Taman weighs future with Blue Bombers

Brendan Taman is taking a philosophical outlook to the impending change within the Winnipeg Blue Bombers football operations department.

When Blue Bombers president and chief executive officer Lyle Bauer handed head coach Doug Berry his termination papers Wednesday, he said roles and responsibilities within football operations would be pre-defined once a new head coach was hired.

The common belief is Berry's replacement will be given the dual role of head coach and general manager, so he can put his own stamp on the roster and only answer to Bauer.

Taman, who still remains the Bombers GM and vice-president of football operations for now, chose to look on the bright side when speaking to reporters Thursday.

"I've got a job, so that's a good thing," Taman said.

Taman said he won't mind giving up such duties as management of coaches and making roster decisions.

"I'll be frank with you," he said. "I was pretty lenient with the coaching staff that we had.

"I wasn't one to manipulate those decisions or put my finger on them so those things will probably change."

Taman, completing his 10th season with the Bombers, will likely assume the title of player-personnel director. He will ultimately be responsible for recruiting players capable of helping Winnipeg end its 18-year Grey Cup drought.

"The thing I'm going to focus on probably is personnel, which is hopefully my forte," Taman said. "If it isn't, I'm in big trouble."

Taman said he and Berry had a great relationship, but that he understood why the coaching change took place.

"We're judged on wins and losses and, ultimately, the bottom line is the Grey Cup," Taman said.

Expectations were high this year in Winnipeg after the club's 23-19 Grey Cup loss to Saskatchewan last season. But the Bombers posted an 8-10 record to finish second in the East Division standings before losing 29-21 at home to Edmonton in the conference semifinals Saturday.

Negotiations with the team's 14 upcoming free agents and other player decisions are on hold until a new head coach is hired.

That's bad news for middle linebacker Barrin Simpson, who was hoping to have his future with the club settled before he left Winnipeg following the club's playoff loss.

The six-time CFL all-star tore his pectoral muscle early in the season and was replaced by rookie Joe Lobendahn, who did well until he got injured. So the Bombers acquired Zeke Moreno from Hamilton and this week he was named a CFL all-star for the second straight season.

Simpson, who was ready to play late in the season, said from his Texas home Thursday he accepts being in a holding pattern heading into the option year of his contract.

Unless Winnipeg changes its defensive scheme to go with four linebackers instead of three, the eight-year veteran doubts there's room for him, Lobendahn and Moreno on the roster.

Money could also play a role.

"As far as being traded, I'd rather choose my own team," Simpson said. "I'm not interested in pre-negotiating to be traded.

"And I'm not going to pre-negotiate and not play, that's for sure. I still feel that I'm one of the top linebackers in this league, hands down."

'I had some guilt by association'

Taman will have some input in the club's selection process for a new head coach but said Bauer will manage that.

There has been no shortage of coaching possibilities surface since Berry's firing. The top two candidates would seem to be Edmonton receivers coach Mike Kelly and Calgary assistant head coach and offensive co-ordinator George Cortez.

Bombers defensive co-ordinator Greg Marshall and Saskatchewan defensive co-ordinator Richie Hall both interviewed for the job when Berry got it.

"I haven't been contacted by anyone," Cortez said in an e-mail Thursday. "The only thing I'm focused on right now is the West final and getting ready for the B.C. Lions."

Kelly also has more pressing concerns, too. Edmonton is preparing to face Montreal in the East Division final Saturday at Olympic Stadium.

Kelly is considered the early front-runner for the Bombers' dual post, having served as the club's offensive co-ordinator from 1992-96.

He also has close ties to Bauer, who served as the Bombers assistant GM and interim GM from 1992-95. The two have also remained friends through the years.

Kelly was considered for the Bombers head coaching job when Cal Murphy was fired after the 1996 season. But the job ultimately went to charismatic but inexperienced Jeff Reinebold.

In an interview last year when Kelly was teaching sports management courses at Drexel University in Philadelphia, he talked about his disappointment in not getting the Bombers' job.

"I kind of felt that it was my turn there," said Kelly, noting he had stayed in Winnipeg longer than any other place he'd been at in almost 30 years of coaching and his two daughters were born there.

"I think I had some guilt by association because I had been with Cal so long."

Kelly was head coach at Georgia's Valdosta State University from 1997-99 and served as head coach of the Orlando Rage of the now defunct XFL in 2001.

Kelly was also an offensive assistant coach and involved in pro personnel with the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles in 2001 and '02 before serving with the Washington Redskins pro personnel department from 2003-04.

He also remained involved in the CFL, doing pro scouting for the Edmonton Eskimos in 2001 and 2006, as well as the B.C. Lions in 2007.