{"id":365570,"date":"2025-12-24T08:26:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T08:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/365570\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T08:26:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T08:26:11","slug":"tommy-condell-wants-to-marry-pass-and-run-as-winnipeg-blue-bombers-offensive-coordinator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/365570\/","title":{"rendered":"Tommy Condell wants to marry pass and run as Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ offensive coordinator"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym<\/p>\n

Though he has well-earned reputation as a pass-first offensive coordinator, Tommy Condell plans for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers to do plenty of running the ball in 2026.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the biggest thing is you do what the players do best,\u201d Condell told the media on Tuesday. \u201cYou have to bend to those kinds of things. I wouldn\u2019t be in this position if I wasn\u2019t adaptable and understand what the players do best and those kinds of things. The game has changed, too, understanding that it\u2019s going to take (running) the football in order to win games. You have to be able to pass the football effectively and efficiently as well, we all know that. But to me, to be able to marry that run with the pass is going to be key.\u201d<\/p>\n

Condell has previously served as the offensive coordinator with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Toronto Argonauts, and Ottawa Redblacks. Though his offences have been brilliant at times, including two seasons in Steeltown with Zach Collaros under centre, Condell has never leaned heavily on the run game.<\/p>\n

With running back Brady Oliveira having just signed a three-contract extension<\/a> that makes him one of the CFL\u2019s highest-paid non-quarterbacks, one would think that has to change. The bruising ball-carrier is one of the league\u2019s best players and has been the focal point of the offence whenever the Blue Bombers have been at their best in recent years.<\/p>\n

Condell not only understands how critical the run game is to Winnipeg, but how important it is to his new coaching colleagues. He intends to take a collaborative approach, which makes sense \u2014 though the team\u2019s passing attack ranked last in the CFL in 2025, the Blue Bombers finished second in rushing yards per game (124.1) and yards per rush (5.5).<\/p>\n

\u201cThe run game is imbued in the culture to win games (in Winnipeg) and that needs to be not only honoured, it needs to be executed,\u201d said Condell. \u201cThat first comes with the coaches that we have on staff who\u2019ve had a lot of success with that. Marty Costello, the (offensive) line coach, he\u2019s been here \u2026 I want to say 10 years or more and he\u2019s had a lot of success. Jason was here for those Grey Cup runs as well. We\u2019re going to lean on those two guys to be able to formulate a game plan that we need from a week-to-week basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to do this together. It\u2019s not just like I come down from Mount Sinai and I say, \u2018Hey, these are the things that we\u2019re going to do this week.\u2019 No, we\u2019re going to get in there together, build it together, and have a game plan collectively to know, \u2018Hey, this is going to do what it takes to win this football game.\u2019 Then we\u2019re going to go try to execute it and we\u2019re going to coach it with energy, passion, detail, and intent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Head coach Mike O\u2019Shea created a potential conflict on staff when Hogan was demoted from offensive coordinator to running backs coach<\/a>, though Condell doesn\u2019t appear concerned. He and Hogan have a preexisting relationship from when the latter was a guest coach with the Toronto Argonauts while Condell was on staff there. Condell indicated that the two recently had some private conversations and though he didn\u2019t reveal any details, it seems as though they were positive in nature.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we both have a lot to give and offer each other for growth,\u201d said Condell. \u201cWe always have the team in mind. He certainly has high character, competence in the position, is great communicator, and is able to connect. If you have those four things, those are (the attributes of) great coaches and we want those to be part of the staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 54-year-old didn\u2019t mention any of Winnipeg\u2019s other incumbent offensive assistant coaches by name, which might be an indication they won\u2019t be back for 2026. O\u2019Shea told the media on Monday that the status of quarterbacks coach Jarious Jackson is \u201cto be determined\u201d and the staff has not yet been finalized.<\/p>\n

Condell indicated that he and Collaros kept in touch throughout his hiring process, though O\u2019Shea made it clear the decision to hire Condell was his alone. Condell said he and Collaros have maintained a relationship outside of football for years and he clearly believes the veteran can still be a top CFL quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still see a guy able to do the things that he needs to do,\u201d said Condell. \u201cI think he\u2019s highly intelligent, he works hard. He\u2019s a football guy, number one, so to continue to be a part of that relationship has been great.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe has a fire to always be great and that chase of greatness takes place when no one else is watching. I think those are where all the elite players are. Also, those elite players that want to be great want to be coached, and he\u2019s no different.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to having a balanced attack, Condell touted the importance of protecting the football and generating explosive plays. For the record, Ottawa\u2019s offence finished dead-last in the CFL in giveaways and completions of 30-plus yards under Condell in 2025. He\u2019ll surely be looking to improve on those marks now that he\u2019s arrived in Bomberland.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always want to do what the players do best, marry the run with the pass, and those are the things that we want to be able to do. It goes from game-to-game,\u201d said Condell.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat it takes to win this game, next week might be a little bit different. It\u2019s about honouring that and executing the game plan that we need to be able to do, and that\u2019s certainly being able to be physical and be able to run the football and do what these players do best.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Photo courtesy: Bob Butrym Though he has well-earned reputation as a pass-first offensive coordinator, Tommy Condell plans for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":365571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-365570","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365570","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=365570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/365570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/365571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=365570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=365570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=365570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}