If the Winnipeg Blue Bombers truly care about their fans, they will do the honourable thing and fire Mike Kelly, on the spot.
Some would suggest you don't fire a coach after losing to the best team in the league, which makes sense. But there is no choice. The Bombers are in complete disarray and Kelly has been unable to provide structure and direction. Instead of recognizing HIS faults and fixing them, he has placed the blame solely on his players. Classy.
"Our quarterbacks are Russell Stover chocolates right now. You never quite know what you're gonna get," is how Kelly described the play of Micheal Bishop and Casey Bramlet after Sunday's 33-14 loss to Montreal.
Rumoured to be on the hot seat, the Blue Bombers head coach didn't seem worried about job security after the game.
"We know we're doing the right things. Everybody wants to be speculative and sensationalize things, but we know in our locker room we're doing everything that we can. We understand what our shortcomings are and we just need to keep working at it."
After getting thrown under the bus by his coach, Bishop was fuming, "it's hard to battle when they know what you're doing every play. So you get tired of it. But you got to continue to push through it. Other than that, it's frustrating."
"Do you feel they're in your huddle," I asked?
"They might as well be if they know everything we're running. I mean come in the huddle listen to me call the play because they're right on top of everything we do."
The Alouettes defence had a field day at Percival-Molson Stadium. Several players admitted, it wasn't all that hard.
"We watch film, we know what they're running. They need to do something over there. We're sitting back and we know where they're doing," defensive tackle Eric Wilson said. "Come up with up with a new offense then. I don't know what to tell them."
So who's fault is it that the formations and play calling are predictable?
Bishop wouldn't say if Kelly had lost the trust of his players or if the time had come for the team to find a new head coach, again.
"Every man in this locker room trusts one another and we stick together regardless if we win or lose. All that other stuff I have no control over," he said.
As the old adage goes, it is easier to fire the coach than the entire team. In this case, despite the fact the Bombers are still paying Kelly's predecessor, is the right thing to do.
