Mike O’Shea just wrapped his eleventh season as the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and is currently without a contract for 2026, making him a free agent.
The 55-year-old native of North Bay, Ont. indicated he’s optimistic that a contract extension will get sorted away quickly, however, following his team’s first-round playoff exit against the Montreal Alouettes this past weekend.
“I expect to have some good conversations shortly (regarding my contract status),” O’Shea told the media on Monday at Princess Auto Stadium. “These conversations will happen with myself and (team president) Wade (Miller) and (general manager) Kyle (Walters).”
This isn’t the first time O’Shea has allowed his contract to expire, having done so previously in Winnipeg. This is highly atypical for coaches at the professional level, though the Canadian Football Hall of Fame linebacker has never shied away from going about his business in a unique manner.
It’s worth noting that Walters, who hired O’Shea following the 2013 season, is also without a contract for 2026. He has yet to speak to the media this offseason, but is expected to do so in the near future.
There’s currently a head coaching vacancy with the Ottawa Redblacks and it’d be perfectly understandable if O’Shea was at the top of their wish list. When asked if he’s ever thought about taking on a new challenge with a new team, he said he doesn’t take a lot of time to “think about other things,” however, choosing instead to focus on the work at hand.
O’Shea has gone 117-77 in regular-season action in Winnipeg, making him the franchise leader in wins as a head coach and the seventh-winningest head coach in the history of the CFL. He has also gone 9-7 in the playoffs, including 2-3 in Grey Cups.
“I’ve been here for 12 years and haven’t left yet. I’ve always said this is a great community and people that just pass through don’t understand it,” said O’Shea.
“The people that spend any amount of time here realize what the city is and the community is. In terms of a sporting community, it’s awesome — the Bomber fans, especially, throughout the province are unbelievable.”
The Winnipeg 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.
The Blue Bombers 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.
