The Good, the bad, and the Ugly

[Jesse]

I highly doubt that MOS is gouging us for a high salary at the expense of paying his other coaches peanuts. That's not MOS. He would pay people a fair salary and to suggest KW and MOS are taking advantage of their other coaches without factual information is nothing short of slander. They both deserve better than that. Pretty disappointed there's a post that even suggests that's what's going on.

Without getting into specific numbers, both MOS and Walters have spoken about the limits of the coaching salary cap in our organization for this exact reason.

[TecnoGenius]

Bumps??? How bumps? Under the coach's salary cap guaranteed Walters spends every penny allotted, so if one guy gets a bump, another guy gets a chop, he won't spend more than what is allowed.

3 possibilities:
1. Bumps written into contract (like they do with players)
2. Bumps when their contract is renewed/renegotiated
3. Just random bonus bumps when WM/KW find space (other staff leave)

2 is kind of a given, 1 is totally possible, 3 could happen.

I have zero idea what actually transpires or what each is paid and when each gets a raise, if any.  However, if you want methods to keep "bumping" them, the above 3 are totally feasible.

[TecnoGenius]

I highly doubt that MOS is gouging us for a high salary at the expense of paying his other coaches peanuts. That's not MOS. He would pay people a fair salary and to suggest KW and MOS are taking advantage of their other coaches without factual information is nothing short of slander. They both deserve better than that. Pretty disappointed there's a post that even suggests that's what's going on.

I never said anyone was gouging.  I never said Mafia didn't provide a "fair salary".

KW/MOS could keep taking in higher salary AND other coaches/coords are paid what they are worth.

That's my whole premise.  Guaranteed Younger earns less than Hall did in his last year as DC.  Guaranteed Hogan earns less than Buck in his last year as OC.  Guaranteed Miller earns less than Boo in his last year as STC.

No one has to be paid unfairly for this to be true, it's a matter of years-in-league and years-at-position and proven-track-record.

This is common sense and I'm not sure how anyone can argue that.

There's no law that says you have to pay noob Hogan "average CFL OC salary".  Why would you?  He hasn't shown squat yet.  Why would you pay him even half of what vets Maksymic & Condell earn?

Thus there's all this juicy coach cap space they can use to keep MOS/KW well paid.  I bet both are at or near league-top pay.  (The only exceptions would be dual-hat guys like Dinwiddie.)  And they both deserve it for going to 5 cups in a row.

This is precisely why 4 teams have two-hat HC's!  It's not because they want more work; it's because it's the only way to make sure they are paid enough.  Then you can pay the HC+OC (or DC with Mace) the full HC salary plus maybe half the OC salary.  Then the dual-hat gets more than a guy like MOS, but the team is still saving enough on the half-OC money to hire "real" DCs and STCs.

Nothing nefarious.  Nothing ugly.  This is just a reality caused by the coaches cap.  And barring a big CFL cap increase, I think we'll reach the limit real soon now.  Maybe as early as MOS/KW's contract renewal this off-season.  Either we have to keep hiring cheap noobs, or one of the whale salaries of MOS/KW has to go.  If we're lucky the Hogan move in FA25 cleared up enough cap that MOS/KW can get the big bumps they need, and we can kick the can another 2-3 years.

However, this hinges on Hogan (and Younger) growing into great coords.  If Hogan doesn't start showing more promise, and the fans keep getting restless(er), then you have a situation where everyone is fat & happy in the coaches cap, but we can't win games.  That also would break the whole setup, and to fix it (hire a "real" OC) would be impossible without one of MOS/KW leaving.  For this reason we all better cheer and pray for Hogan to succeed!

As for where would MOS/KW go if they felt underpaid?  The only teams that could take either would be teams where the other guy (GM or HC) is much more budget (read: new).  Because MOS ain't putting on a dual-hat ever, so the only way to pay him more than WFC is if the GM is a budget one, or all the other coords are more noob than in WPG, which may be impossible.

We could easily keep one of MOS/KW if the other walks, because then you could make that HC or GM position budget with a noob or bad retread.

This all seems totally logical to me, and dovetails perfectly with what Mafia has said on many occasions (yes, without details).  And all the blame for all this cap dancing is the CFL coaches cap and the fact it's clearly way too low.

[blue_gold_84]

FIFO is for the players, not the coaches.  Coaches are special.  (And it's kinda true)

It's not just for the players. It's a team mantra going back years - it's engraved on the 2021 team's GC108 rings: https://baronrings.com/2021-winnipeg-blue-bombers-grey-cup-championship-ring/



FIFO has been heavily ingrained in this organization's identity and culture for ages.

I can't agree with the notion that coaches are special. They're another cog in the machine, just as the players are.

[Throw Long Bannatyne]

It's not just for the players. It's a team mantra going back years - it's engraved on the 2021 team's GC108 rings: https://baronrings.com/2021-winnipeg-blue-bombers-grey-cup-championship-ring/



FIFO has been heavily ingrained in this organization's identity and culture for ages.

I can't agree with the notion that coaches are special. They're another cog in the machine, just as the players are.

Except the FIFO laws have not been passed down from above on tablets of stone, or created by a committee of like-minded thinkers to sustain success on the football field, they were created by MOS, he owns them and and he plays favourites. He is not a benign figure that treats all players or people equally, he wants to win, but he wants to do it with "his guys" on the field. 

Case in point, Zach is beyond the tipping point of his career, with the events that have happened already this season I sincerely doubt he plays next year due to health concerns, contract or not. Alarm bells should be ringing throughout the Bomber organization, and yet his replacement is nowhere to be seen, no preparations have been made, and MOS has blind faith Zach will continue on as he has in the past. The entire fate of the football team rests on the shoulders of a failing QB and nothing is being done to avert the outcome.

[bunker]

Except the FIFO laws have not been passed down from above on tablets of stone, or created by a committee of like-minded thinkers to sustain success on the football field, they were created by MOS, he owns them and and he plays favourites. He is not a benign figure that treats all players or people equally, he wants to win, but he wants to do it with "his guys" on the field. 

Case in point, Zach is beyond the tipping point of his career, with the events that have happened already this season I sincerely doubt he plays next year due to health concerns, contract or not. Alarm bells should be ringing throughout the Bomber organization, and yet his replacement is nowhere to be seen, no preparations have been made, and MOS has blind faith Zach will continue on as he has in the past. The entire fate of the football team rests on the shoulders of a failing QB and nothing is being done to avert the outcome.

My fear is that O'Shea sees the heir apparent to Zach as Streveler, with Wilson backing up, because these are the guys who have been here for a few years "putting in the work". Talent be damned.

[dd]

My fear is that O'Shea sees the heir apparent to Zach as Streveler, with Wilson backing up, because these are the guys who have been here for a few years "putting in the work". Talent be damned.

No he can't be that stubborn can he?? That would be a total disaster, I wouldn't even invite Steve back or if I did it would be strictly for shorty yardage only. We need a new #1&2 Qb for next year for sure

[TecnoGenius]

My fear is that O'Shea sees the heir apparent to Zach as Streveler, with Wilson backing up, because these are the guys who have been here for a few years "putting in the work". Talent be damned.

Seriously doubt it.  "Putting in the work" may work a bit for other positions, but not for QB.  Raw talent is what it's all about at QB.  Besides, it wouldn't be (totally) MOS's call: KW is the final arbiter of who gets signed as a QB.

No he can't be that stubborn can he?? That would be a total disaster, I wouldn't even invite Steve back or if I did it would be strictly for shorty yardage only. We need a new #1&2 Qb for next year for sure

Ya, I think we move on from Strev in '26.  Wilson can do SY just fine.  The only way Strev stays is if his knee is continuously improving such that he can get rid of the brace eventually and regain closer to 90% of his previous speed, not 50% he's at right now.  Possible, maybe even probable.  But not a sure thing.

[jdrattops]

There, I fixed it for you.

I agree for this year.  Osh has been really good at clock management for years, grinding things out with running plays when needed.  He's really been good at this for a long time. 

Except this year.  I don't know what is going on.  Was it LaPo and then Buck that were actually doing all that management on offense?  Does Osh really just stand back and watch his OC and DC run the game, and throw the challenge flag as the HC once in a while when needed?  I've gotta believe he does more than that in games.

But something has changed this year with clock management, and the biggest change was at OC.  So it has me wondering.

Agreed, thanks for fixing this for me. I've also called for Hogans head all season, so just maybe our OC owns a big part of this.