Bombers fire head coach LaPolice

[sj-roc]

Just heard this on 1040.

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=403819

[TheLionKing]

That came as a bit of a surprise. The Bombers played well last night

[ziggy]

Lots of undisciplined penalties last night, I wonder if that was the final straw.

[sj-roc]

Lots of undisciplined penalties last night, I wonder if that was the final straw.

Perhaps. Evidently from the comments of their GM Joe Mack, he felt last year's Grey Cup appearance was masking too many deficiencies:

"This was an extremely difficult decision to make especially when dealing with the kind of quality individual as Paul is. As the season has progressed, and looking back on how we struggled throughout the second half of the year in 2011, we have become increasingly concerned with the direction of our Club and felt this was in the best interest of our entire organization. Our commitment to winning hasn't changed and this decision was made in order to get our team back on track."

He has a point. They're 5-13 in their last 18 regular season games.

[MikeAK]

I don't like the firing. I see the GM as needing to answer some questions before LaPolice. The GM made some questionable offseason moves that I feel hurt the team more then helped. LaPolice was a HC in the Grey Cup game less then a year ago and now they give him the boot? Seems like a GM trying to deflect attention away from his own mistakes. I like LaPolice and think he's a good football mind, I don't think he will have a hard time finding work in the CFL. I think WPG let go a good guy today and I don't think it was the right move.

[Heathcliff]

I can't see how this move is going to help Winnipeg in the short term or in the long term. Last night the Bombers were looking like they had turned a corner. They beat Hamilton and then they almost came from a 10-0 deficit to beat the Lions and it came down to a last second field goal. Hardly the type of game where you would typically see a coach fired. Now the Bombers just look like an organization with no direction; I feel bad for their fans.

[cromartie]

Looking at the loss of so many veterans in the offseason which left the Bombers thin on the offensive line and having to retool the defensive front seven almost from scratch, I'd have some pretty significant questions for Joe Mack today. Those moves set LaPolice up to fail, and he failed. I don't get the impression Gary Crowton is working out too well either, which doesn't surprise me. But as I understand it, bring Crowton up north was LaPolice's call.

[WestCoastJoe]

I got the impression that LaPo and Mack were not on the same page. This would seem to confirm that. Lucky for Wally he had the confidence of his GM last year. Ha ha ...

I thought LaPo had some good qualities, but he also seemed stubborn, and his O seemed predictable at times.

The final straw is usually too many losses.

IMO they have outstanding talent.

Poblah, Watson, Edwards, Matthews. Outstanding receivers.

Very nasty D, when they come to play.

Undisciplined, though.

[MexicoLionFan]

A stupid, panicked decision...LaPolice is the real deal as a HC...it certainly wasn't his fault for the record this season...see his GM and injuries...

That Bomber team played HUGE last night, and they were lights out in the 2nd half, when they could have laid down and died...but they didn't...

Whoever hires LaPolice next is getting a great HC for a long time...this is one of the things that I don't like about the CFL...far too panicky!

[notahomer]

Very surprised. The East is still far from being decided and I don't think the Bombers are out of it just yet. LaPolice tried to give a good speech before the game but the Lions worked out the win, regardless. I have to admit I wanted coaching changes at this time last season but the Lions managed to climb out of the hole they had dug for themselves.

I have been a Buck fan since he broke into the league but IMO, it seems like QB is the achilles heel of this edition of the Bombers....

[Blitz]

Looking at the loss of so many veterans in the offseason which left the Bombers thin on the offensive line and having to retool the defensive front seven almost from scratch, I'd have some pretty significant questions for Joe Mack today. Those moves set LaPolice up to fail, and he failed. I don't get the impression Gary Crowton is working out too well either, which doesn't surprise me. But as I understand it, bring Crowton up north was LaPolice's call.

Winnipeg almost beat the defending Grey Cup champs and the best team in the CFL this season with a third string quarterback starting only his second pro game. A tough way to be fired.

However, LaPolice was 16-28 as a Head Coach, 5-13 in his last 18 games and 2-7 this season, coming out of the gate at 0-4. They lost some key guys in the off-season and that can't be laid at LaPolice's feet. However, for two seasons now they have struggled on offence and LaPolice has not hired an offensive coordinator who could get the job done and offence is also his background area as a former receiver's coach and offensive coordinator. Certainly Burke has done the job on defense. LaPolice also tied himself to Buck Pierce as his quarterback and Pierce's injury plagued time in Winnipeg has also created a situation where it has been difficult for Winnipeg to achieve offensive consistency.

[MexicoLionFan]

Blitz, LaPolice tied himself to Buck because what else was he given??? If you are suggesting that LaPolice vetoed some kind of trade to bring in another starter, I highly doubt it...but going with Pearce made sense. When Buck is healthy, with that defence, he gives the Bombers the best chance of winning games because he takes care of the ball.

Bad decision by the Bombers...LaPolice is a talented HC and will be again for some lucky team.

[Blue In BC]

I don't thin this was a panic move at all. The Bombers were not winning games and they were not competitive for many of the losses since LD 2011.

I also don't think the loss of certain veterans played into this. The only one we really wanted to keep was Labatte and he was bound for Regina no matter what the Bombers did.

Matthews is a lot better than Grey Carr. Khan was a weak link at center and Sorenson is starting to play as well or better.
Lobandahn was an injury waiting to happen. Hargreaves was never a true starter. Kent was replaced by Stewart who IMO is a better player in any case.

Losing as many players to injuries so early including during TC ( Garrett for the season ) doesn't help any team.

The Bombers have some talent that have come off the IR in the last couple of weeks and should improve. Not sure how this shake up will translate in the future. Ironic that the defense was the group that chocked in the final minutes and now Burke is the interim HC.