O’Leary: Former teammates clash as head coaches for first time

If there were a scale of eagerness to participate in media events, Mike O’Shea might fall somewhere between Bill Belichick and Gregg Popovich.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ head coach isn’t rude in these settings. You just get the feeling that O’Shea stepping in front of microphones and cameras, or in the case of Tuesday’s event, joining in on a conference call is the tiniest blip in his day that detracts from his preparation for an upcoming game. The smaller that blip can get, the better. Tuesday was a little different, though.

His former teammate and coaching colleague, Orlondo Steinauer was one of the voices on the call.

When their history was brought up, you could almost hear the coach’s stone-faced demeanour start to crumble.

“Go ahead Steiny,” O’Shea gleefully said, deferring the first answer to his friend.

“O’Sh doesn’t like these type of things,” Steinauer began. “It would actually be a 20-minute talk, to be honest with you. I’ll try to sum it up quickly.”

The two first played together in Hamilton for the 2000 season. O’Shea, the linebacker and special teams stalwart and Steinauer, establishing a career that would see him named an all-star at three different defensive positions, became fast friends. They both made the move up the QEW the following season and played on the Argos together for the remainder of their playing careers. Both retired after the 2008 season and went into coaching.

They coached together on the Argos’ staff from 2010 to 2012, winning a Grey Cup in 2012. O’Shea became the Bombers` head coach in 2014 and after five years as a defensive coordinator, Steinauer is in his first season as the Ticats’ head coach. They’ll meet for the first time as head coaches on Friday night, very appropriately where their friendship began, in Hamilton.

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“With O’Sh the one thing that doesn’t show up on the game film or the three-hours (on game day) is the commitment to his preparation in the offseason,” Steinauer said of his former teammate.

“(It’s) the time spent in the training room, not necessarily when he’s injured, but just to be the best he can be to prolong his career. It’s easy to see the second all-time leading tackler in the league. It’s easy to point out the special teams contributions, but the pain he played through the preparation that he did, being the consummate teammate, keeping things loose but demanding the best out of people, it’s one of the things that you can’t coach into somebody, in my opinion.

“He was just one of those special players.”

O’Shea took in all of the complimentary talk and then said it was much different than a few years back when Steinauer used more colourful language to describe what type of teammate O’Shea was on TSN’s Off The Record. The two laughed like they were the only ones on the call.

“Playing in front of Steiny, he was the smartest guy on the field all the time. He was a deep thinker,” O’Shea said.

“He thought the game to levels that most players don’t think the game.“As a teammate, couldn’t ask for a better guy to watch film at one in the morning or at six in the morning with. You knew you were going to get something accomplished and you were going to grow as a person, too.

“Most people that have been in a locker room with him have grown as a person. If you’re going to say anything at the end of your career, if you’re going to be remembered for anything, Steiny is going to be remembered by all of his teammates for helping them become better people, which is I think a phenomenal thing.”

Having watched O’Shea’s Bombers team grow over the past six seasons, Steinauer isn’t surprised by the success they’re seeing this year.

“I’m seeing a Winnipeg team that’s taken on (O’Shea’s) identity and mindset. It took some timing but with some better talent and some buy-in and some more experience, I think that’s the reflection of what you’re seeing in Winnipeg currently,” he said.

While Steinauer is just five games into his tenure as a head coach, O’Shea said the Ticats will get what Steinauer the player gave to his teammates.

“It’s not just the team on the field. I know he’s got the ability to touch everybody in the organization — from Bob Young to the temporary cleaner that comes in — he’s going to find a way to get them going in the right direction and it’s evident on the football field, too,” O’Shea said.

“If you were to dig deeper organizationally, that’s the kind of asset they have in Hamilton, is a guy who’s tremendously in tune with all of the people in the building and the organization which is incredible for any business.”

O’Shea and Steinauer have won a pair of Grey Cups together, one as players (2004) and one as assistant coaches (2012) with the Toronto Argonauts.

That the Bombers are 5-0 and off to their best start since 1960, and the Ticats are 4-1 and off to their best start in 21 years, a midsummer game feels much more significant than it might otherwise. The top-two records in the CFL will meet on Friday night and while November feels like a lifetime away when you’re dealing with heat advisories, you can’t help but think about this being a potential Grey Cup preview.

That was the one topic that brought both coaches back to reality.

“It’s way too early in the season to talk like that,” O’Shea said.

“You can tell we’re cut from the same cloth,” Steinauer said.

“I wouldn’t even touch that right now. We’re not even close to where we need to be. Fair question, but I don’t have a fair answer.”