The Toronto Argonauts have been granted permission to interview Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ head coach Mike O’Shea, 3DownNation insider Justin Dunk has confirmed.
O’Shea has been the Blue Bombers head coach for 12 years and 11 seasons. He has a 117-77 regular-season record with Winnipeg, making him the franchise leader in wins as a head coach and the seventh-winningest head coach in CFL history. The bench boss has also gone 9-7 in the CFL playoffs, including 2-3 in Grey Cups while with the Blue and Gold.
The 55-year-old has strong ties to the Argos as he spent 12 seasons as a Hall of Fame linebacker and four years as special teams coordinator with the Double Blue. The North Bay, Ont. native was teammates and won multiple Grey Cups as a player with Toronto general manager Mike ‘Pinball’ Clemons.
O’Shea was listed among John Hodge’s 14 candidates to fill the vacant head coach role in The Six. That job became open when Ryan Dinwiddie accepted a dual role with the Ottawa Redblacks as general manager and head coach.
According to Dunk, O’Shea’s contract with the Blue Bombers officially expires on December 31, 2025. He expected to have “good conversations shortly” about a potential contract extension following Winnipeg’s East Semi-Final loss to Montreal.
The Blue Bombers finished fourth in the West Division standings in 2025 with a 10-8 record, qualifying for the playoffs as the crossover team before losing the East Semi-Final to the Montreal Alouettes. Franchise quarterback Zach Collaros threw for 3,048 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 16 interceptions over 13 regular-season games, going 6-7 as a starter.
Winnipeg ranked fifth in net offence, third in net defence, and eighth with a turnover differential of minus-eleven. The club’s leading rusher was Brady Oliveira with 1,163 yards, leading receiver was Nic Demski with 1,001 yards, and leading tackler was Tony Jones with 104 tackles. Winnipeg ranked first in attendance with average crowds of 32,343, which was a 3.7 percent increase from the previous year.
