REGINA —  Kicking off Grey Cup Week’s festivities, Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ head coach Mike O’Shea accompanied by Toronto Argonauts’ head coach Ryan Dinwiddie fielded questions from the media on Wednesday morning.

The two head coaches reflected on their own experiences in the CFL, how they’ve gotten to this point in their careers, what it takes to get to a Grey Cup and the type of leadership amongst their teams and what they love most about the league.

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Standout remarks from the head coaches press conference

“I’ve really enjoyed it, I enjoyed my time in Calgary getting out west getting closer to home. But Toronto feels like home now, my family and myself live there year round, Pinball has made it very comfortable for me. We really want to turn that franchise around and make it a consistent winner each year.”

– Dinwiddie on his time with the Argonauts

“Knowing how completive Zach is, how tough he is mentally and physically, I knew if he’d be physically available on Sunday he’s going to play, no question about it. I guess my history with that in 2007, right, I mean I think I gave us a chance to win the game at the end and just didn’t make the right plays. We had an opportunity for it, it’s unfortunate we couldn’t bring a Grey Cup back to Winnipeg. I really wanted to be one of the first guys to do it, unfortunately (O’Shea) was the guy to get that done.”

– Dinwiddie on his experience starting in the 2007 Grey Cup game

“He’s the best quarterback in the league, he’s a tremendous leader, a tremendous competitor. I was around Toronto when he was a rookie, very early on you understood his leadership capabilities, his magnetism. Players were drawn to him even though he was serving in a back up roll. He was thrust into a starting position and won a bunch of games very early on in his career, went to Hamilton and was very successful. There might be a lull in his career like a lot of professional athletes can face depending on the situation he’s in. Now he’s in a situation where he has a very good supporting cast. That’s the Zach that the people have been around him have always known.”

– O’Shea on the career path of Zach Collaros

“I think because there’s nine team and nine head coaches, there’s a chance to lean on guys and communicate with them. It’s very professional and when you need something you don’t hesitate to ask. And I think that’s not just for (Dinwiddie). There’s always open communication even though we’re competing against each other.”

– O’Shea on his relationship with Dinwiddie and the head coaches in the league

“He brought a big resume, right? And a legacy that he’s already established. Not a lot of guys in our locker room are even close to that type of legacy. But there’s a reason why he has that reputation and legacy, and I knew before I even got a chace to talk to him, just from what I heard from other people. He’s a great person, an infectious leader, never stops, wants to win more than anything. It’s not about him, which is great because I think you have to be selfless to be a leader, so he’s brought that to our locker room. And experience, he’s won two Grey Cups in a row and he’s been through it and he understands what it takes to win a Grey Cup.”

– Dinwiddie on what Andrew Harris has brought to the Argos locker room

“He is the ultimate authentic coach. He does nto apologize for for anything in terms of the way he is. He’s first and foremost a great man, a great human being. And his players, not even just the defensive players, but the entire team sees just a genuinely kind hearted good man.”

– O’Shea on Winnipeg defensive coordinator Richie Hall 

“The Canadiana, I love the rules of our game, it’s a fast paced, very interesting game. Home grown talent. The Americans that come up here, as (Dinwiddie) said, they learn to love it. They learn to really love our country, they’re passionate about our game. It doesn’t happen over night, but relatively quickly these guys that come into our country fall in love with it, the game and our country.”

– O’Shea on what makes the CFL so special