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Published Nov 18, 2025 • Last updated 52 minutes ago • 2 minute read
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Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O’Shea looks at the scoreboard against the Calgary Stampeders during second half CFL action in Winnipeg Friday, July 18, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods Winnipeg SunArticle content
It created headlines across the CFL but a headache for Mike O’Shea.
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The Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach had some stern words for a CFL fan who took his photo at the airport in Toronto last week.
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The photo, posted on social media site X and widely circulated last Wednesday, fuelled stories about O’Shea being pursued by the Toronto Argonauts for their vacant head coaching position.
“Not my favourite thing,” O’Shea said on Tuesday. “People don’t understand how much of an issue they can create for their own self-serving purposes. It’s kind of sickening, really.”
The fan, apparently a Hamilton Tiger-Cats supporter, based on his profile on X, attended the Grey Cup in Winnipeg, where he and O’Shea met.
“He came up to me and said that he took that photo and it went viral after,” the coach said.
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The Bombers quickly put a stop to the speculation with their own social-media post two days later, announcing O’Shea was staying in Winnipeg but providing no details on the length of his contract extension until this week.
That initial announcement was a surprise, given the CFL’s guidelines on teams not making news in the days leading up to the Grey Cup.
The coach had gone to Toronto to meet with Argonauts GM Mike (Pinball) Clemons, a friend and former teammate, about the Argos job. His record of success in Winnipeg made him a hot commodity across the CFL.
The Bombers had given the two sides permission to meet even though O’Shea’s contract wouldn’t expire until the end of the calendar year.
The photo shows O’Shea and Hamilton quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, on his way to Winnipeg for the CFL awards show. He was a finalist for the Most Outstanding Player Award.
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O’Shea says the stir created by photos like that online affects not just his professional life, but personal life, too.
“Across the board,” he said. “There’s no thought when somebody snaps something and posts something. They have no thought for somebody else’s sanity. It’s all about themselves, and you’d like that to change.”
A reporter suggested that’s the world we live in, but O’Shea remained unimpressed.
“Not my world.”
O’Shea was meeting with the media on Tuesday to discuss his new three-year deal.
In 11 seasons with the Bombers, he has led the team to playoff appearances in each of the last nine seasons, two Grey Cup titles and five consecutive trips to the Grey Cup, a run that ended this year.
GM Kyle Walters has also signed a three-year extension and will meet with the media on Wednesday.
paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca
X: @friesensunmedia
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