HAMILTON — Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea and Montreal Alouettes head coach Jason Maas spoke to the media ahead of the 110th Grey Cup on Sunday, at Tim Hortons Field.

The duo reflected on their shared experiences as coaches in the CFL, including a stint together with the Toronto Argonauts coaching staff, the season they had so far, their relationship with their players and the meaning of being in a Grey Cup.

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“They both arrived and played the first couple days after arrival. They did that by working hard. Communication has been tremendous between the coaches and the players around them. They’ve led by action more than anything and they have been tremendous.”

— Maas on the additions of Shawn Lemon and Darnell Sankey to the Alouettes roster

“You look at the work ethic it takes as a player to play as long as he did and you see it as a coach right away. The professionalism he takes each and every day, the dedication to his craft. (Head coach Mike) O’Shea is a great person and you only get to see that when you’re around him every single day. A lot of fun to be around as well, lightened the mood for me during my first year coaching. Constant talks about football and about everything.”

— Maas on working with O’Shea during their time together in Toronto

“Playing against (head coach Jason Maas) you can see how competitive he is but when you’re in the same building and you decide to workout with him you get schooled every single day in every exercise you do so you see how competitive and fiery he is.”

— O’Shea on Maas’ competitiveness as a coach as a members of the Argonauts coaching staff

“I think you are who you are. I talked about it yesterday about awareness in yourself and the growth that you need to have at times. That was something I’ve grown to understand about myself. I’m trying to be better at this year,” Maas told reporters. “You can improve yourself but it has to come from within.”

“I think authenticity is the same in that regard. We believe that you have to be who you are and trying to be anybody else is not going to work,” said O’Shea.

— Both coaches on the differences in regards to their coaching style

“Any business that achieved some sort of performance success, in whatever business is really about the people that you have. And if you are putting them first, outcomes eventually go your way. Football sizes are different, but I think you have to treat them as people before you’re really talking to them about playing and being a player. Over time I recognize that my role more and more is about just trying to deal with people before you deal with players.

“I believe the players are the most important part of your organization. That’s the way I want them to feel. And it’s our duty as an organization to make them feel that way and try to provide as much as possible. We asked a lot of them, obviously, the type of people we bring in and what we’re looking for, but when they’re in our building, we want them to feel that importance. And when you talk about running through a wall, one of the first things we tell them is we’ll run through a wall for you first,” said Maas.

— Both on their team-building philosophies and building relationships with the players

“I know when you win one is forever. Those memories are forever. It’s something that no one can ever take away from you.”

— Maas on winning a Grey Cup as a member of the Argonauts

“You try to treat it like it’s your first one. I know it seems hard. Like it could sound like that’s not possible. But every year you have a new team. We do have a great core of veteran players returning, but we’ve got young guys that this is their first experience and as a coach, or even as veteran players, you can just take 30 seconds to look at the young guys, they can bring you right back to that the first one,”

— O’Shea on the Blue Bombers playing in their fourth straight Grey Cup

“I think we should celebrate and keep focused on how great a game this is how uniquely Canadian it is,” said O’Shea.

“Our league is is phenomenal. I’m thankful for the longevity of it and what it has provided and what it provides everybody in this room,” said Maas.

— Both coaches on reflections about the CFL