Head coach Mike O’Shea to return to Winnipeg Blue Bombers next season

Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach Mike O'Shea looks on during the first half of CFL football action in Regina, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Heywood Yu

WINNIPEG — Mike O’Shea will return as head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the CFL team announced Friday.

O’Shea, a two-time CFL coach of the year and six-time Grey Cup champion, will enter his 12th season as Bombers head coach in 2026.

Winnipeg has made the playoffs in nine straight seasons and played in five straight Grey Cups between 2019 and 2024, winning the first two.

O’Shea’s contract was set to expire, and the announcement of his return comes with the Toronto Argonauts looking for a head coach after Ryan Dinwiddie left to become the coach and general manager of the Ottawa Redblacks.

The 55-year-old from North Bay, Ont., was a linebacker with the Argonauts from 1996-99 and 2001-08 and was Toronto’s special teams co-ordinator from 2010-13 before becoming head coach of the Bombers.

The Bombers also announced that general manager Kyle Walters, who was also on an expiring contract, will return to Winnipeg next season.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2025.

The Canadian Press