Manitoba Bisons look to Jackson Tachinski, Stan Pierre to avenge playoff collapse

The University of Manitoba Bisons are heading into the 2025 season with a new head coach for the first time in 29 years, though he’s hardly an unknown entity.

Stan Pierre has been on staff with the Bisons for 27 years, helping the team win three Hardy Cups, two Mitchell Bowls, and one Vanier Cup. However, this will be his first year as the team’s head coach, as he’s taken over from the retired Brian Dobie.

“Brian and I shared a lot of this work. We were truly in this thing together, so there aren’t things that are popping up on my desk where I’m like, ‘Wow, what’s this? I’ve never seen this before.’ It’s all pretty familiar, but time-consuming,” Pierre told 3DownNation.

“I feel like the differences are personality — my personality that I’m going to impart on the team, which will be a little different than his — and probably certain game-day situations. I think that will be tangible — we’re not the same person, so we see things a little differently from time to time. I’m hoping that once the game starts, it’ll just be a regular flow for me.”

An elite quarterback can take a lot of pressure off a first-time head coach, and that’s exactly what the Bisons have in Jackson Tachinski. The graduate of Vincent Massey Collegiate is the reigning Canada West Player of the Year and is back on campus for his final year of collegiate eligibility.

“I’m really confident in Coach Pierre. He’s an awesome leader, he’s very smart about football, and I think he’ll point us in the right direction for sure this season,” said Tachinski. “I think he’s got his head screwed on right, and I think we’ll be going in the right direction with Coach Pierre, so I’m really happy. Obviously, losing Coach Dobie sucks, but you’ve got to move forward, and Coach Pierre is our guy.”

The six-foot-four, 215-pound native of Winnipeg, Man., took a shot at the professional ranks this offseason as he converted to receiver ahead of the 2025 CFL Draft. He signed with the Edmonton Elks as an undrafted free agent and made one catch for three yards during the preseason before being released as part of final roster cuts.

“It was really fun for me being able to dive into a whole new concept. I thought it was really cool being able to get a whole new perspective of the field, playing a different position on the offence, not having the ball in your hands like a quarterback — it’s a whole mentality switch,” said Tachinski. “It was really cool getting to work on some skills that I normally don’t work on. I felt myself get a lot better throughout the experience.”

Tachinski threw for 1,842 yards, eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions and rushed for 637 yards and seven scores in 2024, helping lead the Bisons to a 7-1 record. The team finished first in the Canada West standings for the first time since 2007.

Blair Atkinson was promoted to the role of offensive coordinator this offseason, and it seems like the attack won’t change much, except for how much abuse Tachinski takes from opposing defenders.

“If (Tachinski) could do what he’s been doing his entire career here, it’ll be great for me and great for the team,” said Pierre. “There’s a couple things we’ve talked to him about in terms of maybe protecting himself a little bit more, maybe not taking as many hits. Other than that, I trust him implicitly and I’m excited to see him have a great year.”

“One thing I’ve really been working on is just getting the ball out of my hands,” said Tachinski. “Getting the ball in my hands quicker has always been something I’ve wanted to work on, and something I’ve really worked on this offseason. Maybe I’ll be running a bit less, maybe there’s a bit more throwing, but you never really know until the bullets are flying. For now, I think with our new offence, things might shift.”

Manitoba’s rushing attack should remain strong as Breydon Stubbs, who ran for a conference-leading 1,071 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024, has returned for his final season of eligibility. Shakur Harris, who averaged a spectacular 8.5 yards per carry last season, has also returned as the team’s change-of-pace running back.

The receiving corps is a bit of a different story as AK Gassama and Michael O’Shea both aged out, leaving Manitoba without two of their top three targets from last year. Pierre called the team’s receiving corps a “deep and solid group,” though he admitted Gassama’s prowess as a game-breaker will be missed.

“I’m concerned about the explosive play ability with AK gone,” said Pierre. “Hopefully somebody steps up and undertakes that role.”

De Shawn Le Jour might be the best candidate to fill the void as the native of Regina, Sask. enters his draft year. The six-foot-four, 220-pound target played only four games due to injury last season, making 13 catches for 153 yards. Other players who will look to step up in the receiving corps include Vaughan Lloyd, Braeden Smith, Nathan Udo, and Mula Yitna.

Mekhi Tyrell, a highly-touted recruit who committed to Manitoba back in February, never ended up joining the team. The six-foot-one, 190-pound target most recently played for the CJFL’s Edmonton Wildcats in 2024, making 18 catches for 341 yards and four touchdowns over three games. In 2023, he participated in training camp with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers as a territorial exemption at the age of 19.

Four of the team’s starting five offensive linemen are back, including Matt Stokman, who was a seventh-round pick of the Calgary Stampeders in the 2025 CFL Draft. The hole at left guard is a significant one, however, as Giordano Vaccaro transferred to Purdue University, where he’ll look to garner interest from the NFL heading into his draft year.

The six-foot-three, 305-pound blocker won the J. P. Metras Trophy in 2024 as the top lineman in all of U Sports football, becoming the first Manitoba player to win the award since David Onyemata in 2015. Pierre indicated that three players remain in contention to replace Vaccaro, with the team’s preseason matchup against the University of Regina Rams playing a significant role in who will win the starting job.

Photo courtesy: Neil Noonan/Manitoba Bisons

Defensively, the Bisons look vastly different than they did one year ago, though Pierre has remained the unit’s coordinator despite receiving the promotion to head coach.

CFL draft picks Collin Kornelson and Nick Thomas aged out, as did four starters in the secondary — Stephen Adamopoulos, Sebastien Reid, Austin Balan, and Nick Conway. Two other key defensive backs, Jarrett Alcaraz and Jake Nitychoruk, both had a year of eligibility left, but neither returned to the team, with the former now working as an engineer.

“It’s not ideal (to lose so many players in the secondary), but this is something that we go through in college sports. Kids graduate, and it just happens to be that it was a top-heavy DB class. You reap the rewards of that when they’re there, and when they’re gone, you have to have guys that step up,” said Pierre. “We recruited a couple of older kids there — we’ll see how they do — and then there are kids in our program who have been developing, and it’s their time now to step up and make some plays.”

The transfers Manitoba picked up were both conference all-stars in the CJFL last season. Aidan Wallace-Blackett recorded one sack and one interception with the Ottawa Sooners, while Kenley Williams snagged five interceptions with the Okanagan Sun.

Arguably, the best news for Manitoba’s defence is that Lamar Goods is ready to contribute along the defensive line. The son of former All-CFL defensive lineman Bennie Goods arrived on campus two years ago but played sparingly, recording only four tackles and one forced fumble over five games last season.

“Lamar is good — he’s eligible, he’s healthy, and he’s in great shape. Lamar is in as good a shape as he’s been since he’s been at Manitoba. He’s doing great,” said Pierre. “He was dealing with some things life-wise that some kids deal with, and is really in a great place. First and foremost, I’m just excited for him to have that burden off him right now and give him a chance to show his talents on the field.”

The sky’s the limit for the six-foot-four, 308-pound native of Fort McMurray, Alta., who originally committed to the University of Florida as a four-star recruit. There aren’t many U Sports players with pedigree from the NCAA’s Southeastern Conference (SEC), and he could be a force to be reckoned with in the middle of Manitoba’s defence.

Trailblazing kicker Maya Turner is back after going 14-of-18 on her field goal attempts last season, earning a Canada West all-star selection in the process.

For all their regular-season success, the Bisons suffered a heartbreaking loss in the playoffs last year, losing to Regina in the Hardy Cup semifinal by a score of 28-25.

Tachinski is planning to try the professional ranks again next year and would welcome the opportunity to compete at quarterback or receiver. For now, however, he’s focused on ensuring Manitoba doesn’t meet the same ending come playoff time.

“That’s definitely been the most motivating thing for me,” said Tachinski. “(The playoff loss) was crushing. You have such a great season, you go 7-1, you’re feeling like you’re on top of the world, and then you go into a game and you don’t play your best. That’s football, and it sucks. You play the whole thing to win, so when you end the season on a loss, it stings, especially when you have such a great year like that.”

Manitoba’s full schedule for the 2025 season is as follows. Games can be viewed in person or streamed on Canada West TV.

Thursday, Aug. 21 — vs. Regina Rams (preseason)

Thursday, Aug. 28 — at UBC Thunderbirds
Friday, Sept. 5 — at Calgary Dinos
Saturday, Sept. 13 — vs. Saskatchewan Huskies
Saturday, Sept. 20 — vs. Alberta Golden Bears
Saturday, Sept. 27 — at Regina Rams
Saturday, Oct. 4 — vs. UBC Thunderbirds
Saturday, Oct. 18 — vs. Calgary Dinos
Saturday, Oct. 25 — at Saskatchewan Huskies

Saturday, Nov. 1 — Hardy Cup semifinal (if qualified)
Saturday, Nov. 8 — Hardy Cup (if qualified)