Bombers fire Berry

2008.11.12 - Sports - Source: - Comments [0]

Doug Berry is gone, but his replacement as Winnipeg's head coach could be free join the Blue Bombers as early as this weekend.

CFL sources say Berry was fired yesterday to make room for the hiring of Edmonton Eskimos receivers coach Mike Kelly, a former Bombers assistant who has worked on the player personnel side with both the NFL's Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles.

It is expected Kelly will take over not just as Bombers head coach but also as director of football operations or a role with a similar title that would give him final say over all football-related matters in Winnipeg.

That would leave current Bombers general manager Brendan Taman in a reduced role, mostly concentrating on scouting and player contracts.

Doug Berry responds to media questions at a press conference in Winnipeg, Wednesday. Berry was fired after three seasons as coach of the CFL team. (Mike Deal/CP)

Club president Lyle Bauer, who addressed the media without Taman in Winnipeg yesterday, said the structure won't be finalized until after a new head coach is hired.

"There's going to be some defining of roles and responsibilities as it pertains to football operations," Bauer said. "Brendan will be retained but his role will be redefined. The roles and responsibilities will not be defined until we have a new head coach. We want to take into consideration what that person will bring."

Kelly, who returned to the CFL this past off-season, remains busy with the Eskimos, who are in action this weekend in Montreal, where they face the Alouettes in the East Division final.

Kelly and Bauer are said to share a strong friendship that dates to Kelly's days as Winnipeg's offensive co-ordinator from 1992 to 1996, during which time the Bombers appeared in two Grey Cup games. He later coached in the U.S. college ranks, before securing scouting roles with the Eagles and Redskins.

The firing of Berry caught many people by surprise, in part because the Bombers signed him to a two-year extension at the beginning of this season, and partly because Winnipeg finished the season on a 7-4 run in its final 11 games.

Add in the fact Berry took over a 5-13 team after the 2005 season and led it to three consecutive playoff appearances, including a Grey Cup game in 2007, and it might seem as though the Bomber are making a hasty move.

But Bauer said he believes the team underachieved this season, especially on offence where he believes its talent was significantly better than its results. And he said merely being competitive, as the Bombers were by finishing second in the East at 8-10, is not enough.

"When I came back to this organization in 2000, there were no expectations," Bauer said. "The only expectation from the fans was 'don't embarrass us.' We've evolved to the point where there's an expectation to our fans to win and end the [Grey Cup] drought. We haven't brought the Cup back, but expectations are back to where they were when I played. I'm very proud of that. That's Blue Bomber football."

Berry, who had never been a head coach at any level when he joined the Bombers from the staff of the Alouettes three seasons ago, would seem likely to become a candidate for the vacant head coaching job with the Toronto Argonauts.

"I'm probably a little more shocked than I am angry," Berry said. "Hopefully, I'll have an opportunity to prove my worth in some other situation, in some other city.

"I don't sit around saying how am I going to respond to the day I get fired. I really felt like I've worked really hard at this job and I feel really good about certain things I was able to accomplish."

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