By Darrell Davis,
Regina Leader-Post
Greg Marshall was looking to revamp the woebegone Winnipeg Blue Bombers when he interviewed for the team’s head coaching job in the offseason. He didn’t get the job, which went to Montreal Alouettes offensive co-ordinator Doug Berry.
But Berry needed to rebuild Winnipeg’s league-worst defence, so he hired Marshall, a long-time CFL assistant who served as the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ defensive co-ordinator in the late 1990s.
Now Marshall is working — rather successfully — for the man who got his job.
“I’m sure it’s unusual, but it really hasn’t been difficult at all,” Marshall said. “Doug and I really didn’t know each other before this year; that might have helped.
“We talked after he got the job. Obviously I was in the market for a job and wanted to stay in the CFL. After a series of conversations he felt comfortable, I felt comfortable, he offered me a job and so far everything’s been going well.”
The Blue Bombers have a 2-1 record after destroying the Edmonton Eskimos 46-10 on Saturday. And Winnipeg’s defence, which allowed a league-worst 458 yards per game in 2005, has surrendered a league-low 228 yards per game this season.
“There’s no secret potion,” said Marshall. “We’ve got good guys buying into what we’re asking them to do, we’re trying to put them in the right positions and they’re making plays when they get an opportunity.”
Marshall and his assistants, Greg Butler and Richard Harris, had decided the team’s talent wasn’t as bad as it looked. The Blue Bombers simply got caught changing systems and personnel in the wake of losing defensive co-ordinator Rod Rust, who apparently chafed under the direction of former head coach Jim Daley. So the new coaches moved linebacker Ron Ockimey to safety and juggled Ron Warren, Donnavan Carter and Ike Charles.
“The biggest thing was finding the right guys for the right position,” said Marshall. “We did that and now they’re all playing well.”
