concerned. It's his game management, predictability/lack of imagination/timing I have a problem with.

Remember the "do you know the play?  I don't know the play?  What's the play <SNAP>" trick we did on many sneaks in '19?

Lapo is well known as the "X and O genius".  I want to get back to that.  Buck thought we could just run straight forward and bully everyone at all times and while that worked in '21 when we were miles above every other team, it doesn't work so well when 2-4 other teams have caught up in talent.  I hope that Hogan KISS doesn't mean even less misdirection and trickery and creativity.

I'm hoping for the best and I'm willing to be patient as long as we see signs of progress. What was disappointing to me with Buck was his lack of development after many years as the Blue Bomber OC.