11/05/24
December 18, 2009
Mike Kelly: of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers was relieved of his duties as coach yesterday. It turns out, he's not very good on or off the field.
I would assume it was related, unless they really want to sign Bart Andrus to a contract in Winnipeg.
posted by jc at 06:29 PM on December 18, 2009
There were changes in the works with new board members and hints that both the GM and coach were done circulating as early as June this year. The fact that Kelly doesn't have a clue about football was the prime reason. His conduct was also horrible long before yesterday's incident.
I believe Kelly had a 3 year contract in place. The Bombers are already on the hook for another year paying the previous coach they fired (Doug Berry), so whoever they find should expect to live at the local Y.
Oh, and it won't be Andrus.
posted by cixelsyd at 07:26 PM on December 18, 2009
Kelly's former players aren't holding much back. It's quite refreshing to see players this candid.
posted by dfleming at 07:48 PM on December 18, 2009
This storm really blew in hard and fast. I've been looking for the story that mentioned the Bombers extending Kelly's services. It seems to me that I'm not the only one who remembers seeing this on the sports pages just days ago.
Watching the statement made by their board chairman, I can't help but wonder if Kelly's blow-up was in some way related to the decision to can him, or if they really did do this in reaction? It was a pretty slick way of couching it as not being related to the "incident" by referring to the good ol' "innocent until proven guilty" or "at this point, under the law, they are allegations only" or something like that.
Does the guy find out he's canned and get all riled up? Or does the club can him in response to the off-field "incident"? Guess we'll never know. Either way, the Bombers organization is surely better off (as they dumped the guy who hired Kelly too).
Really, the biggest question is going to be who will replace him? With Toronto also in the hunt for a new HC, it'll be interesting to see who joins the fraternity next season ... I'm hoping that it is someone who "belongs" and can stick around for a while. The league is best served this way.