Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea concluded his meeting with Toronto Argonauts brass on Tuesday, and TSN’s Dave Naylor reports that the “ball is in his court” if he wants to join the Double Blue.

The Argonauts requested permission to speak with O’Shea after their head coach, Ryan Dinwiddie, agreed to take the head coach and general manager roles with the Ottawa Redblacks earlier in November. O’Shea played four seasons for the Argonauts as a linebacker from 1996-99, where he was named Most Outstanding Canadian after the 1999 campaign.

Naylor reports that O’Shea flew out to Toronto to meet with Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley on Monday, and that he spent the day with current Argonauts GM Michael Clemons.

“My sense is [that] in those conversations they talked about a lot of things, a lot of possibilities,“ Naylor said. ”O’Shea coming in, primarily focused on just being head coach [or] whether he could have the GM title. If Clemons would stay on as GM, could they build other personnel around the Argos front office? I think all of this has kind of been left unresolved.”

The meetings did not resolve in an agreement between the two sides for O’Shea to leave the Blue Bombers and join Toronto.

“O’Shea got back on the plane Wednesday morning to Winnipeg and the sense is that now the ball is in his court,” Naylor reported. “If O’Shea wants to work for the Argonauts in whatever capacity it is going to be, they are willing to cut to suit to accommodate him, but ultimately, this is now up to O’Shea.”

Dinwiddie had spent the past five seasons as head coach of the Toronto Argonauts, leading the team to two Grey Cup Championships and a combined 51-35 record. Under Dinwiddie, the Double Blue reached four consecutive Eastern Finals and set an Argos’ franchise record with 16 wins in 2023, as Dinwiddie was named the CFL’s Coach of the Year.

Now the Argonauts are hoping to bring on O’Shea, who coached the Blue Bombers to two Grey Cup titles (in 2019 and 2021) and five consecutive appearances in the big game from 2019-24, as the coach of the future.

But there is another team that is reportedly interested in acquiring O’Shea. As TSN’s Farhan Lalji reports, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have asked the Blue Bombers for permission to speak to O’Shea.

“We’ve also been told that the Tiger-Cats have asked for permission from Winnipeg to speak to O’Shea. What that’s going to look like is quite interesting because they’ve got a head coach in Scott Milanovich – yes they’re in the market for a GM – but we know O’Shea is a coach first and I can’t imagine a scenario that sees him leave the coaching fraternity.”

Lalji also reports that the Tiger-Cats have requested permission to speak to Blue Bombers assistant GM Danny McManus for their empty GM role. McManus quarterbacked the Tiger-Cats for eight seasons from 1998-2005 – where he won the Grey Cup in 1999 – and worked as an assistant coach and later scout from 2008-13.